Denver Auditorium Arena was an indoor arena located at the corner of 13th and Champa Streets in Denver, Colorado. It was constructed as the Denver Municipal Auditorium in 1908 during the administration of Denver Mayor Robert W. Speer. The building was opened on July 7, 1908, and was the site of the

1908 Democratic National Convention The 1908 Democratic National Convention took place from July 7 to July 10, 1908, at Denver Auditorium Arena in Denver, Colorado. The event is widely considered a significant part of Denver's political and social history. The Convention The 1 ...

. With a capacity of 12,500, the building was at the time of its opening the second largest in America to

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

.Venue information and background
/ref> Initially, the venue was configured and equipped to hold numerous kinds of events including theater, opera, conventions, sporting events, exhibitions, concerts, and more. Renovations were made to the building in the 1940s, and in 1953 the southern half of the building was converted into the Auditorium Arena, a pure sporting venue with seating capacity of 6,841.

Tenants

It hosted the

ABA ABA may refer to: Businesses and organizations Broadcasting * Alabama Broadcasters Association, United States * Asahi Broadcasting Aomori, Japanese television station * Australian Broadcasting Authority Education * Académie des Beaux- ...

's Denver Rockets, later the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

, from 1967 until they left for McNichols Sports Arena in 1975. The Auditorium Arena was an annual host of the Colorado high school state basketball tournament, primarily for the smaller-enrollment classifications. The Auditorium Arena was home to the Denver Comets of the professional International Volleyball Association from 1977–1979, and home to the

Denver Racquets Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unite ...

of World Team Tennis in 1974, when they won the league championship before moving to Phoenix for the 1975 season. From 1937 to 1967, it hosted the finals of the AAU basketball championship. On December 26, 1968, the rock group Led Zeppelin played their first concert in the United States at the Auditorium Arena. In the last several years of its existence, the building was a popular venue for professional wrestling, hosting both AWA and WWF events. In 1990, the Arena portion of the building (built in 1953) was demolished to make room for the Temple Buell Theatre, and in 2005, the Auditorium portion of the building (built in 1907-08) was remodeled into the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.

References

{{Denver Nuggets American Basketball Association venues Basketball venues in Colorado Sports venues in Denver Denver Nuggets venues Denver Nuggets (1948–1950) Denver Rockets Former music venues in the United States Defunct indoor arenas in the United States Former National Basketball Association venues Demolished sports venues in Colorado Event venues established in 1908 Sports venues completed in 1908 Sports venues demolished in 1990 National Basketball League (United States) venues 1908 establishments in Colorado 1990 disestablishments in Colorado