Kiel Auditorium was an
indoor arena located in
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
,
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
. It was the home of the
St. Louis University basketball team and hosted the
NBA's
St. Louis Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...
, from 1955 to 1968.
The site was home to
Charles H. Turpin's Booker T. Washington Theater where performers included his brother
Tom Turpin
Thomas Million John Turpin (November 18, 1871 – August 13, 1922) was an African American composer of ragtime music.
Tom Turpin was born in Savannah, Georgia, a son of John L. Turpin and Lulu Waters Turpin. In his early twenties he opened a sal ...
. The new municipal arena that replaced it was completed in 1934, at a cost of $6 million, seated 9,300 and was built by Fruin-Colnon Construction. It was originally named the Municipal Auditorium, but was renamed in honor of former St. Louis Mayor
Henry Kiel in 1943.
A unique feature of the auditorium was that it was split into two; the front of the building was the
Kiel Opera House. It was possible to use both sides at once as the stages were back to back. President
Harry Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
gave a speech there in which both sides were opened to see his speech.
The Kiel Auditorium replaced the
St. Louis Coliseum as the city's main indoor arena.
In 1955, the auditorium was also the venue for the second international conference of
Alcoholics Anonymous, which established the service conference structure for the movement.
Kiel Auditorium played host to a variety of concerts and wrestling events, from the 1950s, until its closure in 1991. In
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
, it was the host of the
Miss Universe Pageant. From the 1950s until the 1970s, the Kiel Auditorium was behind only
Madison Square Garden as North America's most famous wrestling arena, hosting three
NWA World Heavyweight Championship
The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is i ...
title changes from 1959 until 1986. The most notable wrestling event that took place at the Kiel Auditorium was WCW's premier event,
Starrcade 1990. The building was demolished in 1992, but not before hosting the
Missouri Valley Conference
The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest.
History
The MVC was established ...
men's basketball tournament the preceding year.
After its demolition, its games and concerts temporarily went to the
St. Louis Arena.
The
Enterprise Center (originally named "Kiel Center", then "Savvis Center", then "Scottrade Center", before the current
naming rights
Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...
were purchased) now stands on the site of the former Kiel Auditorium. The Opera House portion of the building, on the northern part of the property, facing Market Street, was not torn down. It remained vacant for a while, but was renovated and reopened under the name Peabody Opera House in 2011. It is now known as the
Stifel Theatre.
References
External links
{{Authority control
1934 establishments in Missouri
1991 disestablishments in Missouri
Basketball venues in St. Louis
Defunct boxing venues in the United States
Sports venues demolished in 1992
Defunct college basketball venues in the United States
Defunct indoor arenas in the United States
Former National Basketball Association venues
Demolished music venues in the United States
Demolished sports venues in Missouri
Saint Louis Billikens basketball venues
Sports venues completed in 1934
Atlanta Hawks venues
Demolished buildings and structures in St. Louis