Memorial Auditorium is a 6,000-seat indoor

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

located in

Moorhead, Minnesota Moorhead () is a city in and county seat of Clay County, Minnesota, United States, on the banks of the Red River of the North. Located in the Red River Valley, an extremely fertile and active agricultural region, Moorhead is also home to several ...

. It was built in 1952 and dedicated to Moorhead-area residents who fought and served the United States during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, and until the

Fargodome Fargodome is an indoor athletic stadium in the north central United States, located on the campus of North Dakota State University (NDSU) in Fargo, North Dakota. Opened in late 1992, the facility is owned by the City of Fargo and built on unive ...

was built forty years later, was the largest indoor venue in the Fargo-Moorhead area. It remains the largest arena in the area to be used primarily for

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and has been the home of the Concordia College Cobbers basketball,

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

teams for decades. The arena contains only 1800 permanent seats, with the remaining seats in bleachers. For concerts, floor seating can be brought in, bringing the total capacity to up to 7,000. The arena features a wood parquet hardwood floor, while the adjacent practice facility features a synthetic floor. The original locker rooms, located in the lower level of the arena, were rebuilt in anticipation of the venue's 60th anniversary in 2012. Memorial Auditorium is also home to the offices of Concordia's athletic department. Memorial Auditorium's first sporting event, played on December 2, 1952, was a 69-59 Cobbers victory over

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as t ...

, attended by 5,500 fans. It has hosted concerts by many recording artists over the decades. Memorial Auditorium's roof suffered uneven snowloads, resulting in a basketball hoop being lowered by an inch early in 2013.Concordia Memorial Auditorium schedule changes due to structural changes

WDAY-TV WDAY-TV (channel 6) is a television station in Fargo, North Dakota, United States, affiliated with ABC. It serves as the flagship television property of locally based Forum Communications Company, which also owns WDAY radio (970 AM) and ''The F ...

, October 25, 2013 Due to these structural concerns, several events normally held at the Auditorium were moved to other venues, including the Fargodome,

Bison Sports Arena Scheels Center is a 5,460 seat multi-purpose arena in Fargo, North Dakota. It was built in 1970 and was home to the North Dakota State University Bison women's basketball and wrestling teams through the 2013–14 season. It was previously named the ...

and

Scheels Arena Scheels Arena (formerly called The Urban Plains Center, or UPC) is a multi-purpose venue located in Fargo, North Dakota. It is part of the Sanford Health Athletic Park which comprises the arena, the Family Wellness Center (a partnership between Sa ...

, all of which are located in

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo ( /ˈfɑɹɡoʊ/) is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, United States. According to the 2020 census, its population was 125,990, making it the most populous city in the state and the 219th-most populous city in ...

Competition

In addition to the FargoDome and Bison Sports and Scheels Arenas, Memorial Auditorium's competition includes, in the surrounding area, the

Alerus Center The Alerus Center is an indoor arena and convention center in the north central United States, located in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The facility is owned and operated by the city of Grand Forks and opened on February 10, 2001. The arena's maj ...

and

Ralph Engelstad Arena Ralph Engelstad Arena (REA), commonly called the Ralph, is an indoor arena located on the campus of the University of North Dakota (UND) in Grand Forks, North Dakota and serves as the home of UND men's ice hockey. The arena was built by controvers ...

Grand Forks, North Dakota Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...

and, to a lesser extent,

Target Center Target Center is a multi-purpose arena located in Minneapolis that opened in 1990. It hosts major family shows, concerts, sporting events, graduations and private events. Target Corporation, founded and headquartered in Minneapolis since 1902, ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

and

MTS Centre Canada Life Centre (formerly MTS Centre and Bell MTS Place) is an indoor arena in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba. The arena is the home of the National Hockey League's Winnipeg Jets and their American Hockey League affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. T ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

References

External links

Concordia Cobbers
{{Coord, 46.86284, -96.77024, type:landmark_region:US-MN, display=title Indoor arenas in Minnesota College basketball venues in the United States Sports venues completed in 1952 1952 establishments in Minnesota Concordia College (Moorhead, Minnesota) College volleyball venues in the United States College wrestling venues in the United States