The Palestra was a 4,000- to 5,000-seat arena best known for ice hockey, even hosting a

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

exhibition. It also hosted boxing matches and was open for public skating.

History

Built in 1904 in

Laurium, Michigan Laurium (; or ) is a village in Calumet Township, Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan, in the center of the Keweenaw Peninsula. The population was 1,977 at the 2010 census. The village is mostly surrounded by Calumet Township, with ...

, the Palestra was the first building in the world built specifically for the use of ice hockey, and for most of its existence, the Palestra had a natural ice surface. The rink was flooded and would then freeze in the cold weather. The arena did not have ice making equipment until the late 1940s. The building opened on December 16, 1904, with a professional game between Portage Lake and

Calumet Calumet may refer to: Places United States *Calumet Region, in northern Illinois and Indiana **Calumet River **Calumet Trail, Indiana ** Calumet (East Chicago) * Calumet, Colorado *Calumet, Iowa * Calumet, Michigan *Calumet, Minnesota * Calumet ...

. Calumet won 4–3 in front of 3,000 spectators. The building remained open through the population decline of the Copper Country in the mid- to late-1910s. The Palestra Co. purchased the building for $15,000 (equivalent to $ in ) on September 17, 1921. The building was dismantled and reconstructed 55 days later in

Marquette, Michigan Marquette ( ) is a city in Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 20,629 at the 2020 United States Census, which makes it the largest city in the Upper Peninsula. Marquette serves as the seat of government of Marquett ...

, by Edward Ulseth of Calumet, Michigan, on a plot of land leased from

Cleveland-Cliffs Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., formerly Cliffs Natural Resources, is a Cleveland, Ohio-based company that specializes in the mining, beneficiation, and pelletizing of iron ore, as well as steelmaking, including stamping and tooling. It is the largest f ...

on the corner of 3rd and Fair streets, now the present location of the entrance to the

Berry Events Center Berry Events Center is a 4,300-seat multi-purpose arena in Marquette, Michigan, in the United States that opened in 1999. It is home to the Northern Michigan University Wildcats ice hockey and basketball teams. The arena formerly housed the US sh ...

on the campus of

Northern Michigan University Northern Michigan University (Northern Michigan, Northern or NMU) is a public university in Marquette, Michigan. It was established in 1899 by the Michigan Legislature as Northern State Normal School. In 1963, the state designated Northern a uni ...

. It reopened on December 22, 1921, with over 2,000 customers passing through the turnstiles. In 1954, fire ripped through the Palestra and destroyed the ballroom. In 1964, the Iron Rangers hockey team received permission to heat the building with portable heaters. However, the fire marshal declared that the heaters could not be used when fans were in the building. Therefore, the building was warmed up and the heaters turned off before the doors opened for the day's game. The building itself was by . The building was held up by a steel framework .

Ice hockey teams

While in Laurium, the Palestra was home to the

Calumet Miners The Calumet Miners, also known as the Calumet-Laurium Miners and the Calumet Wanderers, was a professional ice hockey team from Calumet & Laurium, Michigan. The team played for three seasons in the International Professional Hockey League, the fi ...

of the IPHL from 1904–1907. After the move, the Palestra served as the home rink for the semi-professional Marquette Iron Rangers from 1964 until 1974. The Iron Rangers played in the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictly ...

. Earlier, the rink was home to the

Marquette Sentinels Marquette may refer to: Locations France * Marquette-en-Ostrevant, Nord *Marquette-lez-Lille, Nord United States *Marquette, Iowa *Marquette, Kansas *Marquette, Nebraska *Marquette (town), Wisconsin **Marquette, Wisconsin, village within the town ...

References

External links

Palestra info

{{International Professional Hockey League Defunct sports venues in Michigan Defunct indoor arenas in the United States International Professional Hockey League venues Event venues established in 1904 Sports venues completed in 1904 1904 establishments in Michigan Indoor arenas in Michigan