Gem of St. Louis, The Arena Marks 60 Years of Community Service

(As many of you know, I’ve covered a wealth of sports & other topics in my life. Here’s a major historical piece assigned to me for a Sept. 1989 edition of a publication that still exists, the West End Word. My family had Blues season tickets for several seasons there. I’m thrilled to share this as we still savor our 2019 Stanley Cup champs & great memories of The Arena!)

     Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, and Sept. 24 marks the diamond anniversary of the grand old dame of Oakland Avenue, The St. Louis Arena.

     The Arena has been a real gem to the St. Louis metropolitan area.  So it is only fitting that employees of the establishment honor her 60 years of service to the community.

     “We made the decision to make it a year-round celebration instead of one specific event,” said Arena marketing manager Ann Eggebrecht.  “We want to get the word out that having an arena in St. Louis is important.”

     No one can reasonably dispute that, and The Arena will continue to offer a wide variety of quality entertainment.  What it will have in store for its visitors, which number about 3 million per year over some 200 booking dates, includes the following family attractions through March 1990:  an NBA exhibition basketball game (Oct. 15), women’s Olympic volleyball (October), Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom on Ice (Oct. 31-Nov. 5), the Mud Bog (Nov. 18-19), Olympic gold medal ice skaters Torvill and Dean (Dec. 17), Missouri vs. Illinois Busch Braggin’ Rights basketball game (Dec. 20), the Harlem Globetrotters (Jan. 7, 1990), Stars on Ice (Jan. 26), Truck & Tractor Pull (Feb. 23-25), the Ice Capades (March 20-25) and two WWF wrestling cards with dates to be announced.

     “It’s a great entertainment facility providing all the touring acts to the area,” said Arena general manager Roger Dixon.  “Besides all the family entertainment, what’s also helped is that rock ‘n roll became such a viable entity—not to mention the St. Louis Blues!”

     Hockey has indeed played a major role in The Arena’s existence, although all has not always been rosy with the sport.

     The building’s first hockey team was the American Hockey Association’s St. Louis Flyers, which began Arena play the last week of 1931.  A few months later, depression-era times left The Arena with a delinquent electric bill, resulting in a playing surface that was more water than ice.

    

     In order to remedy the situation, management opened every single window on a bitterly cold day, freezing all the water the natural way.  The Arena crowd also froze that night while watching the only indoor hockey game ever played in St. Louis on non-artificial ice.

     Following the Flyers to the ice for only the 1934-35 season, was the St. Louis Eagles of the National Hockey League.  (As Yogi Berra used to say, you can look it up!) A couple decades later, the Chicago Black Hawks played some of their home games as The Arena, followed by the St. Louis Braves, Chicago’s Central Hockey League farm club.  That entity, coached by long-time Blues color man Gus Kyle, featured such future NHL stars as Phil Esposito, Roger Crozier, Dennis Hull (Brett’s uncle) and Fred Stanfield.

     When the NHL had its first expansion in 1967, St. Louis and The Arena were a natural choice.  The St. Louis Blues have been a popular commodity ever since.

     Its early owners, the Salomons, certainly helped improve the building’s facilities by adding escalators and expanding the seating capacity from 13,000 to 19,000.  A March 31, 1973 against Pittsburgh drew an Arena record crowd of 20,009 before the fire marshall forced a reduction in seating the following season.

     Ralston Purina, which briefly rescued the team from bankruptcy, added air conditioning and a more sophisticated sound system while temporarily changing the name of the building to The Checkerdome.

     Besides hockey, The Arena has boasted big-time boxing, including Primo Carnera’s stunning 1933 title victory over heavyweight champion Jack Sharkey.  St. Louisan Archie Moore captured the light heavyweight title at The Arena in Dec. 1952.  Joe Louis and Max Baer fought there, too.

   Other sporting events have included rodeos, sport and auto shows, a few seasons of the American Basketball Association’s Spirits of St. Louis, and unusual events like indoor baseball and football, a six-day bike race and midget auto races.

     Prior to the rock ‘n roll era, The Arena hosted such outstanding entertainers as Frank Sinatra, Cab Calloway, Guy Lombardo, Sally Rand and unsuccessful 1940 presidential candidate Wendell Wilkie.

     The Arena got off to a rollicking start, opening with a fabulous banquet on the evening of Sept. 24, 1929.  According to long-defunct City Beautiful Magazine, “At its dedicatory banquet, more than 3,000 people were served at 80 tables; each 50 feet long.  Three hundred people sat at the head table—the largest head table in all American history.”

     The 475-foot-long by 275-foot-high structure saw few reasons for celebration in its early years.  It took one year and three days to build The Arena at a cost of $2 million.  The Arena was, according to the May 26, 1928 edition of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, “designed primarily for the use of the annual two-week (National) dairy show.  It was expected to make St. Louis the center of the dairy industry of the United States.”  The Arena was also hailed as unique for its total avoidance of pillars and posts.

     But that event was only held for one year—Oct. 12-20, 1929—on The Arena’s then dirt floor.  It was obvious that the building either had to modernize its facilities or be destined to be nothing but a tremendous financial flop.  So, shortly thereafter, a cement floor and ice plant were installed, along with ticket booths.

     Nevertheless, The Arena faced great financial woes during the Depression years.  The Arena’s first owner, Ben Brinkman, lost a fortune on the building.  After a foreclosure was held and the building was sold in 1933, a new group of owners sold 6,149 Arena chairs to finance the $1,681 needed to reopen the building.

     By 1926, the entire property was valued at just $150,000.  The building had become such an undesirable entity, that it was rumored that even St. Louis University had turned down The Arena as a gift.

     But The Arena not only survived the toughest of financial troubles, but also a killer tornado that ripped the roof off in 1959.  Perhaps The Arena’s greatest challenge lies ahead.  Plans for a downtown sports arena have put the building’s future in jeopardy.

     “Chances are, they’ll tear it down and build something in its stead,” Dixon said.  “Whether or not its time has come and gone, it’s still a viable building.  But a new one is needed; no question about it.

     “The push we’re putting on the 60^th anniversary is not where The Arena is heading, but what it has meant to the St. Louis area.  I came to St. Louis from Miami and grew up in southern Illinois.  I remember as a kid coming here to see sporting shows.  It was great because there’s so much character here.  It will be a sad day when The Arena closes.”

Moolah Shrine Circus Event Set to be Greatest Show on Earth and Above

(This is my brief, unedited piece soon to be published in the MidRivers Newsmagazine)

     There was not a moment’s hesitation when Circus Director Ron Reynolds was asked about the featured performer at this year’s Moolah Shrine event, held March 19-22 at the St. Charles Family Arena at 2002 Arena Parkway.

     “We actually have Bello Nock this year!” Reynolds announced. “He’s the famous clown daredevil with orange hair. He’s a really big name who gets around, and used to be with the Barnum and Bailey Circus.”

     Not only does Nock’s orange hair stick straight up to the sky, but his entire being is often seen high up as well. Born just a year before Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon, Nock has been known to do a variety of death-defying events far off the ground like atop cruise ships and over the Statue of Liberty.

     Back in the summer of 2017, Bello Nock was shot from a cannon over the rotating blades of a helicopter.  That occurred on an episode of “America’s Got Talent.”

     But Nock is not the only performer at this year’s 78^th annual event with strong…ahem… pedigree from that popular television show.  Patrons will even be able to pose for pictures with the Olate (family) dogs that captured the $1 million grand prize in the 2012 season.  The Olates have also appeared at numerous college and professional basketball game halftime shows, circuses and several other venues.

     Tickets for those photo opportunities as well as elephant, pony and train rides plus face painting, a giant slide and a bounce house can be purchased and enjoyed starting an hour before and immediately after each show.

     “We have tigers and five elephants,” Reynolds said.  “The elephants are for the shows and for riding.  The State of Illinois doesn’t allow elephants, but we have them here!”

     The authentic three-ring circus also features incredible high-wire trapeze artists, beautiful Arabian stallions, hilarious clowns, and the show is capped off by an unforgettable FMX motorcycle finale. The venue also offers a wide array of popular carnival type refreshments.

     Tickets for all of the eight shows, ranging in price from $18.50 to $38.50, can be purchased at various times at the Family Arena (636-896-4200) or 24 hours a day from Ticketmaster at https://familyarena.com/ or the Moolah site, https://moolah.org/.  The latter site also offers a free child ticket for age 12 and under for each paid general admission ticket.

     A decent amount of the events’ profits go toward helping with the annual budget of the Moolah Shrine Center at the 12545 Fee Fee Road location.  They have been in that former Parkway North Jr. High building since 1987.

     Per the Moolah website, “Shriners are distinguished by an enjoyment of life and a commitment to philanthropy. They enjoy parades, trips, dances, dinners, sporting events and other social occasions. They support what has been called the ‘World’s Greatest Philanthropy,’ Shriners Hospitals for Children, a network of 22 pediatric specialty hospitals, operated and maintained by the Shriners.”