Cleveland Arena
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cleveland Arena was an arena in Cleveland, Ohio. It was built and privately financed by local businessman Albert C. Sutphin during the height of the Great Depression in 1937 as a playing site for Sutphin's AHL team, the Cleveland Barons. Later it hosted Sutphin's BAA's Cleveland Rebels and Nick Mileti's NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers and the WHA's Cleveland Crusaders. The arena was located at 3717 Euclid Avenue, and seated about 10 500-11 000 individuals - though the seating varied somewhat over the years.
The arena was also the site of the Moondog Coronation Ball, considered the first rock and roll concert on March 21, 1952, organized by Alan Freed. The concert was shut down by the fire authorities due to overcrowding after the first song - it was estimated that 20,000 individuals were either in the arena or trying to enter it, when the capacity was roughly half that.
While the arena was a showpiece when it opened, by the time it closed in 1974 it had become decrepit and lacked adequate parking. It was replaced by the Richfield Coliseum. It was demolished in 1977.
[edit] External links
- Cleveland Arena (Encyclopedia of Cleveland History)
- Old Arena
| Preceded by first arena |
Home of the Cleveland Cavaliers 1970 – 1974 |
Succeeded by Coliseum at Richfield |
|
||||||||||||||
