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 ...

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. It was the home of the St. Louis University basketball team and hosted the NBA's

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, from 1955 to 1968. The site was home to Charles H. Turpin's Booker T. Washington Theater where performers included his brother

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. 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

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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

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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.

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{{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