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, wi ...

, 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 won 4–3 in front of 3,000 spectators. The building remained open through the

population decline Population decline, also known as depopulation, is a reduction in a human population size. Throughout history, Earth's total world population, human population has estimates of historical world population, continued to grow but projections sugg ...

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 the county seat of Marquette County, Michigan, Marquette County and the largest city in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States. Located on the shores of Lake Superior, Marquette is a major port known primarily for shippin ...

, by Edward Ulseth of

Calumet, Michigan Calumet ( or ) is a Village (United States), village in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The village is located within Calumet Charter Township, Michigan, Calumet Township, Houghton County, Michiga ...

, on a plot of land leased from

Cleveland-Cliffs Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (CCI, formerly Cliffs Natural Resources) is an American steel manufacturer based in Cleveland, Ohio. They specialize in the mining, beneficiation, and pelletizing of iron ore, as well as steelmaking, including stamping a ...

on the corner of 3rd and Fair streets, now the present location of the entrance to the Berry Events Center on the campus of

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

. 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 and Laurium, Michigan. The team played for three seasons in the International Professional Hockey League, th ...

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 and Great Plains, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. Th ...

. Earlier, the rink was home to the Marquette Sentinels.

References

External links

Palestra info

{{International Professional Hockey League Defunct sports venues in Michigan Defunct indoor arenas in the United States Defunct ice hockey venues 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