Chicago Stadium

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Lore & Background

The Stadium hosted the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL from 1929 to 1994 and the Chicago Bulls of the NBA from 1967 to 1994. The arena was the site of the first NFL playoff game in 1932; the 1932, 1940, and 1944 Democratic National Conventions; and the 1932 and 1944 Republican National Conventions, as well as numerous concerts, rodeo competitions, boxing matches, political rallies, and plays. The Stadium was built by Harmon, first proposed in 1926, not long after the legalization of professional boxing in Illinois. Encouraged by the success of the New York Rangers and New York Americans expansion NHL teams, and their Madison Square Garden, Harmon also wanted to bring an NHL team to Chicago, but he lost out to Col. Frederic McLaughlin. This team would soon be known as the Chicago Black Hawks (later 'Blackhawks'). With or without the Black Hawks, Harmon then spent $2.5 million and borrowed more funds from friends, including $600,000 from James E. Norris, in order to build the stadium. Eric Hall was the architect and he designed a stadium where all had a view of the action. His design philosophy was "The man who pays the lowest admission price has as much right to see the show as those who sit at the ringside". The building used Art Deco flourishes, including flattened columns, long vertical windows, relief sculptures of various athletics and medallions of wrestlers adorned the walls above entrances. Breaking ground in July 1928, it opened eight months later, on March 28, 1929. Various reports give the cost at US$5 million, US$7 million and US$9,500,000. Chicago Stadium was the largest indoor arena in the world at the time, with permanent seating for 15,000 people, and a capacity for 26,000 with floor seats and standing room. It was situated in Harmon's old "Valley" neighbourhood where he grew up. Its first event was a non-championship boxing match between Tommy Loughran and Mickey Walker for a purse of US$150,000. Detroit's Olympia stadium, built two years earlier, was a model for Chicago Stadium. The Stadium was also the first arena with an air conditioning system.

In Their Own Story

Paddy Harmon envisioned the Stadium to bring an NHL team to Chicago, but lost out to Col. Frederic McLaughlin before eventually securing the Black Hawks as tenants. Harmon poured $2.5 million of his own money and borrowed heavily from friends like James E. Norris to build it, only to be forced out by the board of directors and lose control of the project. After Harmon died in a car crash less than a year after opening, leaving his family with just his shares and $2.50 cash, the Stadium struggled financially. It entered receivership on January 20, 1933, before being sold to James E. Norris and Arthur Wirtz in 1935 for $250,000. The building had no elevators; workers passed beer kegs up by hand and rolled them down the stairs, damaging the steps. Despite its rudimentary air conditioning that often filled the arena with fog, it hosted five presidential nominating conventions, including those for Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 and 1944.

Reader's Guide

The Stadium sat 17,317 for hockey at the time of closure, though standing room pushed the "actual" attendance beyond that figure. The official attendance figures in the published game summaries were often given in round numbers, such as 18,500 or 20,000. The largest recorded crowd for an NHL game at the stadium was 20,960 for a playoff game between the Blackhawks and Minnesota North Stars on April 10, 1982. In addition to the close-quartered, triple-tiered, boxy layout of the building, much of the loud, ringing noise of the fans could be attributed to the fabled 3,663-pipe Barton organ. It was estimated to have the total volume of 25 brass bands. The organ was considered to have the world's largest theater organ console with six manuals (keyboards) and over 800 stops. It was Harmon's intention that the massive organ would be needed to provide the music for whatever event was playing in the building. It was played by Al Melgard for decades during hockey games there, earning the Stadium the moniker "The Madhouse on Madison". For years, the Stadium was also known as "The Loudest Arena in the NBA", due to its barn-shaped features. When the Stadium closed in 1994, the organ was removed and prepared to be installed in the 19th hole museum. Soon after the museum closed, sending the organ along with another theatre organ to a warehouse in Phoenix, Arizona. In October 1996, a year after the stadium was razed, a propane tank explosion melted and destroyed both pipe organs, excluding the console. The organ is currently in the residence of Phil Maloof and is in good working condition with new pipes. As of July, 2026, the console is on display at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. In the Stanley Cup semifinals of 1971, when the Blackhawks scored a series-clinching empty-net goal in Game seven against the New York Rangers, CBS announcer Dan Kelly reported, "I can feel our broadcast booth shaking! That's the kind of place Chicago Stadium is right now!" The dressing rooms at the Stadium were placed underneath the seats, and the cramped corridor that led to the ice, with its twenty-two steps, became the stuff of legend. Legend has it a German Shepherd wandered the bowels at night as "the security team." During the 1973 Stanley Cup Final against Montreal, Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz had the horn of his yacht (Kahlenberg Q-3) installed in the building, and had

Did You Know?

• The first event at Chicago Stadium was a boxing match between Tommy Loughran and Mickey Walker on March 28, 1929.
• The Barton organ had six manuals and over 800 stops, according to the source.
• The broadcast booth shaking incident occurred during the 1971 Stanley Cup semifinals against the New York Rangers, per the source.
• The Kahlenberg Q-3 goal horn was installed during the 1973 Stanley Cup Final against Montreal, per the source.