Chicago Stadium
| The Madhouse on Madison | |
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| Location | 1800 West Madison Street Chicago, Illinois 60612 |
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| Coordinates | 41°52′54″N 87°40′23″W / 41.88167°N 87.67306°WCoordinates: 41°52′54″N 87°40′23″W / 41.88167°N 87.67306°W |
| Owner | Chicago Stadium Corp. |
| Operator | Chicago Stadium Corp. |
| Capacity | 18,676 (basketball) 17,317 (ice hockey) 18,472 (ice hockey with standing room) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | July 2, 1928 |
| Opened | March 28, 1929 |
| Closed | September 9, 1994 |
| Demolished | February–May 1995 |
| Construction cost | $9.5 million ($133 million in 2017 dollars) |
| Architect | Hall, Lawrence & Ratcliffe, Inc. |
| Tenants | |
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Chicago Blackhawks (NHL) (1929–94) Chicago Stags (BAA/NBA) (1946–50) Chicago Majors (ABL) (1961–63) Chicago Bulls (NBA) (1967–94) Chicago Sting (NASL/MISL) (1980–88) |
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Chicago Stadium was an indoor arena located in Chicago. It opened in 1929, and closed in 1994.
The Stadium hosted the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL from 1929–1994 and the Chicago Bulls of the NBA from 1967–1994.
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 first proposed by Chicago sports promoter Paddy Harmon. Harmon 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'). Harmon then went on to at least try to get some control over the team by building a stadium for the Blackhawks to play in. He spent $2.5 million and borrowed more funds from friends, including James E. Norris in order to build the stadium.
Opened on March 28, 1929 at a cost of $9.5 million, Chicago Stadium was the largest indoor arena in the world at the time. Detroit's Olympia stadium, built two years earlier, was a model for the Chicago stadium and had a capacity of over 15,000 people. It was also the first arena with an air conditioning system (though the system was fairly rudimentary by modern standards, and was memorably given to filling the arena with fog during late-season games).
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