The Chicago Stadium was home to the Blackhawks for 65 seasons before moving across Madison Street to the United Center in January 1995. Built for $7 million, it was once the largest indoor arena in the world.
The Stadium hosted thousands of events besides hockey and basketball, running the gauntlet of concerts, boxing matches, ice shows, circus shows, track meets, rodeos, political conventions and even the first indoor NFL football championship game.
Also known as “The Grand Old Lady,” Chicago Stadium was unique in many ways besides its size and seating capacity. It had the Barton Organ with more than 3,600 pipes in the venue’s ceiling, which produced a sound equivalent to 25 brass bands. In 1943, a four-sided analog Bulova clock and scoreboard was installed, which was upgraded in 1975 to a digital one. In 1973, the horn from the Blackhawk yacht was added, sounding for every Blackhawks goal.
It quickly became one of the loudest buildings in hockey, often making the arena shake, especially as the Blackhawks started to rebound in the 1960s behind Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull and Glenn Hall, who led the team to a Stanley Cup in 1961. And who could forget the deafening ovation during Wayne Messmer’s rendition of the national anthem before the 1991 NHL All-Star Game.