Philadelphia Arena
| Formerly | Philadelphia Auditorium and Ice Palace |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Sports and entertainment venue |
| Founded | 1920 |
| Founder | George F. Pawling & Co. (contractor), Philadelphia Auditorium and Ice Palace Corporation (owner) |
| Defunct | 1983 |
| Fate | Destroyed by arson |
| Headquarters | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , United States |
Area served | Philadelphia metropolitan area |
| Products | Ice hockey, basketball, boxing, wrestling, concerts, public skating, rodeo events |
The Arena was a multipurpose sports and event facility situated at the intersection of 46th and Market Streets in West Philadelphia from 1920 until its closure in 1983. Initially known as the Philadelphia Auditorium and Ice Palace, it was located at 4530 Market Street. This venue served as Philadelphia's main ice hockey arena until the Spectrum's inauguration in 1967 and was also the inaugural home court for the Philadelphia Warriors basketball team. In 1977, it was renamed the Martin Luther King Jr. Arena, continuing operations into the early 1980s before permanently shutting down and being destroyed by arson in 1983.
Philadelphia Auditorium and Ice Palace
Before the Arena's establishment, Philadelphia's ice skating and hockey teams utilized the West Park Ice Palace, which burned down in March 1901. George Orton, affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania and founder of Penn’s first hockey team in 1896 as well as the Philadelphia Hockey League in 1897, championed the creation of a new indoor venue to foster the sport’s development following that loss. A temporary outdoor rink called the Winter Palace collapsed during a storm, underscoring the urgent need for a permanent facility. Penn revived its hockey program in 1918, with Orton mobilizing city officials and business leaders to secure funding for a new rink.
In November 1919, George F. Pawling & Co. was awarded the contract to construct an arena at 45th and Market Streets, complete with an adjacent ice plant. The Philadelphia Auditorium and Ice Palace Corporation, owned by Pawling, managed the venue.
The arena boasted an ice surface measuring 220 by 101 feet, a skate room capable of holding 3,000 pairs of skates alongside storage for 4,000 coats, and seating for 4,000 spectators without visual obstructions — including 1,500 seats in the balcony — positioning it as a premier facility of its era. It immediately became home to Penn’s hockey squad while drawing Princeton and Yale to adopt it as their home rink.
Although planned to open on February 11, 1920 with a Penn-Princeton match, ice plant complications delayed the debut until February 14 when a Yale-Princeton game attracted over 4,000 attendees.
Yale utilized this arena as its home rink during 1920 due to the absence of an on-campus facility. Orton organized the Intercollegiate Ice Hockey League; throughout the 1920–1921 season, Yale, Princeton, and Penn all hosted home games at this Ice Palace.
The United States Amateur Hockey Association was established in Philadelphia in October 1920. Beginning in 1921, two local teams—the Quaker City and St. Nicholas—played their home games at this arena. The Philadelphia Ice Hockey League also held contests there during the early 1920s.
Beyond ice sports, the Ice Palace accommodated public skating sessions and boxing matches. A notable event included light-heavyweight champion Gene Tunney defeating Whitney Wenzel there in February 1922.
Tyrrell
Following financial difficulties resulting from original investors withdrawing support, Pawling's Philadelphia Auditorium and Ice Palace Corporation declared bankruptcy. In October 1922, ownership transferred to Jules Mastbaum—president of the Stanley Company of America—and Fred G. Nixon-Nirdlinger. Mastbaum, a native Philadelphian, was determined to prevent New York interests from acquiring the arena. The Ice Palace had represented a $960,000 investment by Pawling and associates with a $350,000 mortgage held by Franklin Trust Company. On January 23, 1924, after two years of unpaid taxes, Delaware revoked the charter of the Philadelphia Auditorium & Ice Palace Corporation.
On January 4, 1927, the American Basketball League's Philadelphia Phillies triumphed over the Brooklyn Celtics with a score of 31–29 before an audience of approximately 9,000 at the Arena.
In that same year, Rudy Fried and Maurice Fishman acquired the Arena and managed it until entering receivership in 1934. Early in 1929, Boston-based Funk & Wicox were engaged to renovate the Arena to increase seating capacity to 17,000 at an estimated cost of $1 million. That year also marked Peter A. Tyrrell’s (1896–1973) arrival as boxing matchmaker; he later served as publicist. In 1934, a federal judge appointed Tyrrell as friendly receiver-in-equity; he assumed general manager duties until 1958 during which he restored profitability and broadened entertainment programming.
The Arena hosted Philadelphia’s NHL team—the Quakers—during their lone season in 1930–31.
Tyrrell was an innovator in broadcasting live hockey, boxing, and wrestling matches from the Arena starting in 1939 via Philco’s experimental television station.
In February 1946 Leonard Peto—former owner of Montreal Maroons NHL franchise—announced intentions to relocate his team to Philadelphia for the upcoming NHL season with plans for constructing a new arena seating approximately 20,000 at Broad and Huntingdon Streets. Tyrrell opposed this initiative citing territorial rights held by American Hockey League teams and announced his own plans for building a larger ice hockey venue. Peto’s proposal was unsuccessful; instead, the AHL admitted Philadelphia Ramblers for that season.
That same year Tyrrell collaborated with other Arena managers at Manhattan’s Commodore Hotel to establish a new professional basketball league. He invested $10,000 securing Philadelphia’s franchise at the Arena and founded what became known as the Philadelphia Warriors.
Hockey, Basketball, and Entertainment
The venue was the site of significant sporting occasions, notably marking the professional debut of Sonja Henie following her triumph at the 1936 Winter Olympics.
When access to the Academy of Music was denied, Charles A. Lindbergh addressed a pro-isolationist gathering at the Arena on March 29, 1940. Organized by the America First Committee, this event attracted 10,000 people inside and an additional 6,000 outside. The program included appearances by Senator David I. Walsh and Kathleen Norris, while a rival rally took place simultaneously at Convention Hall featuring New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia and Ambassador William Bullitt.
In 1943, cowboy icon Roy Rogers held his inaugural rodeo performance at the Arena, establishing the Roy Rogers Rodeo as a recurring seasonal event for more than twenty years. After a fatal accident involving a young cowgirl in 1946, her funeral was conducted at the Arena with Rogers and The Sons of Pioneers providing musical tribute.
The Philadelphia Sports Writers Association Banquet found a home at the Arena, which also served as the rink for several minor league hockey teams such as the Philadelphia Arrows, Philadelphia Ramblers, Philadelphia Comets, Philadelphia Falcons/Philadelphia Rockets, and Philadelphia Ramblers (EHL). The NBA's Philadelphia Warriors called it home ice, and it occasionally hosted games for the Philadelphia 76ers when the Convention Center was unavailable.
Prior to the opening of the Spectrum, this Arena was a prominent location for boxing and wrestling. Renowned fighters including Sugar Ray Robinson, Lew Tendler, Gene Tunney, Joe Frazier, Jack Delaney, and Primo Carnera competed there. The 1939 amateur boxing championship drew an audience of 10,000.
The Arena hosted championship wrestling bouts for both the NWA and the WWWF, including the notable moment in 1973 when Stan Stasiak captured the WWWF title—the sole title change outside Madison Square Garden until 1977. Additionally, Roller Derby events were held through the Philadelphia Warriors team, owned by Bill Griffiths of the Los Angeles Thunderbirds and Roller Games.
Although political functions were predominantly held at Convention Hall, numerous mayoral inaugurations took place at this Arena. Evangelist Billy Sunday also delivered sermons there. In 1947, Triangle Publications acquired ownership of both the Arena and the Philadelphia Warriors franchise, establishing the first combined ownership of a major sports team alongside a television station via WFIL-TV (Channel 6). WFIL utilized the Arena as its broadcast studio until constructing its own facility nearby. In 1958, Tyrrell led a group that purchased the Arena from the Walter Annenberg Foundation.
On September 29, 1963, the Nation of Islam rented the Arena for Elijah Muhammad’s address entitled "Separation or Death."
Following Tyrrell’s retirement in 1965, James Toppi Enterprises—a sports promotion firm—secured ownership of the Arena through auction.
During the 1960s, the Arena also operated as a concert venue. In March 1969, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention recorded "Didja Get Any Onya?" there. Later that year on September 19, The Doors performed two concerts at the site.
1970s and the Martin Luther King Arena
Following the inauguration of the Spectrum in 1967, the facility experienced a decline in activity throughout the 1970s. Significant boxing events, such as the 1971 Fight of the Century featuring Joe Frazier versus Muhammad Ali, attracted substantial audiences through closed-circuit broadcasts at venues including both the Spectrum and this arena.
Between 1967 and 1974, the Eastern Warriors Roller Derby team regularly performed at the arena, often filling it to near capacity. During the mid-1970s, Vincent J. McMahon utilized the venue to film multiple episodes of World Wide Wrestling Federation events in a single evening.
By 1977, due to its worsening condition, the building was sold at auction to a consortium led by former Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Hal Greer, with a mission to rejuvenate West Philadelphia. Renamed to honor Martin Luther King Jr., the arena became the new home for the Continental Basketball Association’s Lancaster Red Roses franchise after relocating and rebranding as the Philadelphia Kings. The ownership procured a basketball court from New Jersey’s Centrum and sourced equipment from Drexel University. Despite being coached by Greer and featuring ex-NBA player Cazzie Russell, the Kings faced low attendance figures, sometimes drawing fewer than 150 fans per game, resulting in their return to Lancaster after just one season.
On August 24, 1983, a fire completely destroyed the structure. Firefighters responded to reports of smoke and flames on the building’s southern side, escalating to multiple alarms as the fire intensified. Mikal Gedis was apprehended for igniting three fires that evening, including one inside the boarded-up arena, allegedly caused by a dropped cigarette.
The Philadelphia Inquirer commemorated the arena’s role as a cherished venue where many locals witnessed their first ice hockey matches, boxing bouts, rodeos, and concerts—highlighting performances by Elvis Presley among others.
Located adjacent to the former WFIL TV studio known for broadcasting American Bandstand, the site was redeveloped by 2007 into residential housing near the Ron Brown Commerce Center.