Olympia Stadium - Grand River & McGraw

[56packman]

In 1977 I went to Chicago Stadium, a larger, much nicer version of Olympia, situated away from downtown, as Olympia was. It was very deluxe--when you walked into Olympia the lobby off of Grand River or the west entrance was very plain, utilitarian, just bumpy plaster walls painted with a wainscot. Chicago stadium had an alabaster stone walled lobby with a huge ticket booth made from the same stone, with Deco-ish reliefs of athletes. But the siren song of "more money" was heard in Chicago and the stadium came down, to be replaced by the United Center, which lacks the soul and rabble-rousing acoustics the stadium had. To see a Blackhawks game there was an otherworldly experience--the din of an excited crowd built into something fierce.

[MikeM]

In 1977 I went to Chicago Stadium, a larger, much nicer version of Olympia, situated away from downtown, as Olympia was. It was very deluxe--when you walked into Olympia the lobby off of Grand River or the west entrance was very plain, utilitarian, just bumpy plaster walls painted with a wainscot. Chicago stadium had an alabaster stone walled lobby with a huge ticket booth made from the same stone, with Deco-ish reliefs of athletes. But the siren song of "more money" was heard in Chicago and the stadium came down, to be replaced by the United Center, which lacks the soul and rabble-rousing acoustics the stadium had. To see a Blackhawks game there was an otherworldly experience--the din of an excited crowd built into something fierce.

I can't remember that much of a difference between the stadiums but you're probably right. I went to the last hockey game in Chicago stadium in 1994 or '95. It was a playoff game and Chicago lost to the Maple Leafs. I sat in the mezzanine, and the steep stairs did remind me of Olympia's - if you fell forward it looked like you would land on the ice. Since it was the last hockey game there, the team had an offer going where you could send in your ticket stub and a check, and they sent back your stub, a framed photo of the interior, taken during the national anthem from your section of the stadium, and a piece of the goal net, all mounted under glass and framed . I still have it, but the ink on the ticket has since faded to the point of being unreadable.