Dallas Sportatorium

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The Dallas Sportatorium, as it looked in the mid-1990s

The Sportatorium, located in downtown Dallas, Texas (not to be confused with the Hollywood Sportatorium in Hollywood, Florida or the Tampa Sportatorium in Tampa, Florida), was a barnlike arena used primarily for professional wrestling events. The building, which stood at the intersection of South Industrial Boulevard and Cadiz Street, had a seating capacity of approximately 4,000.

[edit] Early history

Built by the Cox Fence Company on the occasion of the Texas Centennial celebration in 1936, the original Dallas Sportatorium was constructed in the shape of an octagon and played host to weekly wrestling shows promoted initially by Burt Willoughby, and later by Ed McLemore. Beginning in 1948, it was also the site of the Big D Jamboree, a weekly country music showcase similar in format to the Grand Ole Opry and Louisiana Hayride; portions of the Jamboree were broadcast nationally on the CBS Radio Network.

The Sportatorium was destroyed by fire on May 1, 1953, in what was rumored to be an act of arson by a rival wrestling promoter. It was quickly rebuilt at the same location as a rectangular venue (with an octagonal seating configuration similar to the original), and reopened on September 22 of that year, billed at the time as The Million-Dollar Sportatorium. The arena also held boxing events and concerts featuring up-and-coming rock stars (including, most notably, an early performance by Bruce Springsteen in 1974) over the years, very much in the same manner as its Los Angeles counterpart, the Grand Olympic Auditorium, did during this time frame.

In early 1966, McLemore's promotion was taken over by wrestler Jack Adkisson, who was known in the ring as Fritz Von Erich. Adkisson's promotion, which became known in the early 1980s as World Class Championship Wrestling and featured his sons as its main stars, was the most famous and successful wrestling federation to run regularly at the Dallas Sportatorium.

[edit] Decline

Interior of the Sportatorium, photographed during a mid-1950s Big D Jamboree show

After WCCW folded in 1990 due to dwindling attendance, fundamental changes in the wrestling industry and tragedies involving a number of its top stars (including all but one of the Von Erichs, Gino Hernandez, and Bruiser Brody), the Sportatorium served as home base for the Global Wrestling Federation from 1991 to 1994 (billing itself for a time as the GlobalDome). Following the GWF's demise, a succession of smaller promotions attempted to hold shows in the building, each of them running out of money and closing their doors after only a short time.

The Sportatorium fell into disuse in the late 1990s when local independent wrestling promotions, by now drawing crowds only in the low hundreds, elected to run their shows in dance halls and other smaller venues instead. In addition, the aging arena was seriously dilapidated by this time, was out of compliance with local building codes, and was often used as a shelter by homeless people who entered the building illegally. In late December of 2001 some of these individuals, apparently seeking respite from sub-freezing temperatures, started a fire inside the building; the flames quickly spread and caused major damage to the arena's upstairs offices. The fire proved to be the coup de grâce for the Sportatorium, its long-rumored demolition finally taking place in the spring of 2003. Before its implosion, Kevin Von Erich took off a bench-seat and a few items from the Sportatorium as souvenirs, which he still owns today.

Although it had a reputation for being notoriously uncomfortable and unsanitary (having woefully inadequate heating and cooling facilities, and severe rodent infestation problems), the Dallas Sportatorium is nonetheless still remembered fondly for its intimate atmosphere, and is considered one of pro wrestling's most legendary venues.