Philadelphia Civic Center

Philadelphia Civic Center
"The Nation's Most Historic Arena"
Location	3400 Civic Center Blvd, Philadelphia, PA
Opened	1931
Closed	1996
Demolished	2005
Owner
Construction cost	$5,300,000
Architect	Philip H. Johnson
Former names	Municipal Auditorium Philadelphia Convention Hall
Tenants
Capacity	Basketball: 9,600 Concerts: 12,037 (The Beatles 1964) Convention: 15,000

The Philadelphia Convention Hall and Civic Center, more commonly known as the Philadelphia Civic Center and the Philadelphia Convention Center, was a complex of five or more buildings evolved out of a series of buildings dedicated to expanding trade which began with the National Export Exhibition in 1899. There were two important buildings on the site. The Commercial Museum, built in 1899, was one of the original exposition buildings. The Municipal Auditorium (Convention Hall), built in 1931, Philip H. Johnson, architect. The site was host to national political conventions in 1900, 1936, 1940 and 1948.

Location

The Convention Hall arena was located at 3400 Civic Center Blvd, on the edge of the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, and just to the southwest of Franklin Field. It was built in 1930 and its highest capacity was approximately 12,000. The building was an Art Deco landmark, notable for its many friezes and other decorative aspects.

After the building of The Spectrum in South Philadelphia in 1967, the building nearly became obsolete. The Civic Center also hosted the World Hockey Association's Philadelphia Blazers and the minor-league Philadelphia Firebirds hockey teams.

The last remants of the Civic Center, Pennsylvania Hall, built in 1978, was imploded on March 5, 2007.

External links

• [1] Dedication booklet
• [2] Information on Moller Opus 5819 now at the University of Oklahoma's School of Music, American Organ Institute.
• Photos of the Civic Center prior to destruction including details of the preservation efforts
• [3]
• Philadelphia Boxing History at Convention Hall