For 65 years, a barrel-roofed hall on Oakland Avenue was the loudest room in St. Louis sports. The St. Louis Arena opened on September 23, 1929, immediately claiming its place as the second-largest indoor entertainment center in the country, trailing only Madison Square Garden in New York. Everyone just called it ‘The Barn’ — a nickname that stuck for reasons rooted less in hockey and more in the building’s original purpose.
This guide covers the arena’s full story: why it earned the barn nickname, how it became the beloved home of the St. Louis Blues and briefly the neon-bright Checkerdome, how big it actually got at its seating peak, which other teams and events passed through its doors, and exactly what occupies the site today.
Quick Answer
The St. Louis Arena, nicknamed ‘The Barn,’ was a 1929 indoor arena at 5700 Oakland Avenue that served as the primary home of the NHL’s St. Louis Blues from 1967 until 1994. Renamed the Checkerdome from 1977 to 1983 under Ralston Purina ownership, it hosted three straight Stanley Cup Finals (1968-1970). The Blues left for the new Kiel Center in 1994, the building sat vacant for nearly five years, and it was demolished by implosion on February 27, 1999. The site is now part of The Highlands, a mixed-use development of apartments, a hotel, offices, and restaurants near Forest Park.
Built for Cattle Shows, Not Hockey: How ‘The Barn’ Got Its Name
Construction began in 1928 under architects Gustel R. Kiewitt and Herman M. Sohrmann, with the Boaz-Kiel Construction Company completing the $1.5 million structure in roughly 14 months. At 476 feet long and 276 feet wide, the arena used a lamella roof — an interlocking lattice of short steel rafters supported by 20 cantilever trusses — that spanned the entire building without a single interior column. It was considered a structural marvel in 1929 and gave every seat, whether at a hockey game or a livestock show, a clear sightline.
The ‘Barn’ nickname didn’t actually come from hockey. The building’s first major event was the National Dairy Show, and for roughly its first 15 years the arena kept a dirt floor to host livestock exhibitions, horse shows, and agricultural expos alongside boxing and the circus. That rustic, straw-and-sawdust character gave the building its lasting nickname — one St. Louisans kept using long after the dirt floor was gone and the Blues had moved in.
The Blues, Three Stanley Cup Finals, and the Checkerdome Years
When the NHL doubled in size for the 1967-68 season, the expansion St. Louis Blues made the Arena their permanent home. The young team overachieved immediately, reaching the Stanley Cup Finals in each of its first three seasons — 1968, 1969, and 1970 — all played in front of raucous Barn crowds. The Blues were swept each time, twice by the Montreal Canadiens and once by the Boston Bruins, but the run cemented the arena’s reputation as one of the loudest buildings in the league.
In 1977, Ralston Purina bought both the Blues and the arena and renamed it the Checkerdome after the company’s red-and-white checkerboard logo, repainting the roof to match. The name lasted until 1983, when new owner Harry Ornest dropped the Ralston branding and restored the original St. Louis Arena name — the one most fans had kept using all along.
Beyond the Blues: the Spirits of St. Louis and a Packed Events Calendar
The Blues weren’t the only pro team to call the Arena home. The ABA’s Spirits of St. Louis played there for the league’s final two seasons, 1974-75 and 1975-76, fielding future NBA stars Moses Malone and Maurice Lucas before the franchise folded in the 1976 ABA-NBA merger — its owners famously negotiated a perpetual cut of national TV revenue instead of joining the NBA outright.
The building’s size and column-free floor made it a magnet for major non-hockey events too: the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four in 1973 and 1978, the NCAA Frozen Four in 1975, NHL All-Star Games in 1970 and 1988, plus decades of circuses, political conventions, boxing cards, and roller derby.
How Big Was the St. Louis Arena? Seating Capacity Over Time
The arena opened in 1929 with roughly 14,200 seats. As the Blues’ popularity grew, ownership renovated repeatedly, pushing hockey capacity to a peak near 18,000 in the late 1970s and early-to-mid 1980s before settling at 17,188 for its final years from the late 1980s through 1994 — the figure most commonly cited as its ‘final capacity.’ For non-hockey configurations like ABA basketball and concerts, the building was frequently billed as an 18,000-seat venue.
The Long Vacancy, Demolition, and What’s There Today
The Blues played their last game at the Arena on May 23, 1994, before moving downtown to the new Kiel Center (today’s Enterprise Center). As part of the financing deal that funded Kiel Center, the Arena was barred from competing for events, even as the city remained on the hook for its insurance. With no revenue coming in, the building sat empty for nearly five years while pressure mounted to either repurpose or demolish it.
On February 27, 1999, the St. Louis Arena came down in a controlled implosion, ending 70 years of history on the site. Today, 5700 Oakland Avenue sits within The Highlands, a mixed-use campus near Forest Park that also covers the former site of the old Forest Park Highlands amusement park. The development includes apartment buildings, a Hampton Inn hotel, restaurants and a coffee shop, offices for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals of Greater St. Louis, and KSDK-TV’s studios, with historical signage marking where the Arena once stood.
St. Louis Arena (The Barn) FAQs
Why was the St. Louis Arena nicknamed ‘The Barn’?
The nickname predates hockey. The building’s first major event was the 1929 National Dairy Show, and it kept a dirt floor for about 15 years to host livestock shows, horse shows, and agricultural expos — giving the venue a rustic, barn-like character that stuck even after the Blues arrived.
Why was the St. Louis Arena called the Checkerdome?
Ralston Purina purchased the Blues and the arena in 1977 and renamed it the Checkerdome after the company’s widely recognized checkerboard logo. The name lasted until 1983, when new owner Harry Ornest reverted to the original St. Louis Arena name.
When was the St. Louis Arena demolished?
It was demolished on February 27, 1999, in a controlled implosion, after sitting vacant since the Blues left for the new Kiel Center on May 23, 1994.
Did the St. Louis Blues ever win the Stanley Cup at the Arena?
No. The Blues reached three straight Stanley Cup Finals there in 1968, 1969, and 1970 but were swept each time — twice by the Montreal Canadiens and once by the Boston Bruins. Their first Stanley Cup title didn’t come until 2019, decades after the Arena was gone.
What was the St. Louis Arena’s seating capacity?
It opened in 1929 with about 14,200 seats, expanded through renovations to a peak near 18,000 in the late 1970s and early-to-mid 1980s, and held 17,188 for hockey in its final years before closing in 1994.
What other teams played at the St. Louis Arena besides the Blues?
The ABA’s Spirits of St. Louis played there in 1974-75 and 1975-76, featuring future stars Moses Malone and Maurice Lucas, before the franchise folded in the 1976 ABA-NBA merger.
What is at the site of the St. Louis Arena today?
The former 5700 Oakland Avenue site is now part of The Highlands, a mixed-use development near Forest Park with apartments, a Hampton Inn, restaurants, offices, and KSDK-TV’s studios, along with historical markers noting the Arena’s footprint.
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