This week in history: West Palm Beach Auditorium opens
The September 3, 1967, dedication of the West Palm Beach Auditorium kicked off a week of free shows featuring country, rock and roll, and ice skating performers. Afternoon thunderstorms on opening day didn’t interfere with the dedication show, but the auditorium will be remembered by many as the “leaky teepee” for the cone-shaped roof that couldn’t keep all the rain out.
1967 Palm Beach Post staff file photo
About 3,600 people attended the West Palm Beach Auditorium dedication. (1967 Palm Beach Post staff file photo)
Some memorable moments in the history of the West Palm Beach Auditorium:
In 1972 the rock musical “Hair” opened at the auditorium after a court overturned a ban on the performance, saying the auditorium manager didn’t have the right to dictate what is “wholesome family entertainment.”
Hundreds of people waited in line in 30-degree temperatures to buy tickets for Elvis Presley’s Feb. 13, 1977, performance at the auditorium, in what would be the King’s final tour.
A 1981 Palm Beach Post story called the multipurpose auditorium “multitroubled.”
The moat around the auditorium stood empty in 1984, awaiting planned repairs.
But by 1987 the venue was vying for honor of being named the top facility of its size in the country for the second year in a row.
Despite the troubled spots in its history, lots of people have fond memories of concerts at the auditorium, as evidenced by the Facebook group I saw that band at the West Palm Beach Auditorium.
In 1998 the city sold the building to Jehovah’s Witnesses for $12.5 million. The Witnesses converted the auditorium into the Christian Convention Center.
Tags: buildings, This Week in History
