Minneapolis Auditorium (1927-1989); Minneapolis Convention Center

The Minneapolis Auditorium was an indoor arena/theater located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The arena was constructed in 1927 and could hold up to 10,000 people. The Minneapolis Lakers of the NBA played their home games at the auditorium until they moved into the Minneapolis Armory in 1959, before relocating to Los Angeles the following year. By that time, the Minnesota Lakers were struggling to win games and fill the stands, but they had been the most dominant team of the early 1950s and won five NBA championships between 1949 and 1954. In 1954, star center George Mikan retired, and the next star player, rookie Elgin Baylor, was drafted by the team in its final year in Minnesota and became a star of the Los Angeles Lakers throughout the 1960s, the era when the iconic rivalry between the L.A. Lakers and Boston Celtics began. In 1989, the auditorium was demolished and the Minneapolis Convention Center was built in its place.

The Minneapolis Lakers played their home games at the Auditorium from 1947 until they moved into the Minneapolis Armory in 1959. One of the most dominant players of the 1950s, and the reason why the Minneapolis Auditorium was full of fans in the early 1950s, was George Mikan, the dominant center who led the team to five championships in six seasons. Mikan played from 1947 to 1956 under Hall of Fame coach John Kundla. Mikan was a four-time NBA All-Star, secured four scoring titles, and was named the 1958 MVP. The Lakers moved to Los Angeles in 1960, and the Minneapolis Auditorium was used for a variety of events. The auditorium was demolished in 1989 so that the Minneapolis Convention Center could be built in its place.

“Minneapolis Auditorium, 1301 2nd Avenue S., Minneapolis, Minnesota (Razed).” Placeography RSS. Accessed December 10, 2019. http://www.placeography.org/index.php/Minneapolis_Auditorium,_1301_2nd_Avenue_S.,_Minneapolis,_Minnesota_(Razed).

Hennepin County Library - A History of Minneapolis. Accessed December 10, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20140128030851/http://www.hclib.org/pub/search/specialcollections/mplshistory/?id=41.