I Love Chicago! - Chicago Stadium - United Center
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Drive up, Log in (if you find it), Get out. After bombing out on the difficulty of my last cache I thought I would try a different technique. I am starting this one off at a difficulty of 3. Let’s see if I have to increase it.
Ahhh, Chicago Stadium! Not the building you will be standing to the east of but the old monstrosity that used to be just to the north.
In the days before Ticketron, if you wanted good rock concert seats (and did not want to pay scalper's prices) you had to go to the ticket window the night before tickets went on sale, get in line and wait.
I used to have the best time. Pull my 1965 Dodge Coronet (yellow shag carpeting and a floor mounted Craig Powerplay with 8 track) to the curb, pull out the bookshelf speakers (from the back window ledge) and play the greatest hits of the band we were waiting for tickets for.
There would be, perhaps, 400 people there, drinking, partying, and playing Frisbee all night long. The police would cruse by once and a while but for the most part leave us alone.
When morning came the situation turned ugly, the people would start crowding the entrance, pushing, crushing. I don't know why. Sometimes someone would get hurt.
After this ordeal, always, I was rewarded with tickets located in the first 10 rows. Led Zeppelin (Physical Graffiti Tour), Rolling Stones, Yes, Alice Cooper and many others.
The Stadium had many drawbacks, horrible acoustics, many bad seats due to interior columns, terrible bathrooms, walkways and parking.
But it was the loudest stadium in the US.
When the Chicago Stadium opened at 1800 West Madison on March 28, 1929, and, at that time, it was the largest indoor sporting arena in the entire world. It was built at a cost of about $7,000,000.
The Stadium was considered state-of-the-art architecturally when it was built. It boasted a 37,000-square-foot main floor, a 185 foot ice surface from end to end (that's actually 15 feet shorter than the current regulation length), and over 16,600 seats - 8,000 more than Madison Square Garden, which was the largest sporting venue at the time. One of the most impressive innovations was the Stadium's modern ventilation system, which delivered 600,000 cubic feet of fresh air to the building every minute.
Sadly, Chicago Stadium went the way of many of hockey's historic arenas. The small ice surface (188ft. x 85ft.) and lack of luxury seating made the old barn obsolete and it was torn down in 1995.
Then along came Michael Jordan and the string of Bulls successes. Money came flowing in and soon a new stadium was built in 1994 for a cost of $175 million.
Dedication:
To Dano (AKA: Monkey Boy, Billy) my sometime caching partner. We have spent several long nights, under the stars, on a nice summer night, waiting for tickets.
In today's fast paced world, it is rare to have good friends whom you have known for decades.
Dano, here is to the last 30 years, lets look forward to the next 30. Cheers!
P.S. Bring your Sharpie.
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