1963 Hello, That arena photo reminded me of the newly built Long Beach Sports Arena. The open doors on the upper balcony walkway allowed the ocean breeze to come into the upper areas. The A/C must have been on the blink. In 1963, it had just opened for business to car shows, motorcycle shows, business conventions, and even sailboat/powerboat shows. Most shows were open to the general public. But, the original car shows were held at the historic Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, located in its oceanfront spot since 1932. 1932 The famous Rainbow Pier, the only circular pier in the USA was also built to surround the far outside ocean area, creating an actual lagoon inside of the protected roadway. What is shown is the inner lagoon and protective wall of the auditorium property. We watched it being built starting in 1961, while as teens still in high school, just up the street. The photo on the right was taken from the outside walkway of the old Municipal Auditorium. By May-June of 1962, the old historic Long Beach Municipal Auditorium was attached to this new building. It had been going on for months and we, (the graduating cl*** of 1962) thought we would be the first cl*** to walk down the aisles in our cap and gowns. This new huge building was attached to the old auditorium in the early 1962 months. The official new Sports Arena opening was in the fall of 1962, well after our graduation in June. We could walk from one building to the other through a tall gl*** wall enclosure. The new Sports Arena was impressive. But, we were the last graduating cl*** to walk in the old Municipal Auditorium. At least it went down in history for the graduating cl***. We even had the senior all night dance in the old auditorium floor, with the top names in the music business at the time. 8 pm to 5 am. The last night as seniors… The new structure was impressive, but the old auditorium was historic. It lasted 13 years next to the new arena and finally was torn down. Jnaki But, within 6 years, the concerts began, the car shows started in full force, the custom car/motorcycle shows were packing the new arena's main floor for the shows. The custom car/hot rods were on the main floor and the motorcycles after complaining about being shoved under the seating areas of the ground floor, were able to use the wide walkway of the balcony to showcase their custom builds. At least it was open air and lots of natural light. Finally, the custom motorcycles were able to get space on the main floor out in the open, just like the hot rods and custom cars. Then as the history moved on, they were able to get the whole main floor for the packed custom motorcycle shows, with no hot rods or customs. YRMV
The Jalopy Journal
