Exterior of Edmonton Arena, 1913 [City of Edmonton Archives, EA-45-1121]
In 1913, the Edmonton Stock Pavilion, later renamed to the Edmonton Arena, was built on the exhibition grounds. It was used for livestock exhibitions, hockey matches and pageants. At the time, it was the largest arena in Canada with a capacity of 6000 spectators. However, when the Grads would play, capacity was known to expand. In 1930, a reported 6, 792 spectators for the Grads versus the Chicago Taylor-Trunks match was said to be the largest crowd ever to attend a basketball game in Canada.
Commercial Grads and a St. Louis Team, 1926, [CU157219] Courtesy of Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary
Game night in the arena. Wooden boards were placed over the surface to lay down the basketball court. Fans filled the stands. Concessionaires doled out hotdogs, french fries and coffee. The Edmonton Newsboys Band entertained the crowd. The players took to the court and the magic began!
Pickles, ketchup, chow, chow, chow
Chew ’em up, eat ‘em up, bow, wow, wow
Hannibal, cannibal, sis, boom, bah,
Commercial Graduates, rah, rah, rah!
Basketball hoop from the Edmonton Arena [1980-16-202]
Edmonton Arena seats, circa 1930 [1992-54-2]
On June 4, 1940, the Grads played their last game. The Second World War was on and the federal government needed the Arena for a British Commonwealth Air Training Plan manning depot. Having no place to play became the final reason for the Grads to disband.
After the war, hockey resumed and the arena was renamed to the Edmonton Gardens. It was the home rink for the Edmonton Flyers, the Edmonton Oil Kings and the Edmonton Oilers when they played in the World Hockey Association. The building was torn down in 1982 and replaced with the Expo Center in 1984.
