Venue: Burlington Memorial Auditorium
Town: Burlington, US
Capacity: 2,500

Burlington Memorial Auditorium is a 2,500-seat multi-purpose National Register-listed arena, in Burlington, Vermont, United States. It was built in 1927-28 to designs of local architect Frank Lyman Austin, and is operated by the Burlington Department of Parks and Recreation. As a convention center, it offers 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2) of space. The main space contains a 27-by-80-foot proscenium stage. The building also has two smaller event spaces. Since 2016, the building has been deemed structurally unsafe and has been closed to the public while the city determines how to renovate it and bring it up to modern building codes. The city of Burlington redeveloped a significant portion of its downtown district during the mayoral administration of Dr. Clarence Beecher of 1925-29. Its impetus was actually as a memorial to Burlington's native sons who had fought in all American wars up to that point, and in particular the First World War. As of 1925, the city had no commemorative markers to honor its natives who had participated in the recent European conflict. Hence, on 19 September 1925, the editor of the Burlington Free Press, John L. Southwick, issued the first in a series of calls for the construction of a new building that would not only honor their service, but also serve as a convention center, generate income for the city, and make Burlington a more popular travel destination hosting special events. The financial backing for constructing a new auditorium was provided by a $750,000 bond that the city had secured. By January 1926, Beecher's administration had developed a plan for building a new city hall with an attached auditorium, on the site of Stannard Memorial Hall on Church Street. A large percentage of Burlington residents favored the construction of a completely separate auditorium building, however, and by 3 February Beecher's office had developed a plan wherein $150,000 of the bond money could be used to build a standalone assembly space with a capacit