Louisville Gardens is a multi-purpose, 6,000-seat arena, in Louisville, Kentucky, that opened in 1905, as the Jefferson County Armory. It celebrated its 100th anniversary as former city mayor Jerry Abramson's official "Family-Friendly New Years Eve" celebration location.
- Venue
- Louisville Gardens
- Town
- Kentucky, US
- Capacity
- 6,000
Louisville Gardens is a multi-purpose, 6,000-seat arena, in Louisville, Kentucky, that opened in 1905, as the Jefferson County Armory. It celebrated its 100th anniversary as former city mayor Jerry Abramson's official "Family-Friendly New Years Eve" celebration location. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The facility has served the city of Louisville and Jefferson County in a variety of ways during the past century, from utilization as an actual armory to American Basketball Association's Kentucky Colonels basketball games, to various wrestling events, concerts, political rallies, and the staging of Hurricane Katrina flood relief. Elvis Presley performed before a capacity crowd on November 25, 1956. In addition, the pop sensation band Jackson 5-known as "The Jacksons" during this era-performed on October 7, 1979, as part of the band's 4th leg from their Destiny World Tour. More recently, WWE used the 3,000-person capacity arena as a training ground for future stars in a minor-league promotion known as Ohio Valley Wrestling, until the organization moved to the Davis Arena. WWE also staged two pay-per-view events while the venue was known as Louisville Gardens: (In Your House 6 and In Your House 17: Ground Zero). TNA Wrestling held an event at the venue in 2007. Freedom Hall replaced the small, aging facility in 1956, as a more popular venue for city events. Martin Luther King Jr. (Tuesday, August 23, 1960) and Harry Truman both spoke at the arena. Primary home of Louisville Cardinals men's basketball starting in 1945 when Bernard "Peck" Hickman was head coach until 1956 when they moved to Freedom Hall. They played occasional games there each season until their last on November 30, 1972. The Louisville Cardinals were 153-23 all time at the armory. The Kentucky Wildcats when led by Adolph Rupp played 72 games at the armory going 61-11 there from 1937 to 1956. Included in that was games played in the SEC men's basketball tournament which