Chicago Stadium The Chicago Stadium was an indoor sports arena in Chicago , Illinois . The Stadium hosted the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL from 1929 – 1994 The stadium was first proposed by Chicago sports promoter Paddy Harmon . Harmon wanted to bring an NHL team to Chicago , but he lost out to Col . Frederic McLaughlin . This team would soon be known as the Chicago Black Hawks ( later ' Blackhawks ' ) . Harmon then went on to at least try to get some control over the team by building a stadium for the Blackhawks to play in . He spent $ 2 . 5 million and borrowed more funds from friends , including James E . Norris in order to build the stadium . Completed on March 28 , 1929 at a cost of $ 9 . 5 million ( $ 2 . 5 million was funded by Harmon ) , Chicago Stadium was the largest indoor arena in the world at the time - the closest to it in terms of capacity at the time was the third incarnation of New York ' s Madison Square Garden , which sat almost half as many people . Detroit ' s Olympia stadium , built two years earlier , was a model for the Chicago stadium and had a capacity of over 15 , 000 people . It was also the first arena with an air conditioning system ( though the system was fairly rudimentary by modern standards , and was memorably given to filling the arena with fog during late - season games ) . The Stadium sat 17 , 317 for hockey at the time of closure . Standees were allowed for many years , and often the official attendance figures in the published game summaries were given in round numbers , such as 18 , 500 or 20 , 000 . The largest recorded crowd for an NHL game at the stadium was 20 , 069 for a playoff game between the Blackhawks and Minnesota North Stars on April 10 , 1982 . That record would be broken on April 23 , 1996 when the Thunderdome , home of the Tampa Bay Lightning , would record an attendace of 28 , 183 . That record was broken again for the 2003 Heritage Classic , and then the 2008 NHL Winter Classic at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo , NY . " The Madhouse on Madison " . In addition to the close - quartered , triple - tiered , boxy layout of the building , much of the loud , ringing noise of the fans could be attributed to the fabled 3 , 663 - pipe organ that was played during hockey games there , earning it the moniker of " The Madhouse on Madison ( Street ) " . In the Stanley Cup semi - finals in 1971 , when the Blackhawks scored a series - clinching empty - net goal , CBS TV announcer Dan Kelly reported , " I can feel our broadcast booth shaking ! That ' s the kind of place Chicago Stadium is right now ! " The dressing rooms at the Stadium were placed underneath the seats , and the cramped corridor that led to the ice , with its twenty - two steps , became the stuff of legend and hockey ' s version of cricket ' s famed Long Room . It also became traditional for Blackhawk fans to cheer loudly throughout the singing of the Star Spangled Banner , especially when sung by Chicago favorite Wayne Messmer . Denizens of the second balcony often added sparklers and flags to the occasion . Arguably , the most memorable of these was the singing before the 1991 NHL All - Star Game , which took place during the Gulf War . In 1992 , Chicago Stadium was the center of the sports universe when both the Blackhawks and the Chicago Bulls reached the finals in their respective leagues . The Blackhawks got swept in their finals by the Pittsburgh Penguins , while the Bulls won the 1992 NBA Finals . It was also the very last NHL - used facility to retain the use of an analog dial - type large four - sided clock for timekeeping in professional hockey games . That clock eventually was replaced by a four - sided scoreboard with a digital clock , and then by another , this one with a color electronic message board . The Stadium was also one of the last three NHL arenas ( the others being Boston Garden and the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium ) to have a shorter - than - regulation ice surface , as their construction predated the regulation . The distance was taken out of the neutral zone . Demolition . After the Blackhawks and Bulls moved to the United Center , the Chicago Stadium was demolished in 1995 . CNN went so far as to televise the demolition , showing devoted Blackhawks and Bulls fans crying as the wrecking ball hit the old building .