St . Louis Arena The St . Louis Arena ( also known as The Checkerdome from 1977 to 1983 , and popularly referred to as " The Barn " ) was an indoor arena located in St . Louis , Missouri , that stood from 1929 to 1999 . The arena was the site of conventions , concerts , political rallies , horse shows , circuses , boxing matches , roller derby competitions , the 1973 and 1978 NCAA men ' s basketball Final Four , the NCAA Men ' s Midwest Regional finals in 1982 , 1984 and 1993 , the 1992 - 94 Missouri Valley Conference men ' s basketball tournament , and the 1975 NCAA Frozen Four ice hockey finals . The arena was home to various sports teams . History . The Building Comes to Life . At the conclusion of the 1904 Worlds Fair , St . Louis ended its long tradition of annually hosting large indoor agriculture and horse shows . The city tore down its huge St . Louis Exposition and Music Hall and built the St . Louis Coliseum which was aimed at individual events such as boxing matches . In 1928 the National Dairy Show offered the city the opportunity to become the permanent location for its annual two - week meeting of dairymen and their prize animals . With no public funds available , a group of businessmen raised private funding for what was projected as a $ 2 million building . The National Exposition Company in charge of the project hired Gustel R . Kiewitt as architect and the Boaz - Kiel Construction Company as general contractor . Kiewit ’ s design called for a lamella roof supported by 20 cantilever steel trusses , eliminating the need for view - obscuring internal support pillars . The lamella design consisted of Douglas fir ribs , 3 . 75 inches thick , 17 . 5 inches wide and 15 feet long , fitted together diagonally and giving the appearance of fish scales . The huge structure was completed in 1929 , just over a year after construction began . At 476 feet long and 276 feet wide , it was behind only Madison Square Garden as the largest indoor entertainment space in the country . A 13 - story building could have been erected inside of it . The Arena was not well - maintained after the 1940s , and its roof was damaged by a February 1959 tornado . After repairs , it was re - opened as the home of the Central Hockey League ' s St . Louis Braves , a Chicago Black Hawks farm team . The renovations included the removal of the fencing that enforced racial segregation , dating back to the time of the St . Louis Eagles . The St . Louis Blues Era ( 1967 - 1994 ) . By the time the NHL ' s St . Louis Blues began playing at the Arena in 1967 , it had fallen into such poor condition that it had to be heavily renovated in time for the 1967 - 68 season . As a condition of getting the expansion franchise , Blues owner Sid Salomon Jr . purchased the Arena from the Chicago Black Hawks , and spent several million dollars renovating the building and adding some 3 , 000 seats to bring the total to almost 15 , 000 . It never stopped being renovated from that day on , and held almost 20 , 000 seats by the time the Blues left the Arena in 1994 . Many fans considered its sight lines the best of any arena in the league , which is remarkable considering that it was not originally built for hockey . It was also known as one of the loudest arenas in the league . In 1977 , the Arena and the Blues were purchased by Ralston Purina , who rechristened the building The Checkerdome after the company ' s checkerboard logo . By 1983 , the cereal and pet food corporation had lost interest in the Blues and the Arena , and forfeited the team to the league . The team was nearly moved to Saskatoon , Saskatchewan before it was purchased by Harry Ornest , a Los Angeles - based businessman , who promptly returned the Arena to its original name . Closure & Demolition ( 1994 - 1999 ) . As a condition for the private financing of the demolition of city - owned Kiel Auditorium and the construction of privately - owned Kiel Center ( now the Scottrade Center ) on the same Downtown site , local business group Civic Progress , Inc . insisted that the Arena not be allowed to compete with Kiel Center for any events , while the insurance burden for the building was left with the City of St . Louis . With no income allowed for the Arena while insurance expenses continued , the building sat vacant while pressure built on the city government to either make it revenue - producing ( essentially impossible under the Civic Progress - imposed non - competitive clause ) or raze it . The arena remained vacant for nearly five years . Despite public opinion which was in favour of saving the Arena , it was demolished on February 27 , 1999 , in a controlled explosion .