Greenville Memorial Auditorium Demolished in 1997 (Video)
On September 20, 1997, the Greenville Memorial Auditorium was demolished. I never watched anything in the arena myself. It was a little too before my time.
But reading about it, it’s cool how much history it held in it. It first opened in 1958. Some of the events that happened include:
- NWA professional wrestling matches
- New Edition
- Patti Labelle
- Rick James
- Dave Matthews Band
- KISS
- Rick Springfield
In fact, not long ago, Ozzie Osbourne shared a tweet showcasing a ticket to his concert at the Auditorium on June 18, 1989:
The classic Lynyrd Skynyrd line-up played their last show together in Greenville before the tragic plane accident that took the lives of Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and backup singer.
Greenville Memorial Auditorium Implosion
Straight from the archives, channel 7 did a live broadcast of the implosion. It was really interesting to be reminded of how much downtown was still developing.
There were concerns at the time it might cause damage to some of the neighboring buildings, including a church. Luckily, everything seemed to remain intact.
What replaced it
The Bi-Lo Center became the new venue that major shows were held at, and years later, would be renamed the Bon Secours Wellness Arena. I actually attended a WWE wrestling event there if I’m not mistaken.
Not much was being done with the lot where the old auditorium used to be until a couple of months ago. A Miami based investment company bought the property on March 9th.
Their planning to build an apartment complex and retail between two interconnected tower. One would be 16 stories high, and the other would be seven stories.
It’s an ambitious project that’s sure to continue the rapid growth of Downtown Greenville.
