March 8, 1940: One thousand spectators turned away from basketball game at Armory

On this day in Duluth in 1940, 1,000 people hoping to see two games of the semi-final round of the 26th annual district high school basketball tournament were turned away from the Duluth Armory because it was filled beyond capacity. Over 5,000 already packed the Armory. Duluth News Tribune sports reporter Cubby Campbell wrote that there were “nearly as many standers in the crowd as there were fans seated…. Two fans, in many instances squeezed on to a space designated as one seat.” The large crowd on the wooden bleachers worried Denfeld coach Frank Puglisi, who ordered his school’s cheerleaders to refrain from their “rouser” cheer, which get the crowd to stomp their feet in unison. “Coach Puglisis feared, and rightly so, that the cadence of stamping feet would cause the bleachers to collapse and cause probable injuries. meanwhile Coach Herb Drew of Cloquet complained about the dressing room conditions and that some of his players had to spend halftime “seated on cold and draughty [sic] stairs.” Inside the Armory, Campbell noted, fans became ingenious in their efforts to watch the progress of play. On the west side of the Armory fans were so jammed on the balcony that some lowered the windows and took seats perched on the lower half of the windows.” While Campbell noted that “proponents of a municipal auditorium gained more ground in their argument,” Duluth’s Arena Auditorium (part of the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center today) wasn’t built until the 1960s.

The city of Duluth had this postcard produced to promote its new state-of-the-art Armory in 1916. (Image: Zenith City)