Duluth Amphitheater

Duluth Amphitheater
Location	1131 E Superior Street; Duluth, Minnesota, 55802
Coordinates	46°47′54″N 92°05′01″W / 46.798412°N 92.0837112°W
Owner	City of Duluth
Capacity	4,000
Construction
Opened	December 4, 1924
Closed	February 12, 1939
Demolished	1941 (partial)
Tenants
	Duluth Hornets (1924–1933); Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey (1930–1932)

The Duluth Amphitheater in Duluth, Minnesota was an indoor, artificial ice rink. The venue was one of the first two artificial rinks in Minnesota (the other being the Minneapolis Arena) and hosted a variety of games in the Duluth area.^[1]

History

In order to accommodate the increasingly large crowds that were attending ice hockey games, the Amphitheater was built in downtown Duluth. The building opened on December 4, 1924, and immediately saw capacity crowds for Duluth Hornets games. The venue served as the home for Hornets until 1933 when the franchise moved to Wichita, Kansas. In 1930, Duluth State Teachers College founded an ice hockey program and played two seasons at the Amphitheater before poor performance and the Great Depression forced its suspension.^[2] A second Hornets team called the arena home in 1934 but lasted just one season. The building saw no professional ice hockey games after 1934, but still served as the home for local amateur matches.

In February 1939, during a benefit game for the Duluth Fire Department and Police Department, the roof collapsed due to heavy snow. Because the wooden roof had been audibly 'cracking' beforehand, the attendees were able to evacuate before the collapse and no serious injuries were reported. While there was an attempt to fix the roof, eventually the City of Duluth decided to raze the building and it was partially demolished in 1941. The town remained without an artificial rink until 1953 when the Duluth Curling and Skating Club was retrofitted.

References

^ "DULUTH AMPHITHEATER". Vintage Minnesota Hockey. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
^ "Minnesota–Duluth Hockey 2018–19 Media Guide". Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs. Retrieved April 29, 2019.

[1] "DULUTH AMPHITHEATER". Vintage Minnesota Hockey. Retrieved February 22, 2024.

[guide-2] "Minnesota–Duluth Hockey 2018–19 Media Guide". Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs. Retrieved April 29, 2019.

[1]

[2]

v t e Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey
Playing venues	Duluth Amphitheater (1930–1932) Duluth Curling and Skating Club (1946–1966) DECC Arena (1966–2010) AMSOIL Arena (2010–present)
Head coaches	Frank Kovach (1930–32) Joe Oven (1946–47) Hank Jensen (1947–51) Gord Eddolls (1951–54) Bob Boyat (1954–55) Connie Pleban (1955–59) Ralph Romano (1959–68) Bill Selman (1968–70) Terry Shercliffe (1970–75) Gus Hendrickson (1975–82) Mike Sertich (1982–2000) Scott Sandelin (2000–present)
Seasons	1930–31 1931–32 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Conference affiliations	MIAC (1946–1961) WCHA (1965–2013) NCHC (2013–present)
Rivalries	Minnesota
Culture & lore	North Star College Cup
All-time leaders	Statistical leaders Dan Lempe (222 Points) Thomas Milani (100 Goals) Hunter Shepard (76 Wins)
Retired numbers	9 Keith Christiansen 14 Bill Watson 29 Brett Hull
National championships	2011 2018 2019
Frozen Four appearances	1984 1985 2004 2011 2017 2018 2019 2021
NCAA Tournament appearances	1983 1984 1985 1993 2004 2009 2011 2012 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022
Conference Tournament titles	WCHA: 1984 1985 2009 NCHC: 2017 2019 2022
Hobey Baker winners	Tom Kurvers (1984) Bill Watson (1985) Chris Marinucci (1994) Junior Lessard (2004) Jack Connolly (2012) Scott Perunovich (2020)
University of Minnesota Duluth Duluth, MN