Louisville Gardens
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| Former names | Jefferson County Armory, Louisville Convention Center |
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| Location | Louisville, Kentucky |
| Public transit | |
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Jefferson County Armory
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| Coordinates | 38°15′5.06″N 85°45′37.26″W / 38.2514056°N 85.7603500°WCoordinates: 38°15′5.06″N 85°45′37.26″W / 38.2514056°N 85.7603500°W |
| Built | 1905 |
| Built by | Caldwell & Drake |
| Architect | Davis, Brinton B. |
| Architectural style | Beaux Arts |
| NRHP Reference # | 80001606 |
| Added to NRHP | March 24, 1980 |
| Owner | City of Louisville |
| Capacity | 6,000 |
| Opened | 1905 |
Louisville Gardens is a multi-purpose, 6,000-seat arena, in Louisville, Kentucky, that opened in 1905, as the Jefferson County Armory. It celebrated its 100th anniversary as former city mayor Jerry Abramson's official "Family-Friendly New Years Eve" celebration location. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The facility has served the city of Louisville and Jefferson County in a variety of ways during the past century, from utilization as an actual armory to American Basketball Association's Kentucky Colonels basketball games, to various wrestling events, concerts, political rallies, and Hurricane Katrina flood relief have also been staged there. More recently, WWE used the 3,000-person capacity arena as a training ground for future stars in a minor-league promotion known as Ohio Valley Wrestling, until the organization moved to the Davis Arena. WWE also staged two pay-per-view events at Louisville Gardens: (In Your House 6 and In Your House 17: Ground Zero). TNA Wrestling held an event at the venue in 2007. Freedom Hall replaced the small, aging facility in 1956, as a more popular venue for city events. Martin Luther King Jr. (Tuesday, August 23, 1960) and Harry Truman both spoke at the arena.
Primary home of Louisville Cardinals men's basketball starting in 1945 when Bernard "Peck" Hickman was head coach until the 1957–58 season when they moved to Freedom Hall. They played a few more games there up until their last on Nov. 30, 1972. The Louisville Cardinals were 153-23 all time at the armory. The Kentucky Wildcats when led by Adolph Rupp played 72 games at the armory going 61-11 there from 1937 to 1956 Included in that was games played in the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament which was held at the armory from 1941 to 1952. Additionally, the Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament was held there from 1949 to 1955 and again from 1964 to 1967.
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Wikipedia