Downtown Phoenix’s Hidden Mini-Museum Spotlights City’s Entertainment Heritage
For half a century, Downtown Phoenix had a venue where pugilists fought, musicians harmonized, wrestlers grappled, evangelists preached, and ice skaters pirouetted. The place was so well known that a rising star named Elvis Presley offered to play there in return for some gas money and, incredibly, was turned down. This tale, and much more history, took place at the Phoenix Madison Square Garden, named after the older and more renowned venue in New York City.
The 3,000-seat arena, built for $75,000 in 1929, opened on Seventh Avenue just north of Adams Street for wrestling and boxing matches. Opening night featured three boxing bouts pitting local fighters against those from California. The venue labeled itself “The Finest Fight Arena in the West” and sold tickets for $1 to $3, although women could enter for 50 cents.
The grand opening notice printed the phrase “Everybody Welcome.” This was unusual, given that segregation was common in Phoenix at the time. According to the 2005 publication "Phoenix Madison Square Garden Historic Property Documentation," former athletes and promoters recalled people of all races sitting together in the stands.
Wrestling, which was as much entertainment as sport, and boxing were the main draws for most of the arena’s life. However, dance marathons, ice skating exhibitions, and religious gatherings were also held at the venue.
In the 1950s, Madison Square Garden was at the forefront of the local music scene, which was later dubbed the "Phoenix Sound." Along with KRUX radio, the venue hosted the Arizona Hayride, a country and western music event that took place on Saturday nights. The show helped launch the careers of rockabilly musicians, including Al Casey, Jimmy Dell, Duane Eddy, Lee Hazlewood, and Sanford Clark.
That’s when Elvis made his now-legendary request to play at the venue on a Saturday night in 1955. However, the show host and promoter Ray Odom had already booked the acts and declined the invitation. “I regretted that because I could have fitted him into the show; he was a fine young man, and we got along beautifully,” the late Odom said in a 2019 interview.
“I brought Elvis back in 1956 for a show at the State Fairgrounds,” Odom continued. “Afterward, when I was settling up financially with the guys at the Fairgrounds, they said the show was unbelievable. They saw things they'd never seen before, including 60 pairs of girls’ panties hanging on the chain-link fence.”
By the 1960s, Madison Square Garden waned as a music venue, hampered by a decreased seating capacity of less than 1,500 for stage events. Instead, boxing and wrestling were once again the main attractions.
The venue closed in 1979 and was converted into an auto parts warehouse. The City of Phoenix purchased the building in 2004 and demolished it the following year for redevelopment. In a slight nod to preservationists, a mini-museum in the new Madison Square Phoenix office complex showcases the history of Phoenix Madison Square Garden, the venue that Phoenicians enjoyed for 50 years. The museum is open from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Wednesdays.
Douglas C. Towne is the editor of Arizona Contractor & Community magazine, www.arizcc.com