Photo courtesy HMPS Collection, Historic Mobile Preservation Society
The below photograph, taken by local photographer Lawrence Cantrell, shows a packed house gathered to celebrate the opening of the Mobile Civic Center in 1964. The Civic Center, then known as the Mobile Municipal Auditorium, held its grand opening that summer, which was a “Holiday on Ice” show meant to entertain crowds while showing off the modern capabilities of the new event venue. The floor of the arena was covered in ice for the 90-minute ice skating show featuring 100 performers. The show ran for six nights and two matinees between July 9 and 14 in celebration of the grand opening. Before the center’s official opening, it had already booked a full roster of events, including the annual Junior Miss Pageant, several Mobile Symphony concerts and spades of Mardi Gras balls. The Civic Center cost $10 million to construct in 1964, about $98.2 million today.
“Newly completed, multimillion dollar facility. This investment has been made by the people of Mobile to provide the finest cultural, musical and entertainement events for its citizens and visitors, plus attracting more and larger conventions to the Mobile area.”
– an excerpt from a postcard of the Mobile
Municipal Audiotorium, later called the Mobile Civic Center, from 1969
By the Numbers
1,938
The number of seats that the Mobile Civic Center theater held. The expo hall seated 3,000. The arena was the largest portion of the Civic Center, seating 10,112. The new center will seat 10,275.
$3
The cost of a ticket to the Mobile Civic Center’s inaugural show to mark its official opening in the summer of 1964. That is the equivalent of roughly $30 today.
31
The number of Mardi Gras balls the Mobile Civic Center already had booked before its official grand opening in July 1964. The Civic Center was built specifically with Mardi Gras balls in mind.
7
The number of times Elvis Presley performed at the Mobile Civic Center: once in 1970 and 1973, twice each in 1975 and 1976 and once more in 1977, the latter just two months before his death.
Do you know any further details about this photo? Let us know! Email [email protected].
