Remembering the Civic Auditorium

• Have good memories of Creighton playing at the Civic? Send your stories to micahmertes@creighton.edu.

• Read more: We spoke with six head coaches, Marcus Blossom and Bruce Rasmussen about what a decade in the BIG EAST has meant for Creighton.

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By Micah Mertes

Twenty years ago — March 3, 2003 — Creighton men’s basketball said goodbye to its 48-year-old home with a game against Wichita State.

In a storybook ending, Creighton beat Wichita (decisively), 86-60, completing the Jays’ third perfect season at home (17-0) and bringing their overall venue record to 433-155.

The team hit a few other milestones in that last game. Larry House scored a career-high 28 points in 22 minutes. Dana Altman achieved his 100th victory at the Civic, the first head coach to do so.

Leading up to that last game, the team — which in addition to House included seniors Kyle Korver and DeAnthony Bowden — had one of its most exciting seasons to date. Zero losses at home. A record average attendance of 8,183 per game. (The Jays final game at the Civic was their sixth-straight sellout.)

Before reduced seating capacity and stricter occupancy enforcement, the Civic would draw more than 10,000 fans to some Creighton games. The record attendance was 11,214, set during the Bluejays’ 1970 upset of New Mexico State.

Creighton’s stay in the Civic Auditorium started in 1955 — a year after the arena opened — but games continued to be split between the building and the Old Gym until Creighton became a full-time tenant of the Civic in 1961, during coach John “Red” McManus’ third season as coach.

(At the 2003 ceremony following the men’s basketball team’s final game in the Civic, it was McManus who flipped the switch to turn off the lights.)

Following the 2002-03 season, the men’s basketball team moved into the newly built $291 million Qwest Center (later the CenturyLink Center Omaha, now the CHI Health Center Arena) that had supplanted the Civic as Omaha’s largest auditorium.

The Civic — also the site of many Creighton commencements past — would continue to serve as the home of the Creighton women’s basketball and volleyball teams for some time after, eventually closing in 2014 and being demolished two years later.

Of course, the Civic was notable for countless other reasons besides its Creighton affiliation …

• The Civic was the site of Billy Graham’s Nebraska Crusade (in 1964).

• It was the part-time home of the NBA franchise the Omaha-Kansas City Kings in the ’70s.

• It was the arena for Omaha wrestling. A taping of WWF Superstars of Wrestling at the Civic brought Andre the Giant, Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan to town.

• The Civic was the venue for one of Elvis Presley’s final concerts (a legendarily disastrous 1977 show). The arena would also host concerts for such acts as KISS, Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne, Limp Bizkit, Korn, the Ramones, Sting, Ice Cube, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Cars, Prince, Def Leppard, REM, the Foo Fighters, Van Halen, Elton John, The Eagles and the Rolling Stones.

(The Stones came to the Civic in 1964 and drew only 650 people. An incident at that concert made it into Keith Richards’ memoir Life. In his book, Richards recounts being underage and drinking during soundcheck at the Civic concert. When he took his cup of Scotch and Coke with him into the restroom. Richards writes, “a big, grizzled cop” followed him in there, pulled a gun on him and told him to flush his drink. The Rolling Stones didn’t return to play in Omaha until 2006.)

The Civic was also the site of the 1988 U.S. vice-presidential debate between Lloyd Bentsen and Dan Quayle that produced one of the most memorable quotes of the modern political era. (“Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy, I knew Jack Kennedy, Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”)

Below is a bit of Civic history flotsam and jetsam I found online …

— Video highlights of the Bluejays’ final game in the Civic.

— Full-show recordings on YouTube of Elvis, Metallica and Red Hot Chili Peppers concerts at the Civic.

— And look at all these photos, ads, articles and ticket stubs …

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• Have good memories of Creighton playing at the Civic? Send your stories to micahmertes@creighton.edu.

• Read more: We spoke with six head coaches, Marcus Blossom and Bruce Rasmussen about what a decade in the BIG EAST has meant for Creighton.