Detroit Olympia

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Olympia Stadium, better known as the Detroit Olympia and nicknamed "The Old Red Barn", stood at 5920 Grand River Avenue in Detroit, Michigan from 1927 until 1986. It seated close to 16,700.

Olympia opened with a rodeo in September 1927, and shortly thereafter the main tenants of the building, the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL, moved in.

Besides the Red Wings, the Olympia was also home in the 1930s to the Detroit Olympics International-American Hockey League minor league team, and from 1957 to 1961 the NBA's Detroit Pistons. It hosted the NBA All-Star Game in 1959 and the NCAA Frozen Four in 1977 and 1979.

Olympia was also a major venue for boxing through the International Boxing Club and professional wrestling, as well as the Harlem Globetrotters and the Ice Capades.

Amongst musical performers to play at Olympia were The Beatles, Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, and The Monkees. During Elvis's last Detroit concert at Olympia, a recording was made of Elvis singing Are You Lonesome Tonight and laughing through most of the song. Elvis had a habit of changing the original lyrics to a lot of his songs, this specific version the lyrics were written as "Do you gaze at the doorway and wish I was there" and Elvis sang "Do you gaze at your bald head and wish you had hair" when Elvis spotted a completely bald man in the audience.

Olympia was closed in 1979 when the Red Wings left for Joe Louis Arena, and demolished in September 1986. Currently, the U.S. National Guard's Olympia Armory stands on the site.

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