Cow Palace
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The Cow Palace (originally known as the California State Livestock Pavilion) is an indoor arena located in Daly City, California outside of San Francisco. It hosted the Golden State Warriors of the NBA from 1962-1964 and 1966-1971 and the San Jose Sharks of the NHL from 1991-1993. The arena seats 11,100 for ice hockey and 12,953 for basketball. It has also been the home of the annual Grand National Rodeo since 1941 (excepting a break from 1942-1945 due to war).
The idea for the arena was originally conceived as the result of the popularity of the livestock pavilion at the 1915 Pan-Pacific Exposition. It was another decade before steps were taken to finance the building, and legislative delays and the onset of the Great Depression meant that the building was not completed until 1941. The current name came about as the result of a newspaper editorial that wondered aloud "Why, when people are starving, should money be spent on a "palace for cows?" Thus, the Cow Palace was born. That maybe true, but an advertisement company actually coined the name the "Cow Palace" after a man named Willard S. Anderson said that "they are just building a palace for cows."
The arena opened in April, 1941. During World War II, though, the arena was used for processing soldiers bound for the Pacific theater. In the following years, it hosted innumerable hockey, basketball and boxing matches, concerts and political events. The arena is still used for the Grand National Rodeo today and other events.
Although, according to its website, the Cow Palace has a San Francisco address, it appears that it is actually in Daly City, as it is the Daly City Police Department which patrols its grounds during events.
External Link
- San Francisco Cow Palace website (http://www.cowpalace.com/)