Kiel Opera House

Kiel Opera House/Stifel Theatre
1400 Market Street
St. Louis, MO 63103

Opened: April 14, 1934
Grand Reopening: Fall 2011

The Kiel Auditorium was built in such a way that it was split in two sections. The North half was the Opera House and the Southern half was the sporting arena. The Kiel Auditorium was the home to the NBA team, the former St. Louis Hawks, and the St. Louis University Billikins. The stage area of both halves were built back to back so that they could be opened up to each other so as to be able to use both sides at the same time. The seating capacity was 9,300 and second only to Madison Square Garden as the most famous wrestling arena, hosting three NWA World Heavyweight Championships. In 1991 the Kiel was closed down and the south sporting arena side was demolished and was replaced by the now named Enterpise Center which opened in 1994.

Promises were made by several development companies and mayors of St. Louis to reopen the Kiel Opera House side, but nothing came of those promises for almost twenty years. In 2010, financing was finally in place and the long promised renovations began. Peabody Energy bought the naming rights and the new name for the Kiel was the Peabody Opera House up until 2018. In July 2018, Stifel Financial Corp purchased the naming rights for the next 10 years and the new name for the historic entertainment venue is Stifel Theatre.

Kiel Auditorium Related Links:

Stifel Theatre Website