Page "St. Louis Arena" Paragraph 12

As a condition for the private financing of the demolition of city-owned Kiel Auditorium and the construction of privately-owned Kiel Center ( now the Scottrade Center ) on the same Downtown site, local business group Civic Progress, Inc. insisted that the Dogtown-neighborhood Arena not be allowed to compete with Kiel Center for any events, while the insurance burden for the building was left with the City of St. Louis.

With no income allowed for the Arena while insurance expenses continued, the building sat vacant while pressure built on the city government to either make it revenue-producing ( essentially impossible under the Civic Progress-imposed non-competitive clause ) or raze it.

The arena remained vacant for nearly five years.