Freedom Hall is a multi-purpose arena in Louisville, Kentucky, on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center, which is owned by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It is best known for its use as a basketball arena, previously serving as the home of the University of Louisville Cardinals and, since November 2020, as the home of the Bellarmine University Knights. It has hosted Kiss, Grateful Dead, Chicago, AC/DC, WWE events, Mötley Crüe, Elvis Presley, The Doors, Janis Joplin, Creed, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Coldplay and many more. As well as the Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team from 1956 to 2010, the arena's tenants included the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association from 1970 until the ABA-NBA merger in June 1976, and the Louisville Cardinals women's team from its inception in 1975 to 2010. The Kentucky Stickhorses of the North American Lacrosse League used Freedom Hall from 2011 until the team folded in 2013. From 2015 to 2019 it has hosted the VEX Robotics Competition World Championship Finals yearly in mid-April.
Freedom Hall
Interior of Freedom Hall, c. 1963
Freedom Hall at a distance
2008
Kentucky Exposition Center
The Kentucky Exposition Center (KEC), is a large multi-use facility in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. Originally built in 1956. It is overseen by the Kentucky Venues and is the sixth largest facility of its type in the U.S., with 1,300,000 square feet (120,000 m2) of indoor space. KEC has two arenas, almost 700,000 sq. ft of Class A exhibit space, nearly 500 acres of outdoor planning space. A majority of the 1.3 million square feet is contiguous.
The main entrance and South Wing of the Kentucky Exposition Center
Image: Kentucky Exposition Center logo
Freedom Hall at the Kentucky Exposition Center
Cardinal Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium that was demolished in 2019