On May 22, 1956, Elvis Presley was the first major act to perform there while on tour of the upper Midwest. Elvis would perform in the auditorium twice more, on June 20, 1974, and his fourth to last concert ever on June 23, 1977.[3]
It was home to the Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team from 1957 to 1992, who had previously used the Drake Fieldhouse as their home court and played their first game in their new home on January 11, 1957, against the Iowa State Cyclones.[4] When it was home court for the Bulldogs, it had 11,411 seats with the capacity to add an additional 4,000 for concerts and another 7,500 bleacher seats for basketball games. Commonly known as "Vets" or "The Barn," it was the long-time host for minor league basketball, arena football, Iowa high school basketball and wrestling tournaments, and high school graduations.
With the opening of Wells Fargo Arena, the auditorium was relegated to a supporting arena role. In the fall of 2010, it was closed and renovated into a state-of-the-art convention facility that added a 28,800-square-foot ballroom to the Iowa Events Center in addition to 25 new meeting rooms.[6] At this time, the naming rights were sold to Community Choice Credit Union. However, the structure itself is still referred to as the Veterans Memorial building. Veterans Memorial Hall was also added as a part of the renovation. The Hall showcases Iowa Veterans' sacrifices since Iowa became a state.
^Bryson, Bill. "I.S.C. Favored to Beat Drake 5th in Row; Auditorium's First College Game Tonight", The Des Moines Register, January 11, 1957. Accessed February 4, 2024, via Newspapers.com. "The state's oldest major college basketball rivalry moves to a new setting tonight Veterans Memorial Auditorium where Iowa State is favored to win its fifth in a row from Drake. The Bulldogs, led by the nation's seventeenth ranking scorer in rugged Red Murrell, hope to catch the Cyclones in an 'off night' such as they had at Missouri Monday."
