Fifty years ago today, on June 1, 1966, ground was broken on the site that would become the Philadelphia Spectrum. I wrote a corresponding article for the Flyers' official site but with the passing of Rick MacLeish on Memorial Day, everything got pushed back.

It was a minor miracle that the Spectrum was ready in time for the start of 1967-68 season -- which was one of the two huge conditions hinged upon the Flyers' conditional approval as an NHL expansion team in February 1966.

One of the two conditions was the delivery in full of a $2 million check payable to an existing NHL team (the Toronto Maple Leafs, in the Flyers' case) at the annual league meetings in Montreal. The other was the construction of a brand new arena.

Without either one falling into place in timely fashion, there would not have been a Philadelphia Flyers hockey team in the NHL.

In a period of just 16 months, the Spectrum went from an idea in Ed Snider's mind to becoming an NHL-ready building. However, there was all sorts of intrigue and drama along the way. One of the original co-founders of the Flyers, Jerry Wolman, ran into severe financial trouble and had a bitterly acrimonious split with Snider and the other partners.

Snider and the others had to scramble to get the financing lined up for the NHL franchise fee in the nick of time. A blackout in Philadelphia and a misprinted certified check from a bank -- made out payable to the NHL rather than to the Maple Leafs -- further added to the intrigue. The money was delivered truly at the last second.

However, it is also true that the Spectrum would not have been built without Wolman. Construction was his specialization, more so than management. Ultimately, Snider traded his share of Spectrum ownership for Wolman's share of the Flyers (making Snider the hockey team's majority owner). Years later, in 1972, Snider bought the Spectrum out of bankruptcy.



The Spectrum was named by Lou Scheinfeld, hired away from the Philadelphia Daily News by Snider to become a marketing vice president for his new venture. "Spectrum" was actually an acronym of sorts.

The SP stood for “sports.” The E was for “entertainment.” The C was for “circuses.” The T was for “theatricals”, R was for “recreation.”

And the UM on the end? For years, Scheinfeld quipped that it stood for, “um, what a nice building.”

To me, the since-demolished Spectrum will forever live as the place where I fell in love with hockey and saw many 76ers games, concerts and wrestling cards over the years.


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