Do you remember the 21st night of September? No, but we remember the morning of Sept. 20, 1997.
It was on that day the Greenville Memorial Auditorium was imploded, and according to the Greenville Police Department, 1,000+ people watched it happen.
“It’s a bittersweet moment,” Greenville Mayor Knox White said that day. “No one takes joy in bringing the auditorium down. But it’s a first to something that is going to be bigger and better.”
Bon Secours Wellness Arena — known back then (and still by some today) as the Bi-lo Center — opened in September 1998. The site of the auditorium has sat vacant across the street since, but it will soon be home to the Greenville Gateway, a 29-story tower featuring 300 multi-family units and a large public plaza.
