Sioux City Municipal Auditorium
The Sioux City Municipal Auditorium is a multi‑purpose building at 401 Gordon Drive in Sioux City, Iowa. It was designed by Knute E. Westerlind in 1938 in the Moderne style and completed in 1950. The original arena could seat about 3,500 people and hosted graduations, concerts, and sports, including performances by famous artists and appearances by political figures.
In 2003, a new larger arena, the Tyson Events Center, was built nearby for big events. The Municipal Auditorium was kept but was converted into a recreation center, now called the Long Lines Family Recreation Center. In 2023 it added the Long Lines Auditorium sign at the southeast entrance and inside the hall.
The building sits in a line of Sioux City’s major indoor venues, following the Academy of Music (1870), the Peavey Grand Opera House (1888), and the Old Municipal Auditorium (1909), with Gateway Arena opening in 2003 nearby.
Architecturally, Westerlind’s design is PWA Moderne, featuring smooth brick walls, rounded corners, glass block windows, and horizontal lines. The exterior also has terra cotta panels and relief sculptures of Native Americans. Inscriptions above the entrances read “There is No Greater Conquest Than That of Self” and “Art at Its Highest and Nature at Its Truest are One.”
The Municipal Auditorium was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 18:50 (CET).