It developed out of a series of buildings dedicated to expanding trade which began with the National Export Exhibition in 1899.

The Convention Hall arena was located at 3400 Civic Center Boulevard, on the edge of the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, and just to the southwest of Franklin Field.

Martin Luther King Jr. spoke there, and The Beatles, The Grateful Dead and the Philadelphia Mummers each performed there.

[4] After the Spectrum opened in 1967, the Civic Center continued on as an alternate venue to the larger arena for events requiring less seating or overall space.

Moller 86-rank pipe organ, built in 1931, was removed just prior to the building's demolition and placed in Pennsylvania Hall in temporary storage.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System's Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine opened on the site in October 2008.

[7] It was purchased by the Alessi Organization in 2005 and in 2017 was installed outside its new Crossing Shopping Center at East 22nd Street and Route 440 in Bayonne, New Jersey.