The stadium was built in 1936 specifically for Shakhtar (Stakhanovets) Stalino with the most recent reconstruction in 2000.

On 15 October 1995, soon after the start of a football match between Shakhtar and Tavriya, a large explosion killed several people, including the local criminal Akhat Bragin and his security consisting of five men, all of whom died instantly.

None of the stadium's 2,000 spectators suffered any injuries, but a buffet waitress was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

[1] The stadium did not function as a sports facility for several years, a local radio market being established there instead.

In 2010-11, the general director of Shakhtar Serhiy Palkin announced that the stadium would be rebuilt in its original architecture of 1936, however due to the UEFA Euro 2012 and later the 2014 war in Donbass that idea became abandoned.