[9] As a nightclub and theatre in the round venue it also hosted an array of vaudeville acts such as The Three Stooges and Bela Lugosi,[10][11] as well as renowned musicians including Count Basie, Duke Ellington, The Ink Spots, The Dorsey Brothers, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Sarah Vaughan, and The Temptations.

[16] Prior to its permanent home in the gashouse, the Valley Arena was first established in a space at 560-66 Main Street in 1916 by Homer Rainault, and his business partner Amedee F. Goulet, as a gym.

[9] On August 11, 1925, Valley Arena, Inc. was formally incorporated,[18] and by October 23, 1925, the company had purchased an old brick gasholder house from the City of Holyoke's municipal gas works.

[23][24] Ultimately Rainault decided to rebuild, and used the Holyoke War Memorial Building as a music venue for the remainder of the year, hosting a number of artists, including The Ink Spots, during this time.

[26][27] Eight months after the devastating fire, the venue reopened on February 28, 1944 with a 10 round match between bantamweight champion Louis Salica and one Mario Colon, a rising star from Mexico.

[28] In 1944, the Arena's founder Homer Rainault died unexpectedly from a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 58; by that time he had gained a reputation as a promoter for giving many nationally famous boxers their start in the Connecticut Valley.

Rainault would eventually sell the venue in 1952 to two businessmen, Jack and Ralph Kane of Norfolk, Virginia; making it clear that this sale was only partial as he retained stock in the company.

On December 23, the police and fire chiefs held a conference stating that maximum capacities would be discussed with and enforced by the Arena's management, denying rumors that the venue was being given a pass.

While formal inquests were made and hours of testimony given by the owners and multiple employees under oath,[35] conflicting accounts were found and the fire was deemed "of unknown but suspicious origin" by the state police captain tasked with its investigation.

Before Jack Kane or anyone else associated with the arena could approach the War Memorial Commission, their chairman Thomas Epstein introduced a motion, passed unanimously, opposing the use of the hall for wrestling or boxing matches.

[15] While it hosted many well known musicians and other sporting events, the Arena was best remembered as a boxing venue, where many champions across multiple weight classes got their start in their early professional careers.

"[1] One Mike Cipriano, a New York promoter who managed Jake LaMotta and Harry LaSane, described it as "a little Madison Square Garden...the arena was known from coast to coast—they'd sell out almost every week...it was nothing for a bunch of us to pile into a car and head for Holyoke...If you didn't fight in Holyoke, you weren't a fighter"[1][42] The venue was known for having raucous crowds, notably on April 26, 1954, when a boxer, Howard Saligny of New York, made low blows against one Gerry Tessier of Springfield, within minutes the ringside spectators had poured into the ring punching and kicking Saligny to the ground; police eventually restored order.

[45] The Arena hosted Rocky Marciano's professional debut in the ring, as a 4-round opener against Holyoke native Lee (real name Leslie V.) Epperson on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1947.

[49] Spanning generations, it hosted many famous musicians across several genres, including jazz, blues, big band, country, soul, and rock & roll with such names as- Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Wee Bonnie Baker, The Dorsey Brothers, The Ink Spots, Lionel Hampton, Roy Rogers, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Sarah Vaughan, The Temptations, Shep Fields, and Jack Teagarden.

[52] In a 1986 interview, Woody Herman alumni Jack E. DuLong, another saxophonist, described it as "that infamous job that all bands hated, that all-day thing at the Holyoke Arena...It was Sunday, and you'd get in early in the morning, and rehearse perhaps a dozen acts and play three shows; one in the afternoon and two in the evening.

In his 2008 memoir, Don't Bury Me in My Tuxedo, Daryl "Flea" Campbell, best known as one of the earliest trumpet players to tour with Tommy Dorsey's act, expanded on this, describing his time there with Charlie Spivak's band:[53][54] "Whenever we played a string of one-nighters in New England, we always seemed to wind up at the Holyoke arena... after traveling all night to get there.

We got the bus packed by eleven thirty..." The Arena also served as a venue for regular vaudeville shows as well, and several known stage actors including noted impersonator Larry Blake, and Bela Lugosi, of Dracula fame.

[57] Comic Jerry Colonna would also perform at the Arena in 1946 and briefly made news when Oreal Rainault sued him for a second show at Riverside Park in Agawam.