After von Braun's work for Nazi Germany in World War II, he was brought to the United States Army's Redstone Arsenal along with many colleagues via Operation Paperclip.

The arena as originally built seated about 8,000 for concerts, and included scoreboards and a refrigerated floor for ice events.

The concert hall included an orchestra rehearsal room, dressing space for performers, and a lounge for patrons.

A second-floor gallery can be opened to the main space or closed off, and it has a variety of meeting rooms and salons attached.

South Hall is the VBC's largest exhibit space at 100,800 sq ft (9,365 m2); it includes a large lobby area, a partitionable ballroom, and an underground parking garage.

Across the hall, Rhythm on Monroe offers a variety of selections from pub grub to upscale dining and features a rooftop bar overlooking Huntsville.

On February 10, 2007, the Huntsville Havoc beat the Knoxville Ice Bears 7–6, in front of the largest crowd for a sporting event in the VBC's history, with 7,083 fans.

[9] It was the site of the first-ever Total Nonstop Action Wrestling card, which featured in-ring cameos by Toby Keith and Sterling Marlin and was broadcast live on pay-per-view.

Three music videos for the band, Kansas promoting the Monolith Album - featuring a Sci-Fi Native American: On the Other Side, Away from you, and People of the South Wind were film in and on the Von Braun Center.

The yearly Panoply of the Arts outdoor festival takes place in Big Spring Park adjacent to the VBC.