The Oil Palace is an 6,960-seat multi-purpose arena located on Texas State Highway 64 just outside the eastern city limits of Tyler, Texas.

History

The Oil palace’s story started in 1955 when Billy Manziel, Sr. wanted to open a venue to host boxing matches. Manziel, a former amateur boxer and close friend of World heavyweight Champion Jack Dempsey, was a successful businessman who dreamt of a 20,000 seat complex in West Texas. His vision would have been the only all-year air-conditioned stadium in the U.S. Dempsey even agreed to relocate and help manage the center. Fortunately, Manziel died in 1956 and the 56,000 square-foot building’s construction came to a halt.
In 1981, Billy Manziel, Jr. picked up where his father left off by converting the unfinished arena into whatever it is today. On November 1983, after years of remodeling, the construction was complete and thousands attended the opening ceremony to watch WWE RAW.

Today

Today the arena occasionally hosts concerts, touring shows, wrestling exhibition shows, and civic events of a local nature such as high school graduations. It is also used for conventions and trade shows.

External links

• Official Oil Palace
• Oil Palace Myspace