Category:Little Palestra, Allentown, Pennsylvania

Little Palestra, Allentown, Pennsylvania 

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The Little Palestra was the former gymnasium for Allentown and later William Allen High School from 1931 to 1973. It was also the home basketball arena for it;s high school teams. It had a capacity of 2,200 seats. In its 43 seasons (1930-31 to 1972-73) as home of the Canaries until it was replaced by the current Milo Sewards Gym in the Physical Education Center, the double-decked, 2,200-seat gym hosted 17 East Penn League champions, nine District 11 titlists and all five of the school's state championship squads.

The Little Palestra in its heyday during the 1940s though the 1960s was the home of record-setting basketball teams until it became an outdated, and almost dangerous place to play. More than one visiting coach other the years had told its team that if you can win at the Little Palestra in Allentown, you could win anywhere. That comment had a double meaning; respect for some outstanding Allentown teams and respect for a team that had more unfamiliar characteristics than any other. During its lifetime, the facility was the home of Allentown teams which included four Pennsylvania state championship teams; nine PIAA District 11 champions, and seventeen East Penn League Championships. The Little Palestra had been the home of only three Allentown teams which had losing seasons.

Although considered state of the art when it opened, the gym certainly had its quirks that gave the Canaries one of the most unique home-court advantages in the sport. This led to more offense, including the February 19, 1971, evening when the head coach's son, Pat Sewards, scored a record 62 points in a little less than three quarters against Tamaqua HS, the highest one-game scoring for a player at the arena as well as the high school. A record which still stands today.

Allentown/William Allen High School had only two head coaches during it's 43-year history. J. Birney Crum from its opening in 1930 until 1951, and J. Milo Sewards, from 1951 until it's closing in 1973. Sewards himself played under Crum from 1933 to 1936. During the Sewards tenure as coach, John Donmoyer, Head Basketball Coach from 1975 until 1997, earned two varsity "A" letters in basketball between 1954 and 1957 under Sewards. The current basketball coach of William Allen since 1997, Doug Snyder, earned his two varsity "A" basketball letters also at the Little Palestra, from 1971-1973, and was captain of Seward's last William Allen Basketball team in 1974.

Along with scholastic basketball and being a gym for William Allen, beginning in March 1958, the Little Palestra became more or less the home of professional wrestling in Allentown. For several nights a month, wrestling stars such as Ed "Strangler" Lewis, Gorgeous George, Bruno Sammartino, André the Giant, Pedro Moreales, Chief Jay Strongbow, Gorilla Monsoon, The Fabulous Moolah, and many others entertained fans in the city. The matches were well-attended and profitable for the promoters. Professional wrestling ended its matches in Allentown at the end of 1973 with the closure of the Little Palestra.

Outdated by the early 1970s, the facility was replaced in 1973 by the current William Allen High School Athletic Center, The Little Palestra was raised in 1974, replaced by a library and science building for the high school in 1975