newsAugust 21, 2012
Show Me Center has been temporary home of singers, comedians, performers and a president for 25 years
Southeast Missouri State University's Show Me Center celebrated its 25th anniversary on Monday.
Mike Killian got to see about 15 seconds of the rock band Tool during its performance at the Show Me Center on June 16, 2007. After that, it was back to work.
"That was a big-time production," Killian said. "It was loud. I was running my butt off. That was kind of nice to see them since I grew up with Tool. I wish I could have seen more of the show."
Killian, the Show Me Center's food and beverage manager, makes sure that concert attendees and all other Show Me Center clients receive their concession needs. Killian's 12 years of employment represent less than half of the time that the Show Me Center has been open.
Monday was the 25th anniversary of the building's opening. It premiered on Aug. 20, 1987, and cost about $13.5 million to build. A week of festivities to celebrate its opening concluded on Aug. 28 with comedian Bob Hope performing in front of a crowd of 6,500 people. Before his performance, Hope drove a golf ball of the roof of the building while observed by former Show Me Center director David Ross.
Within the next 383 days, the Show Me Center hosted concerts by Tina Turner, which was the arena's first sellout, and Aerosmith. The stretch culminated with a speech by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on Sept. 15, 1988.
The building has meeting rooms that can be used by Southeast students and other community members and organizations. It houses the home court of the Southeast men's and women's basketball teams in the main arena, which is also where concerts and other events take place.
The arena has hosted a wide variety of events in its 25 years. Rock bands, country music singers, politicians, wrestlers, actors, merchants and more have made the Show Me Center their temporary home.
Show Me Center employee Kasey Neighbors enjoys the country music singers. Neighbors is an operations worker whose responsibilities include setting up the arena for events. He said that the performers that he remembers most fondly are Brooks & Dunn and George Strait.
"It's awesome to have them come into our building, and we can do whatever they need us to do," Neighbors said. "It's awesome to have them come in and put on a good show for the public."
Killian distinctly remembers The Wiggles' concert at the Show Me Center in 2007. The Australian children's music group from Sydney rehearsed at the Show Me Center for a week prior to the concert.
"When the show actually happened, the whole floor was full of little kids," Killian said. "They were all out there dancing around. It was like a little kid hippie-fest."
Killian said that former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin's speech in Oct. 2008 was another memorable event that he had to work. Palin was campaigning as the U.S. vice presidential candidate for the Republican Party.
"We had to get here at 1 a.m., and then get basically kicked out at 3," Killian said. "Then they did a bomb sweep of the whole place, and we got back in at 5 a.m. The Secret Service was all over the place."
Killian said that he briefly interacted with entertainers, including Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Eric Church, Carrie Underwood, Maynard James Keenan, Ron White and Larry the Cable Guy, but that he also had a job to focus on.
"I don't feel anything about it. They're people, too," Killian said. "That's the way my job goes. I don't get starstruck. [I] can't do it. The way I look at it, this is their little home for the day."
Killian's tour of his Show Me Center memories ended with one that wasn't significant because of the performer in the arena. He couldn't remember the name of the band that was performing at the concert.
"There was a young teenage girl who just wanted a signature from somebody, so she had me sign her ticket," Killian said. "That was kind of cool. She's like 'Do you work here? Did you get to meet the band? Cool, sign my ticket.'"
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