The Historic HUB Ballroom has a rich history of famous and notable performers. For starters The HUB has been traditionally known by the ballroom dancers of the Midwest as the place for big bands and ballroom dancing since 1938. This building and popularity has been around for 70 years! Some of the Big Bands to grace the HUB's stage, just to name a few are Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller and his orchestra, Cab Calloway and Lawrence Welk (10 x's and a HUB favorite). While the parents were upstairs enjoying the sounds of all the contemporary big bands, their teenagers were downstairs experimenting with a new sound called Rock 'n' Roll. Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and his band the Crickets, The Turtles, The Outsiders are just some of the Rock 'n' Roll bands they enjoyed. Buddy Holly and The Crickets played the HUB one week before his tragic death in 1959. The place is legendary in what it has offered entertainment junkies in the past and now the new management will keep it moving for the new generation!

The Historic HUB Ballroom is a charming facility with most of its original character intact. The new chapter of The HUB Ballroom is being rejuvinated for the new generation. Check out our upcoming shows and you'll see what we mean. Tickets to HUB events can be purchased through www.thehubrocks.com unless otherwise noted.

The Historic HUB Ballroom boasts a 5,500 sq.ft. maplewood dancefloor which completes the 12,500 sq.ft. space, 3 bars, ample free parking, ample seating, coat check, ticket booth/box office, VIP service, great sound, and good times with the perfect nostalgia to go with it all. The facility holds up to 1,000 people at a time.

EDELSTEIN —

About all that was left of The Hub Ballroom after a fire early Wednesday was a hole in the ground - and 71 years of memories.

Guitar player Linda Eddy still remembers getting the call from the late owner of the Edelstein landmark to join the venue's house country band, Ray Hanlon and the Midstaters.

"I was so excited when he called me," Eddy said. "Everybody wanted to play at The Hub.

"It's so sad it's gone. I could almost cry. It was a beautiful place, and the acoustics were out of this world."

By late morning, when firefighters continued dousing The Hub's smoldering remains, memories were shared at nearby Millard's Florist.

Behind the counter, Diane DeLong remembered hearing her mother, Noirot Hayward, talk of a long-ago show.

"My mom was a singer in a lot of bands, and she told me about when Lawrence Welk played there," DeLong said. "She was young, but she loved it."

A visitor to the shop, Edelstein native Peggy Holmes-Hicks, remembered hearing grandfather Alfred Streitmatter talk about the 5,000-square-foot hardwood maple dance floor that was thought to be the largest in downstate Illinois.

"My grandpa was one of the carpenters who laid the wood dance floor," Holmes-Hicks said. "When we were little kids, we used to slide across the side of the dance floor chasing the light beams (reflecting) from the mirror ball."

Store owner Alan Millard wondered how many people met their spouses in the building.

"It's sad, because it was part of us," Millard said. "That's how you'd describe where you're from. A lot of people don't know where Edelstein is, but you could say The Hub and people knew."

The two-story building was the site of numerous community get-togethers over the years.

Darrell Hadley, singer and keyboardist for Gypsy Road Band, said it's a huge loss for the area. Hadley had played the club many times with his bands, including Southern Cross and Abilene.

"We had a blast," Hadley said. "We could have 800 to 1,000 people in there, and in this area there wasn't a place to play in front of that many people. That made it a lot of fun. It's a big loss. It's really sad."

Longtime concert promoter Jay Goldberg said the building's demise also is a loss for up-and-coming promoters. The building reopened in September 2008 and had hosted a variety of acts since then. The Lee Boys, a "sacred steel" band from Florida, performed on June 12. It was the venue's last act.

"This last year there's been a lot of new activity out there," Goldberg said. "It was a gem of a building. The hardwood dance floor was amazing. It was a great opportunity for new promoters - a viable venue for them to learn their craft, get their connections and pay their dues."

Images of The Hub will live on in the independent film, "My Guaranteed School Loan." Director Aaron Warr, a Peoria native, said the movie is being shopped to film festivals after editing was recently completed. All of the movie's nightclub scenes were shot at The Hub.

"All of our production staff was in shock when we heard," Warr said. "It was really an honor to shoot the nightclub scenes at The Hub. We were able to get some beautiful shots.

"The place was so huge, we could shoot three entirely different nightclub scenes in the same building."