The arena opened in 1950 and was one of the first to accommodate the needs of broadcast television. It was folded into MECCA (The Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena) when the complex opened in 1974. It is also known for its former, uniquely painted basketball court by Robert Indiana in 1978, with large orange 'M's taking up both half-courts representing Milwaukee. The Indiana floor was purchased by a fan in the early 2010s and is currently in storage at Guardian Fine Art Services, an art transportation and museum-quality storage facility in the Milwaukee.

It was home to the Milwaukee Hawks (1951–55) and the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA (1968–1988), and hosted the 1977 NBA All-Star Game before an audience of 10,938. The venue was also home to Marquette University's men's basketball team along with the International Hockey League's Milwaukee Admirals. These teams all moved to the now-defunct BMO Harris Bradley Center upon the arena's opening in 1988.

On October 26, 2017, the Bucks returned to the arena for a regular season game against the Boston Celtics in honor of their 50th anniversary in the NBA. For this event, the Bucks, by agreement with Indiana, installed a newly built floor featuring a duplicate of his original MECCA court for that game only. After the game, the floor was sanded down to remove the replica of Indiana's original work and moved to Menominee Nation Arena in Oshkosh, home to the Bucks' NBA G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd (although the team does not play on the floor used in the commemorative game)

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