KITCHENER — It's the crown jewel of the Ontario Hockey League.

The Kitchener Memorial Auditorium — affectionately known as the Aud — has been the heartbeat of East Avenue for the past 69 years.

The building is a throwback to simpler times, when fans filed through the window-lined front entrance wearing suits and dresses to watch Kitchener Rangers games or concerts.

The Aud has hosted three Memorial Cups, two of which ended in heartbreak with the hometown Rangers losing in the final.

There have been figure skating competitions, curling titles and flying elbows from professional wrestler Randy "Macho Man" Savage.

The arena has hosted a who's-who of music, from country legend Johnny Cash to diva Diana Ross and the Supremes to AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young and the Tragically Hip, among many others.

But the building is showing its age.

At 69, the Aud and the Sudbury Community Arena are the oldest rinks in the OHL.

Most of the seats are small, cramped and tired. The aisles are so narrow on the lower portion that fans can't go up and down the stairs at the same time without colliding. The concourse gets congested, lines are long and the bathrooms are busy during breaks in the action.

Regular renovations have helped slow the decline but the modern conveniences that keep fans engaged — and profits flowing — aren't keeping pace with the changing face of the live sports and entertainment experience.

In short, it's time to start thinking about a new Aud.

"We've expanded the facility as much as we can," said Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic. "Anything beyond this … that I've seen from a cost benefit of trying to do anything more to that building just isn't there. So, we'll be looking at a new facility."

The Aud was ahead of its time when it opened on the east side of town where city met farmland on May 24, 1951.

Lt.-Gov. Ray Lawson helped officially open the $1.2-million arena that could seat 6,200 for hockey with standing room for 1,000 more. During concerts and rallies the capacity reached 9,200. At the time, the Aud was touted as the third biggest rink in Ontario trailing only Maple Leaf Gardens and Ottawa's Civic Centre.

The standalone building, named in honour of Kitchener's war dead, has evolved since with millions of dollars poured in for upgrades.

In 1967, Jack Couch Park and Centennial Stadium, with seating for 1,500, were added to make East Avenue a sports hub while the Kinsmen and Kiwanis Olympic-sized twin pads joined two decades later to the tune of about $9.4 million.

The 1990s saw all the seats replaced. Luxury boxes, a restaurant and concourse upgrades cost about $8 million in 2002 while a new scoreboard was added soon after. Additional seats were installed and the press box was also expanded in preparation for the 2008 Memorial Cup.

The Rangers spent $10.6 million in 2012 in a major project that saw the roof raised to fit an extra 1,000 seats, a second-level concourse, more concessions, bathrooms and office and dressing room improvements.

Four years ago, the club doled out another $1.7 million for a new score clock and ribbon board.

About the only major things that haven't been replaced are the concrete floor, exterior walls and some of the steel girders. It's to the point now that some acts — such as Shania Twain — have bypassed the Aud because the building can't accommodate their shows due to weight rigging restrictions.

Rangers chief operating officer Steve Bienkowski warned city staff that the end days were approaching when the rink underwent a facelift in 2012.

"Basically what we said to them is that if we're going to make an investment in the Aud, we're basically extending its life probably 15 years," he said.

That leaves about seven years before more work needs to be done.

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"We knew it was a temporary solution," Bienkowski said of the massive overhaul eight years ago. "The temporary lifespan is half over. I made the comment back then that it gives a window to the city to plan for the future and the window is smaller."

City staff are aware of the task at hand.

Building a new arena requires meetings with architects and engineers, consultations with the public and, most important, a financial blueprint.

To pull it off, the planning must start soon.

"I think they should be looking at it now," said Bienkowski. "Even if the plan is for 10 years from now."

In this series:

Friday: 'It will boil down to money'

Sunday: What does the future look like?

jbrown@therecord.com

Twitter: @BrownRecord

- A new Aud: 'It will boil down to money'

- We need to build a new Kitchener Memorial Auditorium and it should be downtown, Luisa D'Amato writes