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The St. Louis Fronton Following publication of our last newsletter, which featured an article by Leonard Bloom on the development of jai alai in New England, we received an interesting letter from Professor Ignacio R.M. Galbis of the University of California at Riverside. Professor Galbis not only shared with us his reminiscences of the Basque community in Cuba, but also brought to our attention that “the first fronton built in the United States was inaugurated by the end of the last century in St. Louis, Missouri.” This fronton was built by his grandfather, Ricardo Galbis Ajuria, who was an established civil engineer in Havana, and the “gobernador del Banco Español de la isla de Cuba.” He had previously built the old fronton—known as the “palacio de los gritos”—in Havana. While in brief self-imposed exile in the United States because of his disagreement with the despotic policies of the Spanish governor of Cuba, General Valeriano Weyler, he built the St. Louis fronton. In 1902, he returned to Cuba and resumed his position there. As for the St. Louis fronton, because betting was prohibited in Missouri, it was a financial failure and closed not long after its opening. However, the building was used for other purposes during the St. Louis Exposition of 1904. Perhaps some of our readers can enlighten us on the fate of the fronton - the first in the U.S. |
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