On January 31 , 1959 , Buddy Holly performed at the armory ; he died in a plane crash days later on February 3 . A young Bob Dylan attended the performance , which he cited as an inspiration at the 1998 Grammy Awards when he received Album of the Year for '' Time Out of Mind '' . He said , I just want to say that when I was 16 or 17 years old , I went to see Buddy Holly play at Duluth National Guard Armory and I was three feet away from him … and he looked at me . And I just have some kind of feeling that he was – I do n’t know how or why – but I know he was with us all the time we were making this record in some kind of way . The prosperity of the post-war years prompted many states to tear down their out-of-date armories and build modern facilities . In 1963 , Duluth built a new center for its 800-man Army Reserve . The value of the armory as a public venue greatly decreased with the construction of the Duluth Arena-Auditorium in 1966 , which had more seating and modern amenities . In 1977 , the National Guard announced plans to build a new armory in Duluth and in 1978 , the city purchased the historic armory from the state for $ 160,000 . The Head House was used for offices and the Drill Hall served as a garage for maintenance vehicles . The Drill Hall also stored some raw materials , and its original wood floor no longer exists
he died in a plane crash
The Day the Music Died
Duluth Armory