The Valley Arena Gardens, most commonly referred to as the Valley Arena, was a sporting and entertainment venue in Holyoke, Massachusetts, best known for hosting weekly boxing matches which included Rocky Marciano's debut professional fight. Though best known for its history as a boxing venue, the Valley Arena also hosted wrestling, basketball, roller hockey, miniature golf and featured its own restaurant. As a nightclub and theatre in the round venue it also hosted an array of vaudeville acts such as The Three Stooges and Bela Lugosi, as well as renowned musicians including Count Basie, Duke Ellington, The Ink Spots, The Dorsey Brothers, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Sarah Vaughan, and The Temptations. In an interview with Woody Herman and band alumni, Jack Dulong, saxophonist and member of Herman's "Third Herd", described it as "an 'institution' for big bands."

Plagued by several fires, at least one of which was from suspected arson, as well as a decline in attendance with the emergence of television, the venue was closed following the 3rd such fire on May 12, 1960. After considerable delay, the building was ultimately demolished in August 1964.

Today the space where it once stood is occupied by the Valley Arena Park, a small recreational green space managed by the city.

Prior to its permanent home in the gashouse, the Valley Arena was first established in a space at 560-66 Main Street in 1916 by Homer Rainault, and his business partner Amedee F. Goulet, as a gym. The two had previously run a cigar counter and billiard academy for 23 years in the same neighborhood, and by the time they opened the Valley Arena, Rainault was a promoter who had previously organized fights in Hartford, Troy, and West Springfield. Rainault's career as a promoter would really begin after 1920, when the Commonwealth officially legalized boxing, theretofore an underground sport. On August 11, 1925, Valley Arena, Inc. was formally incorporated, and by October 23, 1925, the company had purchased an old brick gasholder house from the City of Holyoke's municipal gas works. The sale at the time was listed in the register of deeds as a land sale as the gasholder house had been previously decommissioned in 1915, was briefly considered as a site for a new public bathhouse, but had remained unoccupied since. After 3 months of construction, the new converted Valley Arena Gardens debuted with their first fight on February 8, 1926 with a match between one "Petey" Mack and Leo "Kid" Roy.

On June 13, 1943, at approximately 2am, the first of three fires in the Arena's history broke out. An hour after owner Homer Rainault left the building, local patrolmen reported seeing flames billowing out of the building. Starting on the first floor and filling all reaches, the fire caused between an estimated $150,000–$200,000 in damage (approx. $2.1 to 2.5 million in 2017 USD). The building was insured however, but only for $100,000; in the weeks following the fire, owner Homer Rainault expressed doubts over rebuilding. Ultimately Rainault decided to rebuild, and used the Holyoke War Memorial Building as a music venue for the remainder of the year, hosting a number of artists, including The Ink Spots, during this time. Fights continued at a local club in Springfield and by August of that year, Rainault had put everything in place to rebuild. Eight months after the devastating fire, the venue reopened on February 28, 1944 with a 10 round match between bantamweight champion Louis Salica and one Mario Colon, a rising star from Mexico.

In 1944, the Arena's founder Homer Rainault died unexpectedly from a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 58; by that time he had gained a reputation as a promoter for giving many nationally famous boxers their start in the Connecticut Valley. The board of directors ultimately voted for his nephew, Oreal D. Rainault to take his place. Rainault would eventually sell the venue in 1952 to two businessmen, Jack and Ralph Kane of Norfolk, Virginia; making it clear that this sale was only partial as he retained stock in the company.

Even before the second fire, the venue had begun to see a decline in its attendance for boxing matches as television gained popularity while stage shows and events that relied on audience attendance saw shrinking numbers across the country. On November 11, 1952, the boxing matchmaker, Joe Di Maria, resigned due to dwindling crowds that season. In contrast with its boxing, by the end of 1952, concerns had been raised by Holyoke police and fire departments about overcrowding at the venue's night club. On December 23, the police and fire chiefs held a conference stating that maximum capacities would be discussed with and enforced by the Arena's management, denying rumors that the venue was being given a pass.

Only three days after that press conference, on December 26, 1952, the second started in the Circus Lounge of that building in the early hours of the morning. Future Holyoke fire chief William W. Mahoney, then a member of one of the companies which fought the fire, later went on to describe it as "one of the most vicious fires for smoke conditions [he'd] ever seen," severe enough that an eye doctor had to set up a first aid station at the scene. The three-alarm fire quickly spread, and led to tenants across South Holyoke being roused from their beds in case of a possible evacuation. In total the fire caused an estimated $250,000 of damages (approx. $2.3 million in 2018 USD), and injured 6 firefighters. The fire had begun in the basement, and with the premises flooded for several days, firefighters were not immediately able to determine its cause. While formal inquests were made and hours of testimony given by the owners and multiple employees under oath, conflicting accounts were found and the fire was deemed "of unknown but suspicious origin" by the state police captain tasked with its investigation.