Wachovia Spectrum

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Wachovia Spectrum

Location	3601 S Broad St Philadelphia, PA 19148
Broke ground	June, 1966
Opened	October 19, 1967
Owner	Comcast-Spectator, L.P.
Operator	Global Spectrum
Construction cost	$7 million
Former names
The Spectrum (1967-1994) CoreStates Spectrum (1994-1998) First Union Spectrum (1998-2003)
Tenants
Philadelphia Phantoms (AHL) (1996-present) Philadelphia KiXX (MISL) (1995-present) Philadelphia Soul (Arena Football) (2004-present; Saturday home games) Philadelphia Flyers (NHL) (1967-1996) Philadelphia 76ers (NBA) (1967-1996)
Seats
18,169 (basketball) 17,380 (hockey & AFL)

The Wachovia Spectrum (formerly known as the Spectrum (1967-1994), CoreStates Spectrum (1994-1998) and First Union Spectrum (1998-2003)) is an indoor arena located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Completed in 1967, it seats 18,136 for basketball and 17,380 for ice hockey, indoor football, indoor soccer, and indoor lacrosse.

[edit] History

Opened as "The Spectrum" in the Fall of 1967, Philadelphia's first modern indoor sports arena was originally built to be the home of the expansion Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL, and also to accommodate the existing Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA. The building was the second major sports facility built at the South end of Broad Street in an area previously known as "East League Island Park" and now referred to simply as the South Philadelphia "Sports Complex."

The Spectrum arose just north of the then existing 100,000+ seat John F. Kennedy Stadium (originally called "Municipal Stadium") which had been built more than four decades earlier (opened April 15, 1926) for Philadelphia's Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition, a massive 184-day World's Fair (May 31st to November 30th, 1926) the main grounds of which were bounded by 10th Street, Packer Ave., 23rd Street, and the U.S. Navy Yard (Terminal Avenue). The Spectrum now occupies the portion of the 1926 Exposition grounds on the south side of Pattison Avenue between Broad and 11th Streets that was the site of the fair's expansive main trolley station operated by the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company.

On September 23, 1926, an announced crowd of 120,557 packed the then new Stadium -- in the rain -- to witness Gene Tunney capture the world's heavyweight boxing title from Jack Dempsey, and for decades the monolith also served as the "neutral" venue for the annual Army-Navy Game. JFK Stadium was demolished in 1992 to make way for a new indoor arena, the Wachovia Center, which opened in August, 1996. Originally known as the "CoreStates Center" (1996-1998) and then the "First Union Center" (1998-2003), the 20,000+ seat facility replaced the Spectrum as home to the NHL Philadelphia Flyers, NBA Philadelphia 76ers and NLL Philadelphia Wings.

For thirty-three years, Veterans Stadium (opened 1971, closed 2003, demolished 2004), the third facility built at the complex to accommodate the MLB Philadelphia Phillies and NFL Philadelphia Eagles, was located immediately north of the Spectrum directly across Pattison Avenue. The "Vet" was replaced by two new facilities: a purpose built football/soccer stadium, Lincoln Financial Field (opened 2003), which is located directly across 11th Street from the Wachovia Center, and a new dedicated baseball stadium, Citizens Bank Park (opened 2004), located at the northeast corner of Pattison Ave. and Citizens Bank Way (11th St.) immediately east of the former Veterans Stadium site which is now occupied by a parking lot for the sports complex.

The Spectrum was conceived and built to accommodate expansion of the NHL into Philadelphia which was awarded an expansion team for the 1967-68 season. Ground was broken on the arena in June, 1966, and finished in 16 months at a cost of $7 million. The 76ers moved there from Convention Hall. On March 1, 1968, high winds blew a portion of the covering of the Spectrum's roof off during a performance of the Ice Capades forcing the building to close for a month while the damage was repaired. While the 76ers were able to move their home games to Convention Hall or to the Palestra, neither of those arenas had ice rinks at the time and there were no other NHL-quality sites in the Philadelphia area. Thus the Flyers hurriedly moved their next home game (against the Oakland Seals) to Madison Square Garden in New York followed by a meeting with the Boston Bruins played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto before establishing a base at Le Colisée in Quebec City, home of their top minor league team, the AHL Quebec Aces, for the remainder of their regular season home schedule. (The roof was repaired in time to permit the Flyers to return to the Spectrum to open their first ever Stanley Cup play-offs against the St. Louis Blues on April 4, 1968.) Because of its location the Flyers of the 1970s soon became popularly known as the "Broad Street Bullies."

The Flyers won their first Stanley Cup at the Spectrum on May 19, 1974, defeating the Boston Bruins, 1-0, in game six of the finals. Perhaps the most important and emotional hockey game -- or sporting event of any kind -- ever held there, however, came at the height of the Cold War on January 11, 1976, when the Flyers became the first NHL team to defeat (by 4-1) the then vaunted hockey team of the Soviet Central Red Army (ЦСКА)[1]. Ten NHL or NBA play-off championship series were hosted at the Spectrum with the Flyers competing in the Stanley Cup Finals in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1985, and 1987, and the 76ers playing in the NBA Finals in 1977, 1980, 1982, and 1983. The 1976 and 1992 NHL, and 1970 and 1976 NBA, All-Star Games were also held here. The AHL Phantoms also won their first Calder Cup title on Spectrum ice before a sell-out crowd of 17,380 on June 10, 1998, by defeating the Saint John Flames, 6-1.

The Spectrum is frequently used for many basketball tournaments, including Big Five games, eight Atlantic Ten Conference tournaments (1977, 1983, 1997-2002), the 1992 NCAA East Regional (site of the famous last-second shot by Christian Laettner of Duke to beat Kentucky), and the 1976 and 1981 Final Fours (interestingly, both won by Bobby Knight's Indiana Hoosiers). Smaller conferences still prefer holding tournament games at this venue over the larger Center nearby.

The Spectrum was an important venue for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), due to the fact that Philadelphia was and still is a hotbed for wrestling. The WWF hosted shows on a more or less monthly basis for over fifteen years including SummerSlam in 1990, King of the Ring in 1995 and various live events featuring stars like Hulk Hogan. The Grateful Dead played the Spectrum 53 times, by far the most of any musical act.

Pink Floyd performed two nights at this venue on their 1977 Animals tour. On the second night, Floyd member Roger Waters fell ill and did most of the show after a painkiller injection. However, the painkiller wore off and was taken to the hospital and missed the final encore of "Us and Them" where second guitarist Snowy White had to fill in on bass guitar. Unbeknownst to the crowd, this was the first time that the rest of Pink Floyd (guitarist/vocalist David Gilmour, drummer Nick Mason and keyboard player Rick Wright) performed a song live without Waters (they would go on without him as of 1986). Roger's experience whilst performing ill at this venue would be documented on "Comfortably Numb".

Although both the Flyers and 76ers moved across the parking lot to the new and larger Wachovia Center in 1996, the arena remains in place and is still used by the Philadelphia Phantoms of the AHL, the Philadelphia Kixx of the MISL, the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League for Saturday home games, and a variety of other sporting events and concerts.

[edit] Rocky

Philadelphia Portal

A statue of Sylvester Stallone, depicting him in his famous role of Philadelphia boxer Rocky Balboa, stood for many years in front of the main (Pattison Avenue) entrance of the Spectrum which had been represented in the movie to be the site of Rocky's first fight with Apollo Creed. (The arena in which the fight sequences were actually filmed was the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.) The statue was removed several times over the years to be used in the filming of sequels to the original film. In September, 2006, however, it was given a permanent new home in an area near the base of the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art not far from where it had appeared in a spot on the plaza at the top of the Museum's steps in the original movie.

[edit] Notable Events

NBA All-Star Game, 1970
NHL Stanley Cup Finals, 1974
NHL Stanley Cup Finals, 1975
NHL All-Star Game, 1976
NBA All-Star Game, 1976
NCAA Tournament, Men's Final Four, 1976 (won by Indiana University)
NHL Stanley Cup Finals, 1976
NBA Finals, 1977
NHL Stanley Cup Finals, 1980
NBA Finals, 1980
NCAA Tournament, Men's Final Four, 1981 (won by Indiana University)
NBA Finals, 1983
NHL Stanley Cup Finals, 1985
NHL Stanley Cup Finals, 1987
MILL Championship, 1989
WWF SummerSlam '90, 1990
NHL All-Star Game, 1992
NCAA Tournament, East Regional (won by Duke University), 1992
MILL Championship, 1992
MILL Championship, 1994
MILL Championship, 1995
WWF King of the Ring, 1995
AHL Calder Cup Finals, 1998
NPSL Championship, 2001
MISL Championship, 2002

Preceded by: first arena	Home of the Philadelphia Flyers 1967–1996	Succeeded by: Wachovia Center 1996–present

Preceded by: Convention Hall & Philadelphia Arena 1963–1967	Home of the Philadelphia 76ers 1967–1996	Succeeded by: Wachovia Center 1996–present

American Conference		National Conference
Current arenas in the Arena Football League
Allstate Arena \| EnergySolutions Arena \| Gaylord Entertainment Center \| HP Pavilion \| Pepsi Center \| Staples Center \| Thomas & Mack Center \| US Airways Center \| Van Andel Arena		American Airlines Center \| Amway Arena \| Frank Erwin Center \| Kemper Arena \| Nassau Coliseum \| Nationwide Arena \| New Orleans Arena \| Philips Arena \| St. Pete Times Forum \| Wachovia Center¹ \| Wachovia Spectrum²
¹The Philadelphia Soul play Sunday home games only at the Wachovia Center. ²The Philadelphia Soul play Saturday home games only at the Wachovia Spectrum.

Current arenas in the American Hockey League
Eastern Conference		Western Conference
Arena at Harbor Yard \| Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena \| Cumberland County Civic Center \| DCU Center \| Dunkin' Donuts Center \| GIANT Center \| Hartford Civic Center \| MassMutual Center \| Norfolk Scope \| Pepsi Arena \| Tsongas Arena \| Verizon Wireless Arena \| Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza \| Wachovia Spectrum		Allstate Arena \| AT&T Center \| Blue Cross Arena \| Bradley Center \| Carver Arena \| Copps Coliseum \| MTS Centre \| Omaha Civic Auditorium \| Ricoh Coliseum \| Toyota Center \| Van Andel Arena \| War Memorial at Oncenter \| Wells Fargo Arena