Centre Court
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Centre Court may be used generically as the British English term for the main court at any tennis complex. However, it is most frequently used as the identifier for the main court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, England. Built in 1922, it currently holds 13,810 spectators. Its only regular use is for the two weeks a year that the Wimbledon Championships take place, and is arguably the most famous tennis venue in the world. Centre Court will also be used for the tennis competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
The roof for the Centre Court was removed after the 2006 Championships in preparation for plans to add a retractable roof. A temporary fixed roof will be in place for the 2008 championship and the new retractable roof structure is scheduled to be in place for the 2009 Championships. Capacity will be increased to 15,000 by adding six rows of seats to the upper tier on the east, north and west sides. New media facilities and commentary boxes will be built to replace those currently in the upper tier. New wider seats will be installed and new additional stairs and lifts will be added.
An inscription above the entryway to Centre Court reads "If you can meet with triumph and disaster / And treat those two imposters just the same" - lines from Rudyard Kipling's poem If— .
[edit] External links
- Centre Court Long-term plan features time-lapse video of the construction work