Hollywood Sportatorium
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The Hollywood Sportatorium was a large events facility for South Florida in the 1970s and 1980's, and during its existence was the only venue of its kind in Broward County. Built in 1969 and opened in September of 1970, it had a concert capacity of 15,500 seats, over three times the capacity of its Dallas counterpart, also called the Sportatorium. It was located at 16661 West Hollywood Boulevard, (later Pines Boulevard) in what was then unincorporated Broward County. It was adjacent to the Miami-Hollywood Motorsports Park, constructed four years earlier. At the time, Pines Boulevard was a two-lane road in a thinly populated area.
The Sportatorium was a crudely-constructed arena made of cement and sheet metal, and originally lacked any indoor climate controls. Air conditioning was installed in 1976, but it was ineffective. The Sportatorium was damaged in late 1979 when the rock group KISS suspended, or 'flew,' too much equipment from the superstructure of the building. The land on which the arena stood was annexed to Pembroke Pines in 1980. The Sportatorium was the site of concerts for Elvis Presley, Led Zeppelin, Elton John, Queen, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Van Halen, the Grateful Dead, Billy Joel, David Gilmour (on his 1984 solo tour), Rush, and other bands in the 1970s and 1980s. Numerous conventions took place at the facility, including a Star Trek convention featuring Gene Roddenberry. Despite hosting well-known musical acts, the Sportatorium was notorious for poor acoustics. At one concert at the facility, Billy Joel reacted to the echo by yelling, “This place sucks!”.[citation needed] On a natioanlly syndicated radio show featring Robert Plant as a quest, he fielded a call from SOuth Florida. Upon hearing where the caller was from, Plant responded by saying "You have that awful Sportatorium down there. When are you going to build something new?" It was also infamous for occasioannly leaking over the stage (and performers) during heavy rainfalls.
Plans to convert the Sportatorium into a hockey arena were never realized, and it finally closed in 1988 due to the loss of business to the newly-built Miami Arena in neighboring Miami-Dade County. The Sportatorium did gain a short reprieve when a few shows, including one by AC/DC, that were originally scheduled to take place at the new Miami Arena had to be moved to the Sportatorium due to delays on the completion of the new arena. While Its final show on October 21, 1988 featured country music acts Highway 101, The Desert Rose Band, and Larry Boone.
In 1993, due to disuse, hurricane damage from the previous year's Hurricane Andrew and zoning changes creating residential neighborhoods surrounding the facility, the Hollywood Sportatorium was torn down. A supermarket and the Pembroke Isles community occupy the site. Most of the Sportatorium's target business would return to Broward County in 1998 with the completion of BankAtlantic Center in nearby Sunrise, Florida.
[edit] Bands That Performed There
Aerosmith
Alice Cooper
Billy Joel
Black Sabbath
Blue Oyster Cult
Boston
Bruce Springsteen
Cars
Chicago
Deep Purple
Dio
Dobbie Brothers
Duran Duran
Eddie Money
Elton John
Elvis Presley
Emerson, Lake, & Palmer
Eric Clapton
Grateful Dead
Heart
Iron Maiden
Kiss
Led Zeppelin
Madonna
Mötley Crüe
Ozzy Osbourne
The Police
Robert Plant
Roger Waters
Queen
Rod Stewart
Rush
Santana
Styx
Thin Lizzy
Tina Turner
Three Dog Night
U2
Uriah Heep
Van Halen
Whitsnake
Judas Priest
