Bicentennial Center

The Bicentennial Center is a 7,583-seat multi-purpose arena, in Salina, Kansas. It was opened in 1979. It was home to the Kansas Cagerz of the United States Basketball League (USBL) and in the past it was home to the Salina Rattlers of the now defunct International Basketball Association.

The Bicentennial Center also hosts the Kansas state Class 4A and 3A volleyball tournaments in late October, the Class 4A state boys' and girls' basketball tournaments in March and is currently the host site for the Class 4A state wrestling tournament.

Salina was awarded the Class 4A wrestling tournament when it appeared the Kansas Coliseum in Wichita was going to be closed for renovations in 2006 and 2007. Those renovations were put off after the decision was made to build Intrust Bank Arena, a new downtown arena, instead. It appears that the Class 4A tournament has found a permanent home in Salina. This is because the Kansas State High School Activities Association decided to take the Class 6A and 5A State Tournaments out of Intrust Bank Arena after the 2010 championships lost money, mainly due to the high rent charged. The 6A and 5A tournaments will be held in the much smaller Hartman Arena in Park City, leaving no room for the Class 4A tournament to be held along with 6A and 5A.

On August 26, 1990, the rock band KISS performed at the arena as part of their Hot in the Shade Tour. During the show, the band's enormous stage set overloaded the arena's power supply causing a transformer to explode outside the building and cutting electricity inside the arena. This abruptly ended the show before the band could complete their set. A short time later, band member Paul Stanley phoned a local radio station and promised to return to Salina to make up for the shortened show. This phone call was recorded and played on the air. To date, Kiss has never returned.

Past events

Wrestling

Concerts

Other Events

External links