| Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena | |
|---|---|
| Spokane Arena, "The Arena" | |
| Location | 720 W. Mallon Avenue Spokane, Washington 99201 United States |
| Coordinates | |
| Broke ground | March 5, 1993 |
| Opened | September 17, 1995[1] |
| Owner | Spokane Public Facilities District (SPFD) |
| Operator | Spokane Public Facilities District (SPFD) |
| Surface | Multi-surface |
| Construction cost | $62.6 million ($90.2 million in 2012 dollars[2]) |
| Architect | ALSC Architects/Ellerbe Becket Architects |
| General Contractor | Garco Construction |
| Capacity |
End Stage concert: 12,638 |
| Tenants | |
| Spokane Chiefs (WHL) (1995–present) Spokane Shock (AFL) (2006–present) Gonzaga Bulldogs Men's Basketball (1 game per season) |
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Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena (Spokane Arena) a multi-purpose arena, located in Spokane, Washington, USA.
It is home to the Spokane Chiefs, of the WHL and the Spokane Shock, of the AFL.
Contents |
With an aging Spokane Coliseum, along with a need for a larger facility more than twice the coliseum's capacity, the Spokane City Council and Board of Spokane County Commissioners formed the Spokane Public Facilities District (SPFD) to acquire, construct, own and operate sports and entertainment facilities with contiguous parking facilities. In 1990, the SPFD board members unanimously agreed on the following recommendations made by an economic feasibility/market study. The recommendations were:
Voters rejected the Spokane Arena four times in six years before agreeing to build it in 1991.
In the fall of that year, two ballot measures were put out to voters, and passed:
In the fall of 1991, another funding measure was put out to voters and was passed. It involved a 0.1% raise in the sales tax. The passage of all three measures completed the US$44.8 million financining needed to build the arena.
The Spokane Arena broke ground on March 5, 1993, and opened in September 1995.
The Spokane Arena has a capacity for:
The arena has a state-of-the-art audio and video system. It consists of a 15-foot (4.6 m) x 20-foot (6.1 m) Viacom Sports 12 mm LED display, which is capable of being used as two separate units. The video board has exceptional color reproduction and the best off-angle viewing available for any LED format. It can even be moved forward approximately 100 feet (30 m) and down to approximately 20 feet (6.1 m) off the arena floor. The arena also features a 350° color LED ribbon board, which is mounted on the fascia of the Spokane Arena bowl. It is capable of displaying text messages, animations, logos, scores and statistics.
Powered by Crown Amplifiers, the audio system is driven by Community RS880 speakers in the Arena bowl, Altec Lansing satellite speakers for the upper seating areas, and Bose speakers serve the concourse, dressing rooms, and backstage hallways.
Large public areas are one of the greater features of the Spokane Arena. The arena floor is 32,000 square feet (3,000 m2), and the 14-foot (4.3 m) high concourse is a spacious 35,000 square feet (3,300 m2). 16 luxury suites containing a total of 146 seats. In addition, there are six meeting rooms located at the Spokane Arena, totalling 10,050 square feet (934 m2) of meeting space.
On the Events Level, there are five truck docks with 8-foot (2.4 m) x 10-foot (3.0 m) loading doors, one 8-foot (2.4 m) x 10-foot (3.0 m) drive-in door, and one 20-foot (6.1 m) x 24-foot (7.3 m) drive-in loading door, allowing large shows to load and unload eight trucks simultaneously. Trucks can load and unload unobstructed, directly into the marshalling area at the arena floor's west end. Backstage are three star dressing rooms, two promoter offices (located in the marshalling area), and seven team dressing rooms, as well as a dressing room for officials.
Incorporated into its original design was an area designated for future expansion of the arena. Expansion of the upper bowl would raise the seating capacity of the arena to over 14,000. There are currently no plans to expand the Spokane Arena, However, Local organizers are concerned the NCAA may tighten its criteria and require a true minimum of 12,000, with no allowance for seats lost due to tournament infrastructure.[3] Also, with the Shock's recent move to the Arena Football League, the AFL may also require the expansion in the near future.
The expansion of the arena is currently estimated at around $6 million.[4]
Spokane Arena, in addition to its duties as being the host of Chiefs and Shock games, also serves as a secondary home for the men's basketball programs of Gonzaga University and Washington State University for at least one big matchup per year. Historically, the Bulldogs' annual game with local rival Eastern Washington University was played here, but the rivalry has gone dormant due to the rise of the Zags' program to major status in the early 2000s. Today, the visiting team at Spokane Arena is generally another national power, such as Memphis in 2007.
It also hosted the Washington Class B state high school basketball tournament annually until 2006. The tournament came back to the arena in 2007, but as the Class 2B tournament. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association had split the B classification into 1B and 2B. The Yakima SunDome in Yakima, Washington hosts the 1B tournament. The Class 1B tournament returned in 2011 when the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association changed the state tournament format.
Notably, this was the reason why the West Coast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament had never been in Spokane before 2006; the Class B and WCC tournaments clash every year, and Gonzaga's arena at that time was too small to host the WCC tournament. In 2004, Gonzaga opened a new basketball arena, the McCarthey Athletic Center, which enabled it to enter the WCC tournament rotation.
The arena has also hosted several NCAA Division I basketball tournament first- and second-round games for both men and women with Washington State University being the host school. In 2008 and 2011, it was a women's regional site. The 2011 regional was notable for the presence of Gonzaga, who became the lowest-seeded team ever to make a regional final in the women's tournament.
Spokane landed another NCAA Men's basketball first and second round in 2010. It was the 3rd time in the same decade that the city has catered to this event. (2003 and 2007 being the others.)
In 1999, the PBR made a stop in Spokane Arena for a Bud Light Cup event; it was one of six wins for Cody Hart in 1999, the same year he became a PBR World Champion.
In January 2007, the Spokane Arena was put in the national spotlight once again. It was one of two facilities to host the 2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the other being the Group Health Exhibit Hall at the Spokane Convention Center several blocks away. The arena, as well as the city received many rave reviews and also shattered the previous attendance record for the event, previously held by Los Angeles, California, by over 30,000 attendees.
On May 5, 2008, it was announced that Spokane would once again host the U.S. Figure Skating Championships leading up to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Spokane Arena was the sole venue for the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
The Spokane Arena successfully hosted the 2010 US Figure Skating Championships from January 15–24, 2010 and broke its own attendance record with 158,170 tickets sold during the 10-day event.
The Spokane Shock, of the Arena Football League, play their home games at the arena.
The Spokane Chiefs, of the WHL, also play their home games at the arena.
The Star Theater is a 5,900-seat theater, within Spokane Arena, used for theater concerts, Broadway, family shows and other events.
Numerous other activities have taken place at the Spokane Arena including circuses, large conferences, monster truck shows, concerts and much more. And every year the arena is home to Spokane's band and strings spectacular featuring the areas band and strings groups grades 5-6 from all schools.
| Events and tenants | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Spokane Coliseum |
Home of the Spokane Chiefs 1995 – present |
Succeeded by Current |
| Preceded by None |
Home of the Spokane Shock 2006 – present |
Succeeded by Current |
| Preceded by New Orleans Arena |
Host of the ArenaBowl ArenaBowl XXIII |
Succeeded by TBD |
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