Horncastle Arena

Horncastle Arena
The Woolshed, The Horseshoe
Former names WestpacTrust Centre (1998–2007)
Westpac Arena (2007–10)
CBS Canterbury Arena (2012–14) Horncastle Arena (2014–present)
Location 55 Jack Hinton Drive
Addington, Christchurch
Canterbury, New Zealand
Coordinates 43°32′45″S 172°36′4″E / 43.54583°S 172.60111°E / -43.54583; 172.60111Coordinates: 43°32′45″S 172°36′4″E / 43.54583°S 172.60111°E / -43.54583; 172.60111
Owner Vbase
Operator Vbase
Capacity Netball: 7,200
Concerts: 8,888
Construction
Opened 1998
General contractor Charles Luney
Tenants
1999 Netball World Championships
Mainland Tactix (ANZ Championship) (2008–present)

Horncastle Arena is a New Zealand sporting and entertainment arena located in the Christchurch suburb of Addington. It has gone through a series of name changes and was most recently known as the CBS Canterbury Arena.

Description

The arena is New Zealand's second-largest indoor arena with a maximum capacity of 8,888 (depending on event type), it was the largest until the construction of Auckland's Vector Arena in 2007. The indoor stadium is capable of hosting concerts, exhibitions and various sporting events. Provision for international sport and traditional indoor arena events has been integrated into the design requirements.

It has over 6,700 seats for sporting fixtures or, in the concert configuration, the seating can increase to over 7,000.

The Sports and Entertainment complex is located adjacent to Addington Raceway and Rugby League Park in South West Christchurch surrounded by 3,000 car parking spaces. The complex is only 10 minutes from the city centre.

It has been affectionately dubbed 'The Woolshed' by Canterbury Rams basketball fans. Some Christchurch citizens colloquially refer to the arena as the horseshoe, due to its unusual architectural exterior design.

Horncastle Homes currently holds the naming rights to the stadium.

History

Charles Luney was the builder for the stadium.[1] The arena opened in September 1998 at a cost of NZ$32 Million. In the first ever sporting match at CBS Canterbury Arena, the Canterbury Rams basketball team suffered a close loss to the Wellington Saints 86–81 in April 1999.

It was built for two main reasons: primarily for the 1999 Netball World Cup in Christchurch, and also because Christchurch was missing out on many concerts and other attractions, because it did not have a suitable indoor arena in the city.

Current tenants

Events

Entertainment events

Sporting

Since its opening, it has been host to a number of different sporting events. These Include home matches for the Canterbury Rams (basketball) and Mainland Tactix (netball) teams. It occasionally hosts international basketball and netball fixtures featuring the Tall Blacks and Silver Ferns respectively. It was also the host of the 1999 Netball World Championships.

It has also been host to a lot of non-regular sporting events. These include various celebrity tennis matches, ice shows, disabled games, karate championships and gymnastics competitions.

In 2007 & 2008 the arena hosted WWE professional wrestling tours, featuring the SmackDown and ECW brands. The arena will again host a WWE event in September 2017, this time a Raw branded event.

Other uses

The arena plays a key role in the Christchurch economy hosting annual trade shows including the Christchurch Home Show, Women's Lifestyle Expo, The Christchurch Boat Show, and the South Island gift Fare.

The Horncastle Arena is managed by the same company that manages the Christchurch Convention Centre and plays an important part of hosting major conferences in co-operation with the convention centre. The combined facilities regularly host a variety of different conferences for up to 2500 people. It has been a frequent host for the New Zealand annual Tourism conference known as T.R.E.N.Z..

The venue is also used for big gala dinners, lunches, balls, and cocktail parties.

Name change

On 18 June 2010, Westpac Arena was officially renamed CBS Canterbury Arena.[30]

On 23 July 2014, CBS Canterbury Arena was officially renamed Horncastle Arena.[31]

References

  1. ↑ "Charles Seymour Luney (Chas), QSO, CNZM 1905 – 2006". Christchurch City Libraries. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  2. ↑ "Basketball returns home to Cowles", Christchurch City Council, Media Release 29 September 2007.
  3. ↑ "Lionel Richie and John Farnham NZ Tour at Horncastle Arena – eventfinda.co.nz". eventfinda.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  4. ↑ "Lionel Richie and John Farnham NZ Tour in New Plymouth – stuff.co.nz". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  5. ↑ "Bob Dylan lands in Christchurch – stuff.co.nz". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  6. ↑ "Review: Bob Dylan in Christchurch – stuff.co.nz". Les Kokay – stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  7. ↑ "Ed Sheeran – eventfinda.co.nz". eventfinda.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  8. ↑ "Gig guide: Event details – undertheradar.co.nz". undertheradar.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  9. ↑ "Ed Sheeran's secret show in Christchurch – stuff.co.nz". Vicki Anderson – stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  10. ↑ "Review: Ed Sheeran captivates Christchurch – stuff.co.nz". Vicki Anderson – stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  11. ↑ "Ed Sheeran delights fans with secret Christchurch show – nzherald.co.nz". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  12. ↑ "Ricky Martin – eventfinda.co.nz". eventfinda.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  13. ↑ "Gig guide: Event details – undertheradar.co.nz". undertheradar.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  14. ↑ "Tour news:Imagine Dragons conjure up two NZ shows – nzherald.co.nz". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  15. ↑ "Imagine Dragons to play Auckland, Christchurch – newshub.co.nz". newshub.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  16. ↑ "Maroon 5 add extra Australia and New Zealand shows to 2015 tour plans - stereoboard.com". Jon Stickler - stereoboard.com. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  17. ↑ "Review: Maroon 5 V Tour – stuff.co.nz". James Croot – stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  18. ↑ "Iron Maiden – eventfinda.co.nz". eventfinda.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  19. ↑ "Maiden announce details of concerts in New Zealand and Australia in April/May 2016 - ironmaiden.com". ironmaiden.com. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  20. ↑ "Review: Iron Maiden at Christchurch's Horncastle Arena – stuff.co.nz". Nicole Mathewson – stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  21. ↑ "Troye Sivan – eventfinda.co.nz". eventfinda.co.nz. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  22. ↑ "Concert Review: Passionate Troye Sivan connects with Christchurch crowd – stuff.co.nz". Enya Beynon – stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  23. ↑ "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – eventfinda.co.nz". eventfinda.co.nz. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  24. ↑ "Macklemore and Ryan Lewis back on tour, returning to Auckland – stuff.co.nz". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  25. ↑ "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis live in New Zealand – scoop.co.nz". scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  26. ↑ "Tour information – disney.com.au". disney.com.au. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  27. ↑ "Disney on Ice presents Magical Ice Festival – eventfinda.co.nz". eventfinda.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  28. ↑ "Ellie Goulding – eventfinda.co.nz". eventfinda.co.nz. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  29. ↑ "Ellie Goulding heads to New Zealand for Delirium tour – stuff.co.nz". Hannah McKee – stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  30. ↑ Heather, Ben (19 June 2010). "CBS takes venue naming rights". The Press. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  31. ↑ Meier, Cecile (24 July 2014). "Arena sponsor 'here for the long haul'". The Press. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
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