Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena

Infobox Stadium
stadium_name = Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena
nickname = Spokane Arena


location = 720 W. Mallon Avenue
Spokane, Washington
99201
coordinates =
broke_ground = March 5, 1993
opened = September, 1995
renovated =
expanded =
closed =
demolished =
owner = Spokane Public Facilities District (SPFD)
operator = Spokane Public Facilities District (SPFD)
surface = Multi-surface
construction_cost = $44.8 million
architect = ALSC Architects/Ellerbe Becket Architects
project_manager =
main_contractors = Garco Construction
former_names =
tenants = Spokane Chiefs (WHL) (1995–present)

Spokane Shock (af2) (2006–present)
seating_capacity = End Stage Concert: 12,638
Basketball: 12,210
Hockey: 10,700
Arena Football: 10,471
dimensions =
latd=47 |latm=39 |lats=58.10 |latNS=N
longd=117 |longm=25 |longs=22 |longEW=W

Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena (popularly known as Spokane Arena) a multi-purpose arena located in Spokane, Washington, USA. The building is home to the Spokane Chiefs hockey team of the WHL, and the Spokane Shock arena football team of the af2.

Facility

Construction

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:
*To build an arena opposed to a domed stadium
*An arena that could seat 12,000 to 14,000 with expansion capabilities
*To build the new arena on city-owned land located adjacent to the old coliseum with on-site parking for 2,000 automobiles

In the fall of that year, two ballot measures were put out to voters, and passed:
*One, to publicly finance the construction of the arena through a property tax bond issue worth US$38 million
*Two, a measure to validate the SPFD. Validation was important, because it would allow the district to implement a 2% hotel tax to further fund constructionIn 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.

Building facts

The Spokane Arena has a capacity for:
*12,638 for end-stage concerts
*12,494 for center-stage shows
*12,210 for basketball
*10,700 for ice hockey
*10,471 for arena football
*6,951 for half-house shows

The arena has a state-of-the-art audio and video system. It consists of a convert|15|ft|m|sing=on x 20-foot 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 convert|100|ft|m and down to approximately convert|20|ft|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 convert|32000|sqft|m2, and the convert|14|ft|m|sing=on high concourse is a spacious convert|35000|sqft|m2. 16 luxury suites containing a total of 146 seats. In addition, there are six meeting rooms located at the Spokane Arena, totalling convert|10050|sqft|m2 of meeting space.

On the Events Level, there are five truck docks with convert|8|ft|m|sing=on x 10-foot loading doors, one convert|8|ft|m|sing=on x 10-foot drive-in door, and one convert|20|ft|m|sing=on x 24-foot 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.

Future

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 upper bowl to about 14,000. There are currently no plans to expand the Spokane Arena because there is no current need to do so. Expansion would likely occur only if the city of Spokane was to land a professional sports team or major event.

Events

ports

Basketball

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 program of Gonzaga 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.

Notably, this was the reason why the West Coast Conference 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. In 2008, it was a women's regional site.

Football

The Spokane Shock, of the af2, play their home games at the arena. Expansion of the horseshoe style upper level would help tremendously in any event of Spokane being a candidate city for any professional sport (i.e. the Arena Football League).

Ice hockey

The Spokane Chiefs, of the WHL, also play their home games at the arena.

Other sports

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 the City of Spokane would host the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and that the Spokane Arena would be the sole venue for the event.

Concerts at Star Theater

The Star Theater is a 5,900-seat theater within Spokane Arena, used for theater concerts, Broadway and family shows, and other events. Artists such as Metallica, Cher, The Eagles, Elton John, Destiny's Child, Creed, the Dixie Chicks, Beyonce, Dave Matthews Band, and Garth Brooks have performed concerts at the facility.

Other events

Numerous other activities have taken place at the Spokane Arena including circuses, large conferences, monster truck shows, and much more.

Notable events hosted

*1997 NCAA Volleyball Final Four
*1998 Memorial Cup
*1998 WWF Monday Night Raw
*2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championships
*2008 ECW & WWE SmackDown! (both held on same night)

Notable events to be hosted

*2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships

External links

* [http://www.spokanearena.com Spokane Arena website]

succession box
title = Home of the
Spokane Chiefs
years = 1995 – present
before = Spokane Coliseum
after = Currentsuccession box
title = Home of the
Spokane Shock
years = 2006 – present
before = None
after = Current