Amway Arena

Coordinates: 28°32′56″N 81°23′12″W / 28.54889°N 81.38667°W / 28.54889; -81.38667
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For its successor formerly known as Amway Center, see Kia Center.
Amway Arena
Orlando Solar Bears (IHL) (1995–2001)
Orlando Rollergators/Jackals (RHI) (1995–1997)
Orlando Seals (ACHL/WHA2
) (2002–2004)

Amway Arena (originally known as Orlando Arena and later TD Waterhouse Centre) was an

Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus
annually.

Amway Arena closed in 2010 and was demolished in 2012.

History

Orlando Arena's original logo

The city of Orlando wanted a downtown arena long before there was talk of an NBA franchise. The arena site on West Livingston Street was approved in December 1983, at a time when concerts and other large-scale events were held at the Orange County Convention Center, which is several miles away from downtown.[4] Discussions on financing delayed the project for several years due to concerns of the convention center losing money if an arena was built, as an arena would be a better venue for many of the events previously held at the convention center. By the end of 1985, the city and county reached an agreement on a financing plan that would delay the opening of the arena until the end of the decade (unless the county agreed) so it would not compete with the convention center. The planned site grew 50% from its original plan and consumed three extra blocks south of Lake Dot.[5]

In 1986, support was growing to attempt to bring an NBA franchise to Orlando, and general manager Pat Williams knew that having an arena already under construction would be critical for expansion being approved by the league.[6] Considering the importance of the arena, the city voted to allow construction to begin before a study of its impact on the area was filed with state and regional planners.[7] Ground broke in January 1987, four months before the NBA Board of Governors made their final decision to bring Orlando into the league.

Construction was completed in 1989 at a cost of $110 million ($2,099,903.23 as of 2020) – entirely publicly financed. The arena officially opened on January 29, 1989, with a ribbon cutting ceremony and public open house featuring the Orlando Magic Dancers and

Curly Neal.[8] In 1991, the facility was voted "Arena of the Year" by Performance Magazine. It was also nominated for "Best Indoor Concert Venue" in the Pollstar Concert Industry Awards. The arena's design provided for an intimate atmosphere. Spectators in the upper bowl were still relatively close to the floor due to the number of seats in the lower and upper bowls being split almost 50/50, with the luxury suites near the ceiling.[9] The arena originally seated 15,291 but all the original seats were replaced with narrower ones between 1994 and 1995, increasing capacity by over 2,000 to 17,519.[10]

Naming

The logo as TD Waterhouse Centre
The then TD Waterhouse Centre

During its entire lifetime, the arena was colloquially known by the nickname of "The O-Rena". It was officially named Orlando Arena, then TD Waterhouse Centre, and finally Amway Arena.[11]

After considering several names, including Frederick Arena (suggested by Magic general manager Pat Williams), MagicDome, Quest, Apex and Centrum, then-Orlando Mayor Bill Frederick decided to name the building Orlando Arena in 1988.[12] It was the city's first choice.

The city agreed to allow the Magic to sell the

Toronto Dominion
, purchased the naming rights at a cost of $7.8 million for five years. The building was then renamed to TD Waterhouse Centre.

The naming rights with TD Waterhouse expired on November 30, 2006, and the financial company which bought TD Waterhouse's U.S. operations earlier in the year chose not to renew them. The venue was briefly known as "The arena in Orlando" before a new naming rights contract was signed, a period of approximately one week. On December 7, 2006, it was announced that

Amway Center
.

Former tenants

Defunct tenants of the arena include the

MISL's Orlando Sharks, the WNBA's Orlando Miracle, and the NLL's Orlando Titans
.

The Solar Bears folded in 2001 along with the IHL itself. After the 2002 WNBA season, all franchises were sold to the operators of the teams, and Magic owner Rich DeVos was not interested in keeping them. They relocated to Connecticut and were renamed the Sun. On August 22, 2004, the City of Orlando evicted the Seals and they were forced to sit out the first season of

Southern Professional Hockey League play for 2004–05 as a result. They ultimately moved to Kissimmee's Silver Spurs Arena and resumed play in 2005–2006 as the Florida Seals until they folded. In 2007, the Orlando Sharks, an expansion team in the Major Indoor Soccer League
, were to play in the arena beginning that fall, but rent issues with the arena led them to eventually fold. The Orlando Titans played their first and only season at the arena before folding due to financial troubles.

Renovation plans

Amway Arena Concourse.
The arena had only one concourse for over 17,000 people, which would get extremely congested.

Attendance to

SunTrust, Lockheed Martin, Darden Restaurants, and Hughes Supply did not lease the luxury suites.[15]

The Orlando Magic's desire for a major renovation of the building dated to 1994, when the arena was only five years old, as the team was seeking to increase revenue by expanding the limited retail and concession space and luxury seating.[17][18] In 1996, the team spent $100,000 to have Conventions Sports & Leisure of Minneapolis study and determine renovation ideas. Major renovation seemed unfeasible in 1997, when the task-force determined that the cost of implementing everything that the team wanted would reach up to $75 million.[19] However, even if luxury suites were relocated to the midlevel, the city had few corporations in the area willing to pay the $100,000-plus a year lease rates.[15] The revenues brought in by the changes likely would not be enough to cover mortgage payments on money that would have to be borrowed to pay for the renovation. Also, at the time, the city still owed $40 million on the original construction of the building.

Beginning around 2000, the Magic began to push the City of Orlando for a brand new arena, replacing the TD Waterhouse Centre. Since the city, as well as Orange County, were not keen on picking up the tab for a second facility in a little over a decade, the Magic stated they would contribute to the cost of building it. They did not, however, say how much.

Amway Center on October 1, 2010, Crotty remarked "When I look around this building, I think to myself, 'Boy, am I glad that didn't work.' Sometimes good comes out of bad."[23]

Successor arena and demolition

Main article: Kia Center

On September 29, 2006, the City of Orlando and Orange County finally came to an agreement on a $1.1-billion improvement package that included $480 million for a new arena. The Magic would provide $114 million in cash and up-front lease payments and guarantee $100 million in bonds toward the arena. The venue plan received final approval on July 26, 2007, and the arena was completed in time for the 2010–11 NBA season. Amway Arena's last day of operation was September 30, 2010, as arena operations then moved to the new Amway Center.

The City of Orlando began demolition of Amway Arena's interior on December 15, 2011, originally planning to take about six months to traditionally demolish the facility.[24] The majority of the building was instead imploded at 7:30 a.m. on March 25, 2012, leaving only the corner columns standing, which would be removed along with the rest of the rubble over the following months. One man was injured after being hit by debris.[25]

Currently, plans call for the remainder of the Centroplex to also be demolished to make way for a "Creative Village" complex on the site. It will be home to digital media companies and related industries. There will be 35% office space, 45% residential space, and 20% for other uses including education, hotels, retail, and entertainment.[26] The goal of the complex is to redevelop the site into "a place where high-tech companies locate; and employees of those businesses and other residents live, work, learn and play".[27]

Notable events

The Orlando Magic playing against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2008.
The Orlando Magic playing against the Los Angeles Lakers in Amway Arena.

Sports

Notable basketball events include the

NCAA Tournament in 1993, 1996, 1999, and 2004. The 42nd annual NBA All-Star Game was held at the facility on February 9, 1992. Games 1 and 2 of the 1995 NBA Finals between the Magic and the Houston Rockets were held at the arena, as well as Games 3, 4, and 5 of the 2009 NBA Finals between the Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers. The final NBA game at Amway Arena was Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics on May 26, 2010; the Magic won that game. The Celtics would then win Game 6 in Boston, advancing to face the Lakers in the 2010 NBA Finals
.

Other sporting events include the 1992

Detroit Drive in 1992 and Arizona Rattlers in 1994 before defeating the Nashville Kats in 2000. The final sporting event at Amway Arena was an Orlando Predators game on July 24, 2010, against the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz
.

Political events

On October 20, 2008,

Presidential Candidate John Kerry
inside the Amway Arena.

Other Events

R.E.M performed here on 4/30/1989. Songs from this and the previous night's concert at Miami Arena were broadcast on Westwood One's Superstars In Concert radio show.

Many professional wrestling pay-per-view events have been held at Amway Arena over the years, including the 1990

Florida Citrus Bowl
.

Many

graduation
ceremonies at the arena.

The final event at Amway Arena was the So You Think You Can Dance Tour on September 30, 2010.

References

  1. ^ "20 Years Ago Today – The Magic Begins". nba.com.
  2. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  3. ^ "Walter P Moore – Arenas". Archived from the original on 2000-07-08. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
  4. ^ "Board Backs Financing For Orlando Arena". tribunedigital-orlandosentinel.
  5. ^ "Orlando Gets Moving On Arena Project". tribunedigital-orlandosentinel.
  6. ^ "Magic's Williams: Orlando Arena 'Best In Country'". tribunedigital-orlandosentinel.
  7. ^ "Gung-ho City Council Okays Early Construction Of Arena". tribunedigital-orlandosentinel.
  8. ^ "Arena Open House". Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  9. ^ "Arena Model 'A Spectator's Delight'". Orlando Sentinel. 1986-09-12. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  10. ^ "Arena May Add 2,000 Seats". tribunedigital-orlandosentinel.
  11. ^ "The arena in Orlando To Become Amway Arena" Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  12. ^ "House of Magic: Orlando Arena". Retrieved 2010-08-17.
  13. ^ "O-rena May Get Profitable New Name". Retrieved 2010-08-17.
  14. ^ "Orlando Arena Faces Challenge Of Keeping Fans Under Its Spell". tribunedigital-orlandosentinel.
  15. ^ a b c d "Odds Improve For Td Waterhouse Upgrade". Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  16. ^ Orlando Sentinel (28 February 2005). "Arena's skyboxes & interior". OrlandoSentinel.com.
  17. ^ "Pro Sports Provide Boost". tribunedigital-orlandosentinel.
  18. ^ "Orlando Arena Faces Challenge Of Keeping Fans Under Its Spell". Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  19. ^ "Magic's Goal: New O-rena". tribunedigital-orlandosentinel.
  20. ^ "Magic May Just Redo Arena". Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  21. ^ "Only New Arena Will Please Magic". Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  22. ^ "Magic: Public Must Dig Deep For Arena". Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  23. ^ "Dyer, Crotty, crowd of 3,000 open Magic's Amway Center". Orlando Sentinel. 2010-10-01. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  24. ^ "State of Downtown Address Press Release". Archived from the original on 2012-05-14. Retrieved 2012-03-25.
  25. ^ "Video of implosion from adjacent parking garage". Archived from the original on 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2012-03-25.
  26. ^ "Downtown Orland Creative Village: Concept Team Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-12.
  27. ^ "City of Orlando Community Venues". Cityoforlando.net. Archived from the original on 1 December 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-18.

External links

Events and tenants
Preceded by
first arena
 Home of the
Orlando Magic
1989–2010 		Succeeded by
Amway Center
Preceded by
first arena
 Home of the
Orlando Predators
1991–2010 		Succeeded by
Amway Center
Preceded by Home of the
Orlando Titans
2010 		Succeeded by
last arena
Preceded by
first arena
 Home of the
Orlando Miracle
1999–2002 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Host of the
NBA All-Star Game
1992 		Succeeded by
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