Newcastle Arena
Pro Wrestling: 11,000 | |
Construction | |
---|---|
Opened | 18 November 1995 |
Construction cost | £10.6m |
Architect | Ogden Corporation |
Website | |
www |
The Utilita Arena Newcastle (formerly the Newcastle Arena, Telewest Arena and Metro Radio Arena) is a large
Having also had various professional basketball and ice hockey teams as tenants for much of its history, since 2009 it has had no ice hockey team after the departure of the Newcastle Vipers to the Whitley Bay Ice Rink, and no basketball team since the departure of the Newcastle Eagles to Northumbria University's Sport Central arena in 2010.
History
Two well known local musicians conceived and helped build the arena,
The arena cost £10.6m to build (partly financed by a £2.5 million grant from Tyne & Wear Development Corporation), and opened as the Newcastle Arena on Saturday 18 November 1995 with a basketball league game between the resident team the
The Ogden Corporation assumed full ownership of the arena after Chandler and Stanger sold their stakes in Park Arena Limited.[5] Chandler died in 1996 while Stanger died in 1999.[6] In 1997 the arena was renamed the Telewest Arena after a sponsorship deal with the telecommunications and cable-television company Telewest.[6] In 2000 the Ogden Corporation sold the arena to SMG for $240m.[5]
In January 2004 the arena was renamed as the Metro Radio Arena after a new sponsorship deal was signed with the independent local station
In 2008 plans drawn up by consultants working for Newcastle City Council and the land-owning stake-holders, SMG,
Design
According to ASM Global, the open span arena is the largest concert and exhibition venue in the north east. It has 40,000 square feet (3,700 m2) of exhibition and conference space. For concerts, it has a seating capacity of 11,000 and more, while for basketball it can seat 6,500 and for ice shows, 5,500.[10] A further 36,000 square metres of space is available for large events and exhibitions.[11] In addition to the main arena, there are also two 100 capacity corporate lounges.[11] The large foyer area previously housed two venues called the Mayfair and Riverside.[5] The arena site also has a 600 space secure parking facility.[12]
Location
Situated on the South-Western edge of
The arena is oriented on an east–west alignment, with the main entrance located in the east wall. Steps lead down to a local north–south running street, Redheugh Bridge road, which is actually parallel to, and below, the actual bridge and was the road to the old Redheugh Bridge.[12]
Operator
The arena is both owned and operated by ASM Global. Ailsa Oliver is the general manager of the arena.[13] Security is provided by Showsec[14] and First Aid is provided by ShowMed.[15]
ASM Global will also be the operators of The Sage arena development on Gateshead Quayside.[16]
Tenants
Ice hockey
The first ice-hockey team to take residence at the arena was the Whitley Warriors, but they left after just a few months.[17]
The Arena was used by the
After a year without ice hockey, a new franchise named the Newcastle Vipers was formed for the start of the 2002/03 season, and used the arena as their home rink. After suffering financial difficulties and being unable to attract enough spectators to afford the rent, the Vipers moved home mid-season in November 2009, leaving the arena to move to Whitley Bay Ice Rink, as tenants of the Warriors.[17] While the club were hopeful of a return to the arena, a permanent home in Gateshead was also mooted, with redevelopment proposals tabled during early 2010.[19] A hoped for return to the arena for the 2010/11 season did not occur, as it could not guarantee sufficient dates due to problems with the ageing ice making equipment, seeing the club commit to staying at Whitley Bay.[20]
Basketball
The arena opened with a resident basketball team in the
In September 2010, after 14 years at the Arena, the Eagles moved to Northumbria University's newly built Sport Central development featuring a 3,000 capacity arena, located in their campus in the north east part of the city centre.[23] While having the arena's capacity had been part of the reason why the team went from an under-performing side to British Basketball League champions for which the team were thankful, part of the reason for the move was that due to clashes with Friday night concerts the team would have to play away from home, leading to lost revenue, with the final season seeing the team go on the road for three straight months, while the arena hosted the musical Mamma Mia!. The move also offered improved training arrangements, and enhanced pre-existing links with the university teams.[24] The team had also only been averaging 3,000 crowds in the arena, which could hold 6,500.[25]
Events
The arena has been used since 1997 to host an annual convention of Jehovah's Witnesses. Local worshippers, as well as some from as far north as the Scottish Borders, as far south as North Yorkshire and as far west as Maryport, on the west coast of Cumbria, flock for the 3-day event in June; around 7,000 attend in total.
In 1998, Barney, along with Baby Bop, BJ, Professor Tinkerputt, Mother Goose and many more held a party in Barney's Big Surprise during the 8-city UK tour.
Other sporting events hosted by the arena have included
Many prominent British boxers have fought at the Arena. The first major boxing event featured
From May 25 to May 26, Barney, Baby Bop & BJ also held a performance in Barney's Colorful World! in 2004 during its time in the UK.
Since 2007, it has played host to the Premier League Darts.
The Arena has also hosted major
The arena has hosted many top acts of the music industry, including solo artists such as
The arena was also the venue that hosted the first two nights of Take That's sold out comeback tour, The Ultimate Tour.
The Arena has hosted a number of all-night dance events under the name of Godskitchen, many world-class DJ's such as
have played in the venue to sellout crowds.The arena has also hosted stage and ice shows such as Disney on Ice, Teletubbies, and on 10 November 2010 Michael Flatley came to the arena during the European tour of 'The Return of Michael Flatley as the Lord of the Dance, he and his troupe performed in front of a sold-out audience, and Les Misérables came to the arena.[6][10] Business events hosted have included trade exhibitions, corporate events and company meetings for BT Group and Northern Rock.[10][11] The exterior space has also been used to stage events such as live-action motor sport displays and a circus.[11]
On Monday 18 June 2012, it played host to the Newcastle audition stages of the ninth series of the
Transport
In addition to road access provided by the nearby major thoroughfares, the arena is 10 minutes’ walk from
References
- ^ "Metro Radio Arena, Who We Are". Metroradioarena.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ "Ogden Awarded Arena Contract in Newcastle, England. – Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. 8 February 1995. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ Ogden's phones ringing after Newcastle signing. (Ogden Entertainment Services' contract with Newcastle Arena, in England), 13 February 1995
- ^ a b "Comets move and hope for change of luck". The Independent. London. 18 November 1995. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016.
- ^ a b c "Show must go on". Evening Chronicle. 2004.
- ^ a b c d e f "Venue Proved A Hit.(News)". Entrepreneur.com. 17 May 2008. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ "SMG Europe - News". Replay.waybackmachine.org. 19 June 2004. Archived from the original on 19 June 2004. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ a b "Memories of magical decade". Evening Chronicle. 2005.
- ^ Young, Peter (17 May 2008). "Chips may be down for city's biggest venue". Evening Chronicle. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
- ^ a b c d "Who We Are". Metro Radio Arena. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ a b c d "Exhibitions". Metro Radio Arena. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ a b c d "Find Us". Metro Radio Arena. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ "Metro Radio Arena – Newcastle United Kingdom". smg-europe.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
- ^ "Venues". Showsec. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
- ^ ShowMed. "ShowMed Contract Award | ShowMed". Retrieved 24 March 2022.
- ^ "Gateshead Quayside development venue named as The Sage". BBC News. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ a b "Vipers aim to go out in style at Arena; ICE HOCKEY. – Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. 22 October 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ "Durham Memories: Ice rink that was built of surplus coffins (From The Northern Echo)". Thenorthernecho.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ Neil Farrington (9 February 2010). "Sport – Ice Hockey – Newcastle Vipers – Vipers' Gateshead switch moves a step closer". ChronicleLive. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ "Newcastle Vipers, Back to the Bay for Vipers". Vipershockey.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ [1][permanent dead link]
- ^ "Newcastle EaglesNewcastle Comets 1995–1996". Newcastle-eagles.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ "Basketball Club". Newcastle Eagles. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ "Basketball Club". Newcastle Eagles. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
- ^ "Eagles owner ponders venue change". BBC News. 22 April 2010.
- ^ Barr, Gordon (16 November 2015). "Metro Radio Arena turns 20: We look back to 1995 and who played there". Evening Chronicle. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
M People were the first act to announce a gig there – but who actually took to the stage first? Many believe it was David Bowie, on December 7, 1995 – but in fact it was local duo The Proud Ones, who filled in for support act Morrissey who had cancelled his appearance.
- ^ "New judge Nicole wows fans at Newcastle X Factor auditions - Entertainment - Shields Gazette". Archived from the original on 26 June 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ^ "Nexus" (PDF). Nexus. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
External links
Media related to Newcastle Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne at Wikimedia Commons