Capital Centre

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The Capital Centre (also briefly known as US Airways Arena and USAir Arena) was an indoor arena located in Landover, Maryland; a suburb of Washington, D.C. Completed in 1973, the arena sat 18,756 for basketball and 18,130 for hockey. It was renamed for corporate sponsor US Airways in 1993, but reverted back to its original name of Capital Centre after the airline dropped its naming rights.

The arena was the home of the Washington Bullets of the NBA from 1973–97, the Washington Capitals of the NHL from 1974–97 and the Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team from 1981–97. The Washington Wizards were known as the Bullets until 1997, and played the first 5 games of the 1997–98 NBA season at the old arena. All three teams departed for the MCI Center (now Verizon Center) just north of The Mall in D.C. when it opened on December 2, 1997. The Capital Centre hosted its first NBA game exactly 24 years earlier on December 2, 1973, with the home team defeating the same visiting team, the Seattle Supersonics. During November 1973, the Capital Bullets held their home games at nearby Cole Field House on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park.

In 1978 and 1979, the arena hosted games of the NBA Finals, when the Bullets played the Seattle Supersonics.

The ACC men's basketball tournament was held there in 1976, 1981, and 1987. The 1980 NBA All-Star Game and 1982 NHL All-Star Game were held there, as was the WWF's Survivor Series 1995.

The arena also was home to a few epic NHL Playoff games.

The Washington/Maryland Commandos of the Arena Football League also called the arena home from 1987 to 1990. The Maryland Arrows, Washington Wave and Washington Power lacrosse teams used the arena, as did The Washington Warthogs professional indoor soccer team.

The video documentary Heavy Metal Parking Lot was created by Jeff Krulik and John Heyn in 1986 in the parking lot outside this venue. It documents the heavy metal fans waiting on May 31, 1986 for a Judas Priest concert (with special guests Dokken). When the documentary was filmed, the venue was still named the Capital Centre. Footage of past Washington Bullets games held at the Capital Centre were used in the 1979 movie, The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh.

The venue was a longtime favorite of music acts including Marvin Gaye, the Grateful Dead, Bruce Springsteen, Van Halen and Kiss. (Both volumes of the Kiss retrospective DVDs "Kissology" have included bonus DVDs of late-'70s shows taped at the Capital Centre. Performances by Van Halen and Blue Öyster Cult at the venue have also been released.)

The Capital Centre was home to several Toys for Tots concerts in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The arena was imploded on December 15, 2002 to make way for The Boulevard at the Capital Centre, a town center-style shopping mall.

[edit] Legacy

The Capital Centre was the first indoor arena to have a video replay screen on its center-hung scoreboard. The video screen was known as the "Telscreen" and predated the DiamondVision video screen at Dodger Stadium by seven years. It was also the first arena to be built with luxury boxes and a computerized turnstile system.

The Centre also had one of the NBA's most notorious fans, Robin Ficker, who for twelve seasons sat behind the visiting team's bench and heckled opposing players.

[edit] External links

• First game in MCI Arena, Sports Illustrated, 2 December 1997