Tacoma Dome
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tacoma Dome | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | 2727 East D Street Tacoma, WA 98421 |
| Broke ground | July 1, 1981 |
| Opened | April 21, 1983 |
| Owner | City of Tacoma |
| Operator | City of Tacoma |
| Construction cost | $44 million |
| Tenants | Tacoma Stars (MISL) (1983-1992) Tacoma Express (MLFS) (1990) Tacoma Rockets (WHL) (1991-1995) Seattle Supersonics (NBA) (1994-1995) Tacoma SabreCats (WCHL) (1997-2002) |
| Capacity | 5,000–23,000 |
The Tacoma Dome (constructed by Tacoma Dome Associates, led by McGranahan Messenger Architects, a design build entity) is an indoor arena located in Tacoma, Washington, USA, a suburb of Seattle. Completed in 1983 for $44 million and opened on April 21, the arena seats 20,000 for basketball. It is the world's second largest arena with a wooden dome, with a 161.5 m (530 feet), only the Superior Dome in Marquette, MI is larger with a 163.4 m (536 feet) diameter, and is not a geodesic dome, it is a planer radian structure of glue-laminated beams. The first concert in the Tacoma Dome was David Bowie with The Tubes as the opening act. The arena hosted the Seattle SuperSonics from 1994-1995 while the Seattle Center Coliseum was being renovated into the venue now known as KeyArena. It also hosted the Tacoma Rockets Western Hockey League team from 1991 to 1995, the Tacoma Sabercats of the West Coast Hockey League from 1997 to 2002, The Tacoma Stars indoor soccer team of the MISL, gymnastics events during the 1990 Goodwill Games, numerous other minor league ice hockey and indoor soccer teams, and many concerts as well. It additionally hosts wrestling events, such as WCW Spring Stampede 1999.
Unlike most other arenas of its size, the arena contains little in the way of fixed seating so as to maximize the flexibility of the seating arrangements and of the shape of the playing field. It can even host American football, albeit with seating reduced to only 10,000.
A wide range of high school athletics is played at the Dome, as the stadium features the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association High School Championships in Football, Wrestling, 4A Basketball, as well as 4A and 3A Volleyball. The venue became home to the State High School Championships in Football in 2000 after the regular home, the Kingdome, was demolished.
The Tacoma Dome is also known for its controversial neon art, in 1984 the Stephen Antonakos piece displayed inside the dome was the subject of intense debate over public funding of artworks for public works projects.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Seattle Center Coliseum |
Home of the Seattle SuperSonics 1994 – 1995 |
Succeeded by KeyArena |
