Miami Arena

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Miami Arena
Location	701 Arena Boulevard Miami, Florida 33136
Coordinates	25°46′51″N 80°11′44″W / 25.78083°N 80.19556°W / 25.78083; -80.19556Coordinates: 25°46′51″N 80°11′44″W / 25.78083°N 80.19556°W / 25.78083; -80.19556
Broke ground	August 4, 1986[1]
Opened	July 13, 1988[2]
Demolished	September 21, 2008 (Roof)-October 21, 2008
Owner	City of Miami (1988–2004) Glenn Straub (2004–2008)
Operator	Miami Sports and Entertainment Authority
Construction cost	$52.5 million ($103 million in 2012 dollars[3])
Architect	Lloyd Jones Fillpot Associates
Structural engineer	Walter P Moore[4]
General Contractor	Linbeck Construction Company
Capacity	Basketball: 15,200 Ice hockey: 14,703
Tenants
Miami Heat (NBA) (1988–1999) Florida Panthers (NHL) (1993–1998) University of Miami (NCAA) (1988–2003) Miami Matadors (ECHL) (1998–1999) Miami Hooters (AFL) (1993–1995)

Miami Arena, view from the northeast, circa 2002.

Miami Arena being demolished, view from the west, taken September 24, 2008. The west wall was the last to fall, October 21, 2008.

The Miami Arena was an indoor arena in Miami, Florida.

History

Completed in 1988 at a cost of $52.5 million, its opening took business away from the Hollywood Sportatorium and eventually led to its demise. The arena was the home of the Miami Heat from 1988–1999, the Florida Panthers from 1993–1998, the University of Miami basketball teams from 1988–2003, the Miami Hooters of the Arena Football League from 1993–1995, the Miami Matadors of the ECHL in 1998, the Miami Manatees of the WHA2 in 2003, and the Miami Morays indoor football team since 2005. The first game played by the Heat in their first home was a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, 111-91, on November 5, 1988; the first victory came a month and a half later against the Utah Jazz, 101-80.

The arena also hosted the 1990 NBA All-Star Game, the 1991 WWF Royal Rumble, the 1994 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional Final and the NHL's 1996 Stanley Cup Finals. The 2001 Christmas Eve episode of WWF Monday Night Raw featuring The Rock was also held here.

By the late 1990s, the Miami Arena, like most indoor sports arenas built in the late 1970s and 1980s, began to show its age. Its seating capacity was one of the lowest of any NBA or NHL arena. In addition, sports teams in general began wanting newer, more updated facilities, specifically luxury suites and new concessions. On January 2, 2000, the Heat moved to the American Airlines Arena located three blocks east of Miami Arena on the shore of Biscayne Bay. The Panthers also left Miami Arena to play at what is now the BankAtlantic Center located in Sunrise, Florida right near Florida's largest outlet mall, Sawgrass Mills.

Most of the concerts that were held at Miami Arena are now held at newer venues, including the BankAtlantic Center, American Airlines Arena or the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

Since then, the arena became mostly inactive. The arena was sold in a public auction in 2004 to Glenn Straub, an investor from Palm Beach County, Florida, for $24 million less than the $52 million the city of Miami paid for its original construction. Miami Arena was sometimes called the "Pink Elephant", because it was a white elephant with pink colored walls.

The arena was easily accessible via mass transit, with a Metrorail stop at Historic Overtown/Lyric Theater station just across the street (once known as Overtown/Arena station). Miami-Dade city buses also service the arena area downtown.

On August 3, 2008, Straub announced in a television interview that the interior of the arena had been cleared out and that the building would be demolished by the end of the month. On September 21, 2008, the roof of the Miami Arena was imploded. While the exterior walls remained standing after the implosion, demolition continued until the falling of the west wall on October 21, 2008.

Seating capacity

• Basketball: 15,008 (1988-1993), 15,200 (1993-2008)
• Ice hockey and arena football: 14,703
• End-stage concerts: 5,723 and 16,508
• Half-house concerts: between 6,351 and 9,120
• Amphitheatre concerts: 6,380
• Theater concerts: 3,642
• Banquets: 500
• Luxury suites: 26

Concerts and events

• Julio Iglesias - July 13, 1988 (Arena's opening concert)
• Robert Plant - July 14, 1988 and October 23, 1990
• AC/DC - August 11, 1988, with White Lion, February 21, 1991, with King's X and January 21, 1996, with The Poor
• Elton John - September 9–10, 1988, October 13–14, 1989, May 5, 1993 and May 4 and October 2, 1998
• Bob Dylan - September 23, 1988
• Frank Sinatra - September 24, 1988 and January 20-21, 1989
• The Miami Sound Machine - October 1, 1988 (Released on VHS as the Homecoming Concert)
• The Grateful Dead - October 14, 1988 (two shows), October 25-26, 1989 and April 6–8, 1994
• The Moody Blues - November 9, 1988
• Duran Duran - January 14, 1989
• Bon Jovi - February 9, 1989, February 1993 and September 9, 1995
• Poison - March 15, 1989, with Telsa
• Ratt - April 28, 1989, with Kix and The Great White
• R.E.M. - April 29, 1989, with Drivin' N' Cryin' and September 8, 1995, with Radiohead
• Rod Stewart - April 30, 1989
• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - July 5, 1989, with The Replacements, October 22, 1991, with Chris Whitley and May 15 and 17, 1995, with Pete Droge
• Jimmy Buffett & The Coral Reefer Band - August 5, 1989, with The Neville Brothers, January 24, 1991, with Greg "Fingers" Taylor & The Ladyfingers Revue and January 24, 1992, with Evangeline
• Stevie Nicks - September 30, 1989, with The Hooters
• The Beach Boys - October 7, 1989, with Chicago
• Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble and Jeff Beck - November 21, 1989
• Mötley Crüe - January 21, 1990, with Raging Slab
• Rush - February 22, 1990, with Mr. Big, February 28, 1992, with Primus and February 27, 1994
• Janet Jackson - March 1 (her debut concert) and July 12, 1990 and January 20, 1994
• Billy Joel - March 12, 1990 and February 8, 14 and 18-19 and April 15-16, 1994
• Whitesnake - March 24, 1990
• Dolly Parton - April 21, 1990
• Aerosmith - April 22, 1990, with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and February 2, 1994
• David Bowie - April 27, 1990
• Depeche Mode - May 31, 1990, with Nitzer Ebb, October 2, 1993, with The The and November 13, 1998, with Stabbing Westward
• Heart - June 8, 1990
• Eric Clapton - July 21-23, 1990, May 25, 1992, September 5-6, 1995 and April 25, 1998
• The B-52's - July 28, 1990
• KISS - August 3, 1990, October 31, 1992 and September 17, 1996
• Billy Idol - September 29, 1990, with Faith No More
• Fleetwood Mac - October 24, 1990
• Judas Priest - December 20, 1990, with Testament and Megadeth
• INXS - February 5, 1991
• Sting - February 27, 1991 and February 23, 1994, with Melissa Etheridge
• Gloria Estefan - March 1–2 and 6-7, 1991 and September 20–22 and 24, 1996 (Sept 20-21 gigs were filmed live on HBO Telecast, also released on DVD)
• Neil Young & Crazy Horse - March 9, 1991, with Sonic Youth
• ZZ Top - April 5-7, 1991
• Scorpions - May 26, 1991
• Whitney Houston - June 11, 1991, with After 7
• David Lee Roth - June 15, 1991
• Queensrÿche - July 3, 1991 and June 25, 1995
• Yes - July 6, 1991 and August 10, 1994
• Slayer - July 14, 1991, with Megadeth, Anthrax and Alice in Chains
• The Allman Brothers Band - October 31, 1991
• Van Halen - December 13, 1991, with Alice in Chains and March 17, 1995
• U2 - March 1, 1992, with The Pixies
• Metallica - March 14, 1992, with Metal Church and April 19, 1997, with Corrosion of Conformity
• Bryan Adams - April 12 and December 4, 1992
• The Cure - June 3–4, 1992, with The Cranes and August 30, 1996
• Michael Bolton - July 30, 1992, with Celine Dion
• Bruce Springsteen - November 24, 1992
• Def Leppard - February 2, 1993
• Peter Gabriel - August 4, 1993
• Tina Turner - August 22, 1993
• Sade - September 22, 1993
• Mariah Carey - November 3, 1993 (her debut concert)
• Phil Collins - May 30-31, 1994 and March 3, 1997
• Meat Loaf - July 29, 1994
• Luis Miguel - October 6-9, 1994, October 9-10, 1995, November 30, 1997, February 7-8, 1998 and February 16–17, 2002
• Nine Inch Nails - November 20, 1994, with Marilyn Manson and May 17, 2000, with A Perfect Circle
• Page & Plant - March 6, 1995 and May 22, 1998
• Boston - June 30, 1995
• Melissa Etheridge - July 3, 1995, with Joan Osbourne
• Live - July 30, 1995, with Buffalo Tom
• Garth Brooks - April 18–20, 1996
• Pantera - July 6, 1996, with White Zombie
• Gloria Estefan - September 21-24 1996 (Released on VHS/DVD as The Evolution Tour: Live in Miami)
• The Smashing Pumpkins - November 17, 1996, with Garbage
• Bush - March 20, 1997, with Veruca Salt
• Prince & The New Power Generation - August 15, 1997
• The Backstreet Boys - July 10, 1998
• Ricky Martin - October 20-21, 1999
• System of a Down - November 5, 1999
• Shakira - April 22, 2000
• Blink-182 - May 19, 2000, with Bad Religion
• Maná - October 25, 2002
• The Damned - August 13, 2003
• Disney on Ice - December 6, 2004
• Wisin & Yandel - July 9, 2005

References

1. ^ "Miami Arena" Ballparks.com. Retrieved on 2009-07-21.

External links

• Implosion Video