Reunion Arena

Reunion Arena

Location	777 Sports Street, Dallas, Texas 75207
Coordinates	32°46′22″N 96°48′29″W / 32.77278°N 96.80806°W / 32.77278; -96.80806Coordinates: 32°46′22″N 96°48′29″W / 32.77278°N 96.80806°W / 32.77278; -96.80806
Opened	April 1980
Closed	June 2008
Demolished	November 17, 2009
Owner	The City of Dallas
Construction cost	US$27 million
Architect	HKS, Inc.
Capacity	Basketball: 17,293 Ice hockey: 17,001 Indoor Soccer: 16,626 Concerts: End Stage: 18,628 Center Stage: 19,071 Half House: 9,663
Tenants
Dallas Mavericks (NBA) (1980–2001) Dallas Tornado (NASL INDOOR) (1980–1981) Dallas Sidekicks (MISL) (1984–2004) Dallas Texans (AFL) (1990–1993) Dallas Stars (NHL) (1993–2001) Dallas Stallions (RHI) (1999) Dallas Desperados (AFL) (2003) 1986 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

Reunion Arena was an indoor arena in the Reunion district of downtown Dallas, Texas (USA). The arena held 17,300 for basketball and 17,000 for ice hockey. It was finally demolished in November 2009, and the site is scheduled to be cleared by the end the year.^{[1] [2]}

History

Reunion Arena was completed in 1980 at a cost of $27 million.^[3] It was named for the early mid-nineteenth century commune, La Reunion. In late 2005, the arena and the Dallas Convention Center were used as the primary Dallas shelters for evacuees of Hurricane Katrina. In 1994, President Bill Clinton visited the arena to watch his beloved University of Arkansas basketball team play in the NCAA Tournament.

Reunion Arena also hosted the WCT Tennis Tournament in the 1980s, including The Virginia Slims Invitational Tournament. Due to scheduling conflicts in 1984, the WCT Tennis Tournament forced the Dallas Mavericks to play Game 5 of their first ever playoff series at Moody Coliseum, against the Seattle SuperSonics. While Southern Methodist University competed in the Southwest Conference, Reunion Arena was known by University of Arkansas Razorbacks fans, as Barnhill South, due to the big following by the Arkansas fans away from home, the Barnhill Arena was the home to all UA games until 1993.

About

The arena also hosted numerous concerts and other events. While the first concert at Reunion was billed as The Who on July 2, 1980, at least two other concerts played there in late June: Foghat and Pat Travers on June 25, 1980; and Ted Nugent, Scorpions, and Def Leppard on June 26, 1980. Queen appeared August 9, 1980. The rock band Journey played three consecutive shows at the arena in April 1983 and again in December 1986.Van Halen played three shows in June 1984 and Pink Floyd played three consecutive shows at Reunion in November, 1987. Pop songstress Whitney Houston played two sold-out concerts at Reunion in September, 1987. The video for the Scorpions' song "Still Loving You" was filmed there.

The arena featured 30,000 ft² (2,790 m²) of arena floor space and had great sightlines, making it ideal for a number of events and games, including many high school graduations. Country music superstar Garth Brooks filmed his first television special, This Is Garth Brooks, in the arena during two sold-out concerts in September 1991, and country music superstar Shania Twain once performed her Come on Over Tour in the arena on September 12, 1998 and was filmed in her first DVD released Shania Twain Live. Dire Straits played there during their On Every Street world tour in 1991. Reunion was also a venue that was frequently used by World Class Championship Wrestling in the 1980s, in which the promotion held many, if not all of their bi-monthly Star Wars events.

Home teams

The arena's last remaining full-time sports tenant was the MISL Dallas Sidekicks, but the club has been inactive since the Fall of 2004 season. The arena was the home of the Dallas Mavericks from 1980 to 2001 and the Dallas Stars from 1993 to 2001. Both teams moved to the American Airlines Center in 2001. The Dallas Desperados indoor football team used the arena for its 2003 season but ultimately returned to American Airlines Center.

Closure

After a unanimous vote by the Dallas City Council, Reunion Arena officially closed on June 30, 2008.

Demolition

Reunion Arena, late October 2009

In August 2008 the Dallas City Council said it would implode the stadium if it could find an entity willing to foot the bill. The council hoped for the implosion to be part of a movie scene with the film company picking up the tab for the implosion. When no filmmaker seemed interested, the city decided to demolish the arena using other methods, a process which took several months. ^[4]

Demolition was officially completed on November 17, 2009 and the site is expected to be completely cleared by the end of 2009. As of November 2009, the adjacent parking garage remains standing and there are no plans for construction on the former arena site.

Events

• 1980: The Who play the first concert to ever be held at the arena.
• 1982: On November 25, 1982 singer Linda Ronstadt performed her famous Happy Thanksgiving Day concert, one of the first ever via satellite concerts by a female solo artist to be broadcast live on radio stations across the nation. ^[5]
• 1983: Journey plays three sold out shows during their Frontiers Tour to over 18,000 fans each night.
• 1983: Kiss performs for the first time ever in Dallas as part of the Creatures of the Night Tour.
• 1984: Republican National Convention
• 1984: Van Halen plays three consecutive concerts.
• 1984: Kiss performs as part of their Lick It Up Tour
• 1985: Kiss performs at the arena twice, as part of their Animalize Tour in January and again in December as part of their Asylum Tour.
• 1986: Aerosmith performs as part of their Done with Mirrors Tour.
• 1986: Journey performs two shows as part of their Raised on Radio Tour.
• 1986: NCAA men's basketball Final Four and NBA All-Star Game.
• 1987: Whitney Houston plays two sold out concerts in September.
• 1987: Pink Floyd plays three consective concerts in November.
• 1988: Michael Jackson performed three sell-out concerts with an attendance of 20,000 during his record breaking Bad World Tour.
• 1988: Aerosmith performs as part of their Permanent Vacation Tour.
• 1989: 1989 MISL All-Star Game
• 1990: Madonna performed for the last time in Dallas here at Reunion Arena while on her Blond Ambition Tour.
• 1990: Aerosmith performs as part of their Pump Tour.
• 1990: Whitesnake and Bad English perform on March 17th.
• 1991: Dire Straits performs.
• 1991: Garth Brooks tapes his first television special, This is Garth Brooks!, during two sold out concerts in September. The special airs on NBC in early 1992. It is released on VHS on June 16, 1992 and it is later included as part of the November 2006 DVD release, Garth Brooks - The Entertainer.
• 1996: Kiss performs twice as part of their Alive/Worldwide Tour, once on July 5th and again on November 10th. The second of the two shows would be their final performance at Reunion Arena.
• 1998: Shania Twain tapes her television special Shania Twain Live, which is aired exclusively on DirecTV for free. The special was later released on DVD in November 1999. Three of her music videos were also taken from this performance.
• 1999: Benny Hinn Miracle Crusade
• 2000: New Jersey Devils won Stanley Cup, defeating the Dallas Stars in Game 6.
• 2000: N Sync performs as part of their No Strings Attached Tour.
• 2000: WWF Fully Loaded.
• 2000: WCW Monday Nitro featuring a modified WarGames match called Russo's Revenge.
• 2001: Aerosmith performs as part of their Just Push Play Tour.
• 2002: Paul McCartney performs twice in May as part of his Driving USA Tour.
• 2003: Big 12 Conference Women's Post-season Basketball Tournament
• 2003: NCAA Women's Volleyball Division I Final Four
• 2004: Big 12 Conference Women's Post-season Basketball Tournament
• 2005: Gwen Stefani performs.
• 2006: Big 12 Conference Women's Post-season Basketball Tournament
• 2007: NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Regional
• 2008: Reunion Arena closes.
• 2009: Reunion Arena is demolished.

References

See also

• List of tallest buildings in Dallas

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Reunion Arena

• Reunion Arena Demolition Progress Photos
• Reunion Arena official site, archived from 2008-02-29 (Original Site is Gone)