HemisFair Arena
| HemisFair Arena | |
|---|---|
| Data | |
| place | 601 HemisFair Way San Antonio , Texas 78203
 |
| Coordinates | 29 ° 25 '12.5 " N , 98 ° 28' 59.9" W |
| owner | City of San Antonio |
| operator | City of San Antonio |
| start of building | 1966 |
| opening | April 6, 1968 |
| demolition | June 1995 |
| surface | parquet |
| capacity | 16,057 places (basketball) |
| Societies) | |
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The HemisFair Arena (also known as the Convention Center Arena ) was a multi-purpose arena in the US city of San Antonio , Texas . The hall offered 16,057 seats for spectators for basketball games.
history
The HemisFair Arena was originally built for the World Exhibition HemisFair '68 near the Tower of the Americas observation tower . The multi-purpose hall was the first home of the San Antonio Spurs basketball team in San Antonio from 1973 until the move in 1993. The Houston Rockets NBA team spent the 1972/73 season in the hall. The San Antonio Force Arena Football League team competed in the HemisFair Arena in 1992, the only year of its existence.
The Spurs' first home game was played on October 10, 1973. The game against the San Diego Conquistadors ended in a 106: 121 defeat for the home team. San Antonio lost the first four games before celebrating their first victory in the HemisFair Arena on October 16 against the Virginia Squires, who were then coached by Wilt Chamberlain , 116-106. Initially, the arena had space for 10,146 spectators and was regularly sold out for Spurs games . In 1977 the capacity of the hall was increased by raising the roof by 10.05 meters (33 feet ) and building an upper tier to 16,507 seats. The city of San Antonio approved $ 4 million for this . The arena was known as the loudest venue in the NBA.
Concerts and events were u. a. the comedian Bob Hope , Jack Benny and revivalist Billy Graham and the artists and music groups Elvis Presley , Led Zeppelin , Pink Floyd , Willie Nelson , James Brown , Metallica , The Rolling Stones , Bon Jovi , Whitney Houston , Creedence Clearwater Revival , Van Halen , AC / DC , Iron Maiden , Prince , George Strait , The Judds , Ricky Skaggs , the Oak Ridge Boys , Bo Diddley , Rush , Primus , The Time , The Jacksons , Queensrÿche , Metal Church , Skid Row , Iron Maiden, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band , Selena at HemisFair Arena.
Two years after the Spurs moved to the Alamodome , the end of the HemisFair Arena had come. The last game of the San Antonio Spurs took place on May 20, 1993. The sixth game of the semifinals of the Western Conference against the Phoenix Suns ended with a 100-102 defeat and the elimination of the Spurs . This means that over the last 20 years, the Spurs have played 893 season and play-off games in the HemisFair Arena. The games were followed by 9,383,257 visitors. The last concert was in 1995 by the rock band Van Halen . For the very last time, the arena was used on May 30, 1995 for a graduation ceremony at the local Thomas Jefferson High School . This was followed by the demolition of the arena in June of that year.
Web links
- basketball.ballparks.com: Data on the HemisFair Arena (English)
- insidearenas.com: venues of the San Antonio Spurs (English)
- youtube.com: Video on the Arena (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ nbahoopsonline.com: NBA Arenas (English)
- ↑ nba.com: Data on the history of the San Antonio Spurs (English)
- ↑ insidearenas.com: List of former NBA venues ( Memento of the original from July 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)
- ↑ setlist.fm: HemisFair Arena concert list (English)
