Former names | St. Elizabeths East Entertainment and Sports Arena (planning/construction) |
---|---|
Address | 1100 Oak Dr SE Washington, D.C. 20032 |
Location | St. Elizabeths East Campus |
Coordinates | 38°50′49.1″N76°59′29.2″W / 38.846972°N 76.991444°W |
Public transit | Washington Metro at Congress Heights |
Owner | District of Columbia |
Operator | Events DC |
Capacity | 4,200 Detailed capacity [1]
|
Construction | |
Broke ground | July 17, 2017 |
Opened | September 22, 2018 |
Construction cost | $69 million ($85.8 million in 2023 dollars [2] ) |
Architect |
|
Project manager | Brailsford & Dunlavey |
Structural engineer | Setty & Associates |
Services engineer | Wiles Mensch Corporation |
General contractor | Smoot Construction |
Main contractors | Gilbane Building Company |
Tenants | |
Capital City Go-Go (NBAGL) 2018–present Washington Mystics (WNBA) 2019–present |
The Entertainment and Sports Arena is a multi-purpose events facility, located on the St. Elizabeths East Campus, in Congress Heights, a residential neighborhood in southeast Washington, D.C.
The arena is home to the Washington Mystics of the WNBA and the Capital City Go-Go of the NBA G League. In addition, it houses a practice facility for the Washington Wizards of the NBA.
The arena was officially opened on September 22, 2018. [3]
The 4,200-seat arena is mainly used for basketball; however, there are plans for the facility to also host concerts, community events and other sporting events. The location of the arena was selected due to its proximity to St. Elizabeths Hospital, distance to the greater Washington, D.C. area, location to the Congress Heights station of the Washington Metro, the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers, and ability to improve the local community through jobs and infrastructure improvements. [4]
Construction for the arena, to include razing of surrounding buildings, began on February 19, 2016. [5] Of the $65 million estimated cost for construction, 90% of the cost was to be taxpayer funded. The District of Columbia owns the facility while Events DC will operate the facility. [6]
Members of the DC Council sought to introduce legislation capping public expenditure in the case of cost overruns. [7] On July 28, Greg O'Dell, Chairperson of Events DC, requested an additional $10 million in funding while decreasing the number of seats in the facility. [8] He said earlier estimates were premature. [8]
In 2018, O'Dell announced that the cost had increased to $68.8 million, due in part to additions like drywall, and catwalks and higher than anticipated costs like contractors. [9] The final cost was nearly 25 percent more than estimated, which DC taxpayers were required to cover. [10]
Events DC boasted about the number of local business used in the construction of the facility, but could not provide a list of any of the businesses. Local businesses reported that they were unable to find work at the site. [10]
Events DC significantly underestimated the costs of operating the facility and in 2019 the Events DC board approved more than $1 million in additional costs to cover the shortfall. [11] A contract for a firm to find naming rights for the facility was funded at $180,000 per year. [11]
The American Airlines Center (AAC) is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the Victory Park neighborhood in downtown Dallas, Texas. The arena serves as the home of the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League and Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association. The arena is also used for concerts and other live entertainment. It opened on July 17, 2001, at a cost of $420 million.
Spectrum Center is an indoor arena located in Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina. It is owned by the city of Charlotte and operated by its main tenant, the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The arena seats 19,077 for NBA games but can be expanded to 20,200 for college basketball games.
Capital One Arena is an indoor arena in Washington, D.C. Located in the Chinatown section of the larger Penn Quarter neighborhood, the arena sits atop the Gallery Place rapid transit station of the Washington Metro. The arena was opened on December 2, 1997, as MCI Center but renamed to Verizon Center in 2006 when MCI was acquired by Verizon Communications and changed again to its current name in 2017.
Frost Bank Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena on the east side of San Antonio, Texas, United States. It is the home of the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Lenovo Center is an indoor arena located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. The arena seats 18,700 for ice hockey and 19,500 for basketball, including 61 suites, 13 luxury boxes and 2,045 club level seats. The building has three concourses and a 300-seat restaurant.
The Frank C. Erwin Jr. Center was a multi-purpose arena located on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas. It was also sometimes referred to as "The Drum" or "The Superdrum", owing to its round, drum-like appearance from outside.
Yuengling Center is an indoor arena on the main campus of the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, Florida. Construction began in November 1977, and it opened in November 1980. It is located in USF's Athletics District on the southeast side of campus, and is home to the South Florida Bulls men's and women's basketball and volleyball teams, as well as USF's commencement ceremonies and other school and local events. With 10,500 seats, it is the third-largest basketball arena by capacity in the American Athletic Conference.
The Alerus Center is an indoor arena and convention center in the north central United States, located in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The facility is owned and operated by the city of Grand Forks and opened on February 10, 2001.
The Littlejohn Coliseum is a 9,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Clemson, South Carolina, United States. It is home to the Clemson University Tigers men's and women's basketball teams. It is also the site of Clemson graduations and the Clemson Career Fair. It is owned and operated by Clemson University and hosts more than 150 events per year including concerts, trade shows, galas, and sporting events.
The Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center, also known as the O'Dome, is a 10,500-seat multi-purpose arena located on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Florida. The facility is named for the sixth president of the university, Stephen C. O'Connell, who served from 1967 to 1973. The facility is located on the northern side of the university's campus, between its football field, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field, and the James W. "Bill" Heavener Complex athletic training center.
EagleBank Arena is a 10,000-seat arena in the eastern United States, on the campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, a suburb southwest of Washington, D.C.
The Charles E. Smith Center is a 5,000-seat multipurpose arena in Washington, D.C. Opened on November 17, 1975, it is home to the George Washington Revolutionaries men's and women's basketball teams, as well as the university's swimming, water polo, gymnastics, and volleyball teams. From 2014 to 2018, it was the home of the Washington Kastles of World TeamTennis. Smith Center also became the temporary home of the Washington Mystics as they made a run at a WNBA Championship in 2018. Smith Center is located on the main George Washington campus in Foggy Bottom, on the block bounded by 22nd and 23rd and F and G Streets NW. The arena also has hosted concerts and includes practice courts, a swimming pool, a weight room, and athletic department offices.
Strahan Arena is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena in San Marcos, Texas. It is an $8.8 million facility built in 1982 and is home to the Texas State University Bobcats men's basketball team, women's basketball team and women's volleyball team.
Theodore John Leonsis is an American businessman. He is a former senior executive with America Online (AOL) and the founder, chairman, and CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns the NHL's Washington Capitals, the NBA's Washington Wizards, the WNBA's Washington Mystics, and Monumental Sports Network.
A stadium subsidy is a type of government subsidy given to professional sports franchises to help finance the construction or renovation of a sports venue. Stadium subsidies can come in the form of tax-free municipal bonds, cash payments, long-term tax exemptions, infrastructure improvements, and operating cost subsidies. Funding for stadium subsidies can come from all levels of government and remains controversial among legislators and citizens.
Muriel Elizabeth Bowser is an American politician who has been serving as the 8th and current Mayor of the District of Columbia since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented the 4th ward as a member of the Council of the District of Columbia from 2007 to 2015. She is the second female mayor of the District of Columbia after Sharon Pratt, and the first woman to be reelected to that position.
AMSOIL Arena is a multipurpose arena in Duluth, Minnesota, home to the UMD Men's and UMD Women's hockey teams. It opened in 2010, replacing the DECC Arena on the waterfront near Duluth's landmark Aerial Lift Bridge.
Events DC is the official convention, sports and entertainment authority for the District of Columbia. Events DC is a quasi-public company based in Washington, D.C. that owns and manages the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Entertainment & Sports Arena, the RFK Stadium Campus, and Nationals Park among other DC venues. It also promotes, sponsors and attracts sporting and cultural events to the District.
LaRuby Zinea May is an American politician and African American lawyer who formerly represented Ward 8 on the Council of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. She won the Ward 8 special election on May 10, 2015, succeeding Marion Barry, who died in office on November 23, 2014. May, who was sworn into office on May 14, 2015, served out the remainder of Barry's term, which ended on December 31, 2016. During her first council term, she was active on the issues of crime and violence, marijuana policy, assisted suicide, and improvements to Advisory Neighborhood Commissions. She criticized the city's emergency medical services department, opposed the creation of a public electrical utility, and applauded the construction of a sports arena in her ward. She was one of the few council members to support the mayor during the FreshPAC scandal, and although she asked Congress to end its school voucher program she also supported a political action committee which supports an expanded voucher and charter school program in the District. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Sanford Capital is a property management company based in Bethesda, Maryland. The company received severe criticism from tenants and regulators before agreeing to exit the property management business in Washington DC.