Capital Centre
Encyclopedia
The Capital Centre was an indoor arena located in Landover, Maryland
, unincorporated
Prince George's County, Maryland
; a suburb of Washington, D.C.
Completed in 1973, the arena
sat 18,756 for basketball
and 18,130 for hockey
.
In 1993, the air carrier USAir
purchased the naming rights for the building and the arena became known as USAir Arena. After the airline rebranded itself in 1996, the name changed to US Airways Arena. The arena reverted to its original name of Capital Centre after the airline dropped its naming rights and its primary tenants moved to the MCI Center
in downtown Washington. Most TV and Radio crews broadcasting from the venue referred to it by its nickname "Cap Centre". The venue's name is also sometimes misspelled as Capital Center, Capitol Center, Capitol Center Arena or Capital Center Arena. The venue was demolished in 2002.
from 1973–97, the Washington Capitals
of the NHL
from 1974–97 and the Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team from 1981–97. The Washington Wizards were known as the Bullets until 1997, and played the first 5 games of the 1997–98 NBA season at the old arena. All three teams departed for the MCI Center (now Verizon Center
) just north of The Mall in D.C. when it opened on December 2, 1997. The Capital Centre hosted its first NBA game exactly 24 years earlier on December 2, 1973, with the home team defeating the same visiting team, the Seattle SuperSonics
. During November 1973, the Capital Bullets held their home games at nearby Cole Field House
on the campus of the University of Maryland
in College Park
.
The arena hosted games of the NBA Finals in 1975 when the Bullets played the Golden State Warriors and again in 1978 and 1979 vs. the Seattle SuperSonics.
The ACC
men's basketball tournament
was held there in 1976, 1981, and 1987. The 1980 NBA All-Star Game
and 1982 NHL All-Star Game were held there, as was the WWF's Survivor Series 1995
.
The arena also was home to a few epic NHL Playoff games, including the 1987 Easter Epic
.
The Washington/Maryland Commandos
of the Arena Football League also called the arena home from 1987 to 1990. The Maryland Arrows, Washington Wave
and Washington Power
lacrosse teams used the arena, as did The Washington Warthogs
professional indoor soccer team.
A boxing
World Heavyweight Championship bout took place at the venue on April 30, 1976, with Jimmy Young
challenging the champion Muhammad Ali
. The fight went the full fifteen rounds and was awarded unanimously to Ali.
Footage of past Washington Bullets games held at the Capital Centre were used in the 1979 comedy film The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh
.
The arena has hosted many concerts, by famous artists, spanning many different genres.
The arena was home to several Toys for Tots
concerts in the late 70's and early 80's.
The last time that Frank Sinatra
& Dean Martin
sang in concert together was at the arena.
The arena was outfitted with a sophisticated in-house video system, technology not yet common in most 1970s-era arenas. As a result, a number of videos and concert recordings, many of them bootlegged, have been released over the years.
The first two volumes of KISS
' retrospective DVD series Kissology
included bonus discs of late-1970s shows videotaped at the arena.
Concert videos by Van Halen
(a popular bootleg recorded on October 12, 1982) and Blue Öyster Cult
on December 27, 1976 ("Live 1976" DVD) and on the Some Enchanted Evening Legacy Edition CD) from the arena have also been released.
AC/DC
played two shows at the arena on December 20-21, 1981, several tracks from these shows are included in their DVD set, Plug Me In
.
A recording of The New Barbarians
' concert on May 5, 1979, during the band's only concert tour ever, was released as Buried Alive: Live in Maryland
.
The Rolling Stones
played three sold-out shows at the arena on December 7-9, 1981. Their 1982 live album "Still Life" (American Concert 1981), included three songs taken from the Largo concerts, "Let Me Go
" (December 8), "Twenty Flight Rock
" and "Going to a Go-Go
" (December 9).
The cult video
documentary
short Heavy Metal Parking Lot
was shot by Jeff Krulik
and John Heyn on May 31, 1986, in the arena's parking lot, comically documenting thousands of heavy metal
fans as they partied before a Judas Priest
concert (with special guests Dokken
). (The parking lot itself was divided into four sections, with patriotic emblems, to aid patrons in remembering where they parked after an event: Liberty Bell, Capitol, Eagle and Stars and Stripes.)
The Grateful Dead
's live CD set Terrapin Limited was recorded on March 15, 1990 at the arena.
The Smashing Pumpkins
played their last concert, with late touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin
, at the arena.
The arena also hosted family friendly events, such as the Harlem Globetrotters, Circus America and Ice Capades
, as well as numerous graduation ceremonies for high schools in Prince George's County.
Due to their overwhelming popularity in the African-American sections of Maryland
and Washington D.C., Parliament-Funkadelic
performed numerous sold out shows at the venue.
on December 15, 2002, to make way for The Boulevard at the Capital Centre
, a town center-style shopping mall that opened in 2003.
by seven years. It was also the first arena to be built with luxury box
es and a computerized turnstile
system.
The Centre also had one of the NBA's most notorious fans, Robin Ficker
, who for twelve seasons sat behind the visiting team's bench and heckled opposing players.
Capital Centre had the loudest speakers in an arena.
Landover, Maryland
Landover is an unincorporated community in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, within the census-designated place of Greater Landover. The Prince Georges County Sports and Learning Complex is in Landover...
, unincorporated
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
Prince George's County, Maryland
Prince George's County, Maryland
Prince George's County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland, immediately north, east, and south of Washington, DC. As of 2010, it has a population of 863,420 and is the wealthiest African-American majority county in the nation....
; a suburb of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Completed in 1973, the arena
Arena
An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...
sat 18,756 for basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
and 18,130 for hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
.
In 1993, the air carrier USAir
US Airways
US Airways, Inc. is a major airline based in the U.S. city of Tempe, Arizona. The airline is an operating unit of US Airways Group and is the sixth largest airline by traffic and eighth largest by market value in the country....
purchased the naming rights for the building and the arena became known as USAir Arena. After the airline rebranded itself in 1996, the name changed to US Airways Arena. The arena reverted to its original name of Capital Centre after the airline dropped its naming rights and its primary tenants moved to the MCI Center
Verizon Center
Verizon Center is a sports and entertainment arena in Washington, D.C., USA, named after telecommunications sponsor Verizon Communications, and has been nicknamed the "Phone Booth" because of its association with telecommunications companies...
in downtown Washington. Most TV and Radio crews broadcasting from the venue referred to it by its nickname "Cap Centre". The venue's name is also sometimes misspelled as Capital Center, Capitol Center, Capitol Center Arena or Capital Center Arena. The venue was demolished in 2002.
As a sports venue
The arena was the home of the Washington Bullets of the NBANational Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
from 1973–97, the Washington Capitals
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Since their founding in 1974, "The Caps" have won one conference championship to reach the 1998 Stanley Cup...
of the NHL
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
from 1974–97 and the Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team from 1981–97. The Washington Wizards were known as the Bullets until 1997, and played the first 5 games of the 1997–98 NBA season at the old arena. All three teams departed for the MCI Center (now Verizon Center
Verizon Center
Verizon Center is a sports and entertainment arena in Washington, D.C., USA, named after telecommunications sponsor Verizon Communications, and has been nicknamed the "Phone Booth" because of its association with telecommunications companies...
) just north of The Mall in D.C. when it opened on December 2, 1997. The Capital Centre hosted its first NBA game exactly 24 years earlier on December 2, 1973, with the home team defeating the same visiting team, the Seattle SuperSonics
Seattle SuperSonics
The Seattle SuperSonics were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington that played in the Pacific and Northwest Divisions of the National Basketball Association from 1967 until 2008. Following the 2007–08 season, the team relocated to Oklahoma City, and now plays as...
. During November 1973, the Capital Bullets held their home games at nearby Cole Field House
Cole Field House
The William P. Cole, Jr. Student Activities Building, more commonly known as Cole Field House, was the home of the University of Maryland basketball teams from 1955 until it was replaced by Comcast Center in 2002...
on the campus of the University of Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
in College Park
College Park, Maryland
College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, USA. The population was 30,413 at the 2010 census. It is best known as the home of the University of Maryland, College Park, and since 1994 the city has also been home to the "Archives II" facility of the U.S...
.
The arena hosted games of the NBA Finals in 1975 when the Bullets played the Golden State Warriors and again in 1978 and 1979 vs. the Seattle SuperSonics.
The ACC
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities...
men's basketball tournament
ACC Men's Basketball Tournament
The ACC Men's Basketball Tournament is the conference championship tournament in basketball for the Atlantic Coast Conference . The tournament has been held every year since 1954, one year after the conference's creation. It is a single-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season...
was held there in 1976, 1981, and 1987. The 1980 NBA All-Star Game
1980 NBA All-Star Game
GAME 30: at the Capital Centre in Landover, Md., Feb. 3, 1980MVP: George GervinCoaches: East: Billy Cunningham, West: Lenny Wilkens.Television: CBSAnnouncers: Brent Musburger, Bill Russell, Rod Hundley-Western Conference: -Eastern Conference:...
and 1982 NHL All-Star Game were held there, as was the WWF's Survivor Series 1995
Survivor Series (1995)
Survivor Series was the ninth annual Survivor Series pay-per-view professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation...
.
The arena also was home to a few epic NHL Playoff games, including the 1987 Easter Epic
Easter Epic
The Easter Epic is the nickname given to a National Hockey League Stanley Cup Playoff game between the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals, played April 18–19, 1987, at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland. It is so named because the game started on Saturday evening but did not finish...
.
The Washington/Maryland Commandos
Washington Commandos
The Washington Commandos were an Arena football team that operated from 1987 to 1990.-Inaugural season :The Washington Commandos were a charter member of the Arena Football League, playing in the initial four-team "demonstration season" of 1987....
of the Arena Football League also called the arena home from 1987 to 1990. The Maryland Arrows, Washington Wave
Washington Wave
The Washington Wave was an American lacrosse team. They were a member of the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League and the Major Indoor Lacrosse League from 1987 to 1989. They were based in Washington, D.C. and played in the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland. The team's first coach, Bud Beardmore, was...
and Washington Power
Washington Power
The Washington Power were a member of the National Lacrosse League during the 2001 and 2002 seasons. After the inaugural championship in 1987 in Baltimore through 1999 and an unsuccessful stint in Pittsburgh , the franchise moved to Washington, D.C. in 2001...
lacrosse teams used the arena, as did The Washington Warthogs
Washington Warthogs
The Washington Warthogs were a professional indoor soccer team in the Continental Indoor Soccer League from 1994-1997. They played their home games in the US Airways Arena in Landover, Maryland, an arena they shared with the Washington Capitals and Washington Bullets.The Warthogs featured the...
professional indoor soccer team.
A boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
World Heavyweight Championship bout took place at the venue on April 30, 1976, with Jimmy Young
Jimmy Young (boxer)
Jimmy Young was a fast highly skilled Philadelphia heavyweight boxer who had his greatest success during the 1970s, when he most notably beat George Foreman, and many fans felt also Ali . He also fought many top names...
challenging the champion Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
. The fight went the full fifteen rounds and was awarded unanimously to Ali.
Footage of past Washington Bullets games held at the Capital Centre were used in the 1979 comedy film The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh
The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh
The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh is an American sports/fantasy comedy film that was released in 1979. The movie was directed by Gilbert Moses and co-produced by David Dashev and Gary Stromberg. It was produced by Lorimar and distributed by United Artists. The rights to the film are currently owned by...
.
As a concert venue
The arena was home to several Toys for Tots
Toys for Tots
Toys for Tots is a program run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve which donates toys to children whose parents cannot afford to buy them gifts for Christmas. The program was founded in 1947 by reservist Major William L...
concerts in the late 70's and early 80's.
The last time that Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
& Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
sang in concert together was at the arena.
The arena was outfitted with a sophisticated in-house video system, technology not yet common in most 1970s-era arenas. As a result, a number of videos and concert recordings, many of them bootlegged, have been released over the years.
The first two volumes of KISS
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
' retrospective DVD series Kissology
Kissology Volume One: 1974–1977
Kissology Volume One: 1974–1977 is a DVD/Home Video released by Kiss on October 31, 2006. It contains two discs, plus three separate bonus discs sold only within initial first pressings....
included bonus discs of late-1970s shows videotaped at the arena.
Concert videos by Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
(a popular bootleg recorded on October 12, 1982) and Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult, often abbreviated BÖC, is an American rock band, most of whose members first came together in Long Island, NY in 1967 as the band Soft White Underbelly...
on December 27, 1976 ("Live 1976" DVD) and on the Some Enchanted Evening Legacy Edition CD) from the arena have also been released.
AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
played two shows at the arena on December 20-21, 1981, several tracks from these shows are included in their DVD set, Plug Me In
Plug Me In
Plug Me In is a DVD box set released on 16 October 2007 by AC/DC. It includes rare performances of the band. The standard set contains one disc of performances from the Bon Scott era and one from the Brian Johnson era. The three disc set includes Between the Cracks, featuring performances from both...
.
A recording of The New Barbarians
The New Barbarians (band)
The New Barbarians were a rock band that played two concerts in Canada and eighteen shows across the United States in April and May 1979; in August 1979, the band also supported Led Zeppelin at the Knebworth Festival 1979....
' concert on May 5, 1979, during the band's only concert tour ever, was released as Buried Alive: Live in Maryland
Buried Alive: Live in Maryland
Buried Alive: Live in Maryland is a live album by The New Barbarians. It was recorded at the Capital Center Arena in Largo, Maryland on May 5, 1979 during the band's only concert tour.-Disc 1:# "Sweet Little Rock N Roller" – 4:20...
.
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
played three sold-out shows at the arena on December 7-9, 1981. Their 1982 live album "Still Life" (American Concert 1981), included three songs taken from the Largo concerts, "Let Me Go
Emotional Rescue
Emotional Rescue is the 15th British and 17th American studio album by The Rolling Stones, released in 1980. Upon release, the album topped the charts in both the US and UK.-History:...
" (December 8), "Twenty Flight Rock
Twenty Flight Rock
"Twenty Flight Rock" is a song originally performed by Eddie Cochran in the 1956 film comedy The Girl Can't Help It, and released as a single in 1957. Cochran's biographer notes Cochran was granted a co-writer credit, but no royalties, a standard ego-salving arrangement between publishers and...
" and "Going to a Go-Go
Going to a Go-Go (song)
"Going to a Go-Go" is a 1965 single recorded by The Miracles for Motown's Tamla label. Issued in December 1965, "Going to a Go-Go" peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States the following spring...
" (December 9).
The cult video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
short Heavy Metal Parking Lot
Heavy Metal Parking Lot
Heavy Metal Parking Lot is a video documentary short produced by Jeff Krulik and John Heyn in 1986.-Plot:Heavy Metal Parking Lot documents heavy metal music fans tailgating in the parking lot outside the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, on May 31, 1986, before a Judas Priest concert...
was shot by Jeff Krulik
Jeff Krulik
Jeff Krulik is a director of independent films and a former Discovery Channel producer.Krulik's work frequently explores the fringes of popular culture from an enthusiastic and appreciative point of view....
and John Heyn on May 31, 1986, in the arena's parking lot, comically documenting thousands of heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
fans as they partied before a Judas Priest
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...
concert (with special guests Dokken
Dokken
Dokken is an American heavy metal and hard rock band formed in 1978. They split up in 1989 but reformed four years later. The group accumulated numerous charting singles and has sold more than 10 million albums worldwide...
). (The parking lot itself was divided into four sections, with patriotic emblems, to aid patrons in remembering where they parked after an event: Liberty Bell, Capitol, Eagle and Stars and Stripes.)
The Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
's live CD set Terrapin Limited was recorded on March 15, 1990 at the arena.
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Formed by Billy Corgan frontman and James Iha , the band has included Jimmy Chamberlin , D'arcy Wretzky , and currently includes Jeff Schroeder Mike Byrne , and Nicole Fiorentino The Smashing...
played their last concert, with late touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin
Jonathan Melvoin
Jonathan Melvoin was an American musician active in the 1980s and 1990s.He was the brother of Susannah and Wendy Melvoin of Prince and the Revolution. He first learned to play drums, and was cited by friends and relatives as one of those people who could play anything...
, at the arena.
The arena also hosted family friendly events, such as the Harlem Globetrotters, Circus America and Ice Capades
Ice Capades
The Ice Capades was a traveling entertainment show featuring theatrical performances involving ice skating. Shows often featured former Olympicand National Champion figure skaters who had retired from amateur competition....
, as well as numerous graduation ceremonies for high schools in Prince George's County.
Due to their overwhelming popularity in the African-American sections of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and Washington D.C., Parliament-Funkadelic
Parliament-Funkadelic
Parliament-Funkadelic is a funk, soul and rock music collective headed by George Clinton. Their style has been dubbed P-Funk. Collectively the group has existed under various names since the 1960s and has been known for top-notch musicianship, politically charged lyrics, outlandish concept albums...
performed numerous sold out shows at the venue.
Demolition
The arena was implodedBuilding implosion
In the controlled demolition industry, building implosion is the strategic placing of explosive material and timing of its detonation so that a structure collapses on itself in a matter of seconds, minimizing the physical damage to its immediate surroundings...
on December 15, 2002, to make way for The Boulevard at the Capital Centre
The Boulevard at the Capital Centre
The Boulevard at the Capital Centre is an open-air shopping center located on the site of the former Capital Centre, which opened in December 1973 and was demolished in December 2002...
, a town center-style shopping mall that opened in 2003.
Legacy
The Capital Centre was the first indoor arena to have a video replay screen on its center-hung scoreboard. The four-sided video screen was known as the "Telscreen" (or "Telescreen") and predated the DiamondVision video screen at Dodger StadiumDodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium, also sometimes called Chavez Ravine, is a stadium in Los Angeles. Located adjacent to Downtown Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers team since 1962...
by seven years. It was also the first arena to be built with luxury box
Luxury box
A Luxury box is a special seating section located within stadiums, arenas and other sporting and entertainment venues. They are typically located in the midsection of a stadium grandstand, usually providing the best views of the event...
es and a computerized turnstile
Turnstile
A turnstile, also called a baffle gate, is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. It can also be made so as to enforce one-way traffic of people, and in addition, it can restrict passage only to people who insert a coin, a ticket, a pass, or similar...
system.
The Centre also had one of the NBA's most notorious fans, Robin Ficker
Robin Ficker
Robin Ficker is an American attorney, real estate broker, political activist, and sports heckler who lives in Boyds, Maryland.-Education and professional career:...
, who for twelve seasons sat behind the visiting team's bench and heckled opposing players.
Capital Centre had the loudest speakers in an arena.
External links
- First game in MCI Center, Sports Illustrated, 2 December 1997.