NRG Arena

NRG Arena
Full name NRG Arena at NRG Park
Former names Astroarena (19742000)
Reliant Arena (2000–2014)
Location NRG Park
1 NRG Park
Houston, TX 77054
Coordinates 29°40′52″N 95°24′20″W / 29.68111°N 95.40556°W / 29.68111; -95.40556Coordinates: 29°40′52″N 95°24′20″W / 29.68111°N 95.40556°W / 29.68111; -95.40556
Owner Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation
Operator SMG
Capacity 8,000
Construction
Opened February 14, 1974 (1974-02-14)
Architect Lloyd Jones & Associates
Main contractors Pence Construction Company
Tenants
Houston Angels (WBL) (19781980)
Houston Hotshots (WISL) (19992000)
Rice Owls (NCAA) (20072008)
Houston Comets (WNBA) (2008)
Houston Lightning (SIFL) (2010)[1]
Website
Venue Info

The NRG Arena,[2] formerly the "Astroarena" and the "Reliant Arena",[3] is a 350,000 square feet (33,000 m²) sports center in NRG Park, in Houston, Texas, USA. It is one of the state's major arenas and convention centers.

Building format

The NRG Arena consists of multiple rooms and divisions on two separate floors.

The main partition on the first floor is the "Arena Proper", a 24,000 gross square foot arena that seats up to 8,500 people. While dwarfed by the stadiums within the complex (the NRG Astrodome seats 60,000 and NRG Stadium seats 70,000) as well as other arenas in the city (the Toyota Center seats 18,500, TDECU Stadium seats 40,000, and Minute Maid Park seats 42,000), it serves as an ideal location for events that cannot possibly fill such large arenas.

In addition to the Arena Proper, there are four exhibit halls within the NRG Arena. The largest hall is Exhibit Hall D, boasting 100,000 square feet (10,000 m2) of space. The second is Exhibit Hall A, which has 75,000 square feet (7,000 m2) of space. Exhibit Halls B and C each have 50,000 square feet (5,000 m2) of floor space as well.

The upper level maintains smaller meeting rooms and office space as well as the "Stockman's Club".

History

Construction of the Astroarena originated in the early 1970s and completed in 1974 adjacent to the Astrohall. Although the Astrohall (renamed Reliant Hall temporarily) was its next door neighbor, it was demolished in May 2002 to make way for a parking lot when NRG Stadium was being completed. It was renamed to Reliant Arena in 2000 when Reliant Energy bought the sponsorship of the facility.

The Arena has since been utilized for several other events, including the National Catholic Youth Conference in 2003 and the peripheral events of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

The Arena has also been a favorite stop for professional wrestling promotions. Over the past decade, it has hosted multiple episodes of WCW Thunder and WWE SmackDown!, shows hosted by each company. Additionally, it hosted WCW's Fall Brawl pay per view in 1993. In July 2008, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling held its Victory Road 2008 pay-per-view event at the arena.

After previously occupying the Compaq Center from 1998 to 2000, the PBR held a Bud Light Cup event in Reliant Arena in 2001; this was their last big-league event in Houston to date.

In 2005, the Arena was used as a shelter for residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina after it was deemed that the Reliant Astrodome would be insufficient for comfortably housing over 30,000 residents. It served as auxiliary housing for victims of Hurricane Katrina along with other parts of Reliant Park, and was the site of the field clinic set up to care for those displaced by the hurricane. This led to the cancellation of a My Chemical Romance concert, which led to a small riot.

On July 16, 2007 the arena played host to the first indoor stop on the 2007 Vans Warped Tour.

Reliant Arena became the home of the Women's National Basketball Association's Houston Comets for what proved to be their final season, 2008.[4]

On March 12, 2014, the arena was renamed as the NRG Arena, after the sponsor, Reliant Energy, had been acquired and absorbed into NRG Energy.

References

  1. Houston Lightning
  2. http://www.houstonsports.org/reliant-arena/
  3. "Letters". Rocky Mountain News. Denver. November 12, 2000.
  4. "Comets moving to Reliant". Houston Chronicle. 2007-12-12. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
Preceded by
Toyota Center
Home of the
Houston Comets

2008
Succeeded by
none
Preceded by
TNA Impact! Zone
Host of Victory Road
2008
Succeeded by
TNA Impact! Zone
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