 1960s postcard | |
 | |
| Address | 400 First Street South |
|---|---|
| Location | St. Petersburg, Florida |
| Coordinates | 27°45′59.7″N82°37′54.1″W / 27.766583°N 82.631694°W /27.766583; -82.631694 |
| Owner | City of St. Petersburg |
| Capacity | Concerts: 8,600 Indoor soccer: 6,410 Ice hockey: 5,800 |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | September 19, 1963 |
| Opened | May 1, 1965 |
| Demolished | December 1, 2004 |
| Construction cost | $5 million |
| Tenants | |
| The Floridians (ABA) (1970–1972) St. Petersburg Suns (EHL) (1971–1973) Suncoast Suns (SHL) (1973) Tampa Bay Rowdies (NASL/AISA) (1975–1984, 1986–1987) Tampa Bay Thrillers (CBA) (1984–1985, 1986–1987) Tampa Bay Terror (NPSL) (1995–1997) Tampa Bay ThunderDawgs (ABA) (2000-2001) | |
Bayfront Center was anindoor arena located inSt. Petersburg,Florida that hosted many concerts, sporting and other events. Depending on the configuration, it could hold up to 8,600 people. The arena was opened in 1965[1] and demolished in 2004. It adjoined theMahaffey Theater, which is still standing.
Over its 40-year history, a wide variety of top entertainers performed at the Bayfront Center including:Elvis Presley,[2]Iron Maiden,Metallica,Lynyrd Skynyrd,B.B. King,Van Halen,Bruce Springsteen,Frank Sinatra,Aerosmith, theBeach Boys,James Brown,[3] theGrateful Dead,Elton John,RUSH,The Police,Johnny Cash, theBeastie Boys,Liberace,Bon Jovi,Jimmy Buffett,Ray Charles,Bob Dylan, KISS, andThe Who.[4]
The venue hosted theAmerican Basketball Association'sThe Floridians when the team played in St. Petersburg during the1970–71 and1971–72 seasons.
TheSouth Florida Bulls men's basketball team used the Bayfront Center for some home games between 1974 and 1980.[5]
TheTampa Bay Thrillers of theContinental Basketball Association played two non-consecutive seasons (1984–85 and 1986–87) in the arena, winning the CBA title in 1985. Because of an apparent rent/lease dispute they moved toTampa the following year and won another title. With a new owner at the helm they returned to the Bayfront Center for their third season.[6] Attendance sagged to as few as 295 fans, so the franchise relocated toRapid City, South Dakota at the end of that regular season, and won that year's CBA title for an unusualthree-peat.The arena served as the home arena of theTampa Bay ThunderDawgs of theABA for the2000-2001 season.[7][8]
The Bayfront Center was home ice for theSt. Petersburg Suns of theEastern Hockey League from 1971 to 1973, and then for theSuncoast Suns of theSouthern Hockey League for the1973–74 season.
TheTampa Bay Rowdies of theNorth American Soccer League played nearly all of theirindoor home games at the Bayfront Center throughout their NASL existence, winning titles in1976,1979–80 and1983. The Rowdies later joinedAmerican Indoor Soccer Association and again used the arena for the AISA 1986–87 season.
TheTampa Bay Terror of theNational Professional Soccer League also used the venue in the1995–96 and1996–97 seasons.
From the 1960s to the 1990s, the Bayfront Center was the location forRingling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey's annual spring TV taping. Until 1992, every spring Ringling Brothers taped a network TV special from the arena and also shot all the photos for their programs there.
The Pinellas County Industrial and Aerospace Exhibition, featuring several ofNASA'sApollo program displays, was held at the venue from 1968 to 1971.[9]
The arena also hosted manyprofessional wrestling events, among them theWCW'sSuperBrawl I andVI, andSlamboree (1995).Other groups, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, held annual conventions featuring Bible discourses, which were free of charge.
Additionally, the Bayfront Center was the location for most of Pinellas County high school commencement ceremonies.
The Bayfront Center was finallyimploded in 2004 to make way for an eventual replacement facility for the nearbySalvador Dalí Museum.[10]
Authority control databases: Geographic |
|---|