Quicken Loans Arena

Quicken Loans Arena
"The Q"
Former names	Gund Arena (1994–2005)
Location	1 Center Court Cleveland, Ohio 44115-4001
Coordinates	41°29′47″N 81°41′17″W
Broke ground	April 27, 1992
Opened	October 17, 1994
Owner	Gateway Economic Development Corp.
Operator	CAVS/Quicken Loans Arena Company
Construction cost	USD $100 million ($148 million in 2012 dollars)
Architect	Ellerbe Becket
Project Manager	Ozanne Construction Co.
General Contractor	Turner Construction
Capacity	Basketball: 20,562 Ice Hockey: 20,056 (10,025 with curtain system)
Tenants
Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA) (1994–Present) Lake Erie Monsters (AHL) (2007–Present) Cleveland Gladiators (AFL) (2008, 2010–Present) Cleveland Rockers (WNBA) (1997–2003) Cleveland Barons (AHL) (2001–2006) Cleveland Lumberjacks (IHL) (1994–2001) Cleveland Crush (LFL) (2011–Present)

Quicken Loans Arena (originally Gund Arena and commonly The Q), is a multi-purpose arena, in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States.

Until August 2005, it was known as Gund Arena, named for Gordon Gund, a former owner of the Cavaliers, after he paid for the naming rights.

It is currently home to the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA, the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL, the Cleveland Gladiators of the AFL, the Mid-American Conference Basketball Tournaments, and the Cleveland Crush of the LFL.

History

The arena is built on the site of the former Central Market, a fruit and vegetable market that dated back to 1856. It replaced the Coliseum at Richfield, which was located between Cleveland and Akron. Part of the Gateway Project to revitalize downtown Cleveland, the arena and sibling Progressive Field were paid for with a sin tax on alcohol and tobacco.

Design and operations

From 1994 to 2005, the building was named Gund Arena.

"The Q" seats 20,562 for basketball, including 2,000 in the club seats, and 92 luxury suites. It is owned by the Gateway Economic Development Corporation, which leases it to the Cavaliers.

In 2005, Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert (owner of Quicken Loans) renovated the arena, installing new seats, state of the art scoreboards, video systems, sound systems, arena graphics, signage, security, locker rooms, and suite upgrades, all of which were in place for the start of the Cavaliers 2005–2006 season, except for the seats, which were replaced a few sections at a time.

In October 2009, the Cleveland Cavaliers announced that award-winning chef Michael Symon would contribute menu items to be prepared by foodservice firm Aramark at the Q. Two existing restaurants were renamed after Symon's bar-bistros, Bar Symon and The B-Spot, and some of his signature dishes were made available as suite catering offerings.

Team sports

In addition to its professional sports tenants, "The Q" has been home to the Mid-American Conference's men's basketball tournament since 2000 and the MAC women's basketball tournament since 2001. "MAC Madness", as it is known, has become a strong draw for the arena. The men's semifinal and championship games routinely draw 10,000-15,000 attendees.

On May 16, 2006, the then-inactive Utah Grizzlies franchise of the AHL announced that it would move to the Quicken Loans Arena. On January 25, 2007, the team name was announced as the Lake Erie Monsters. It began play in the 2007–2008 season.

On October 16, 2007, the Las Vegas Gladiators of the Arena Football League announced that they would move to Quicken Loans Arena.

On December 6, 2010, the Lingerie Football League announced that Quicken Loans Arena would be the home of the Cleveland Crush for the 2011-12 season.

The arena was the home of the now-defunct Cleveland Lumberjacks of the IHL, the Cleveland Barons of the AHL, and the Cleveland Rockers of the WNBA.

Notable events

Entrance at the corner of Huron Road and Ontario Street

The arena was opened with a concert by Billy Joel on October 17, 1994. The Cavaliers played the first game in the arena a few weeks later.

The arena has been the site of several WWF/WWE pay per view events, such as SummerSlam '96, No Mercy '99, Invasion (2001), Survivor Series '04, and Unforgiven '08, as well as numerous episodes of Raw, Friday Night SmackDown!, ECW on Sci Fi, WWE Superstars, and NXT. Most notably, it hosted the historic March 26, 2001 edition of Raw, where Vince McMahon purchased his rival Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling promotion, which was also simulcast on WCW Monday Nitro. And most recently, it hosted the September 19, 2011 episode of Raw SuperShow, which featured Hugh Jackman as a guest star for that night.

Major national events held at the facility include the 1997 NBA All-Star Game, the 2000 United States Figure Skating Championships, the 2007 NCAA Women's Final Four and the 2009 United States Figure Skating Championships. It also hosted games 3 and 4 of the 2007 NBA Finals.

The Dixie Chicks were scheduled to perform during their Top of the World Tour on June 1, 2003, with Joan Osborne as their opening act, but the show was cancelled, due to illness of lead vocalist Natalie Maines.

The arena played host to the politically-motivated Vote for Change Tour on October 2, 2004, featuring performances by The Bright Eyes, R.E.M. and Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (with special guest John Fogerty).

On October 29, 2008, LeBron James gathered almost 20,000 people at the arena for a viewing of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's 30-minute American Stories, American Solutions television advertisement. It was shown on a large screen above the stage, where Jay-Z later held a free concert.

The arena hosted games in the second and third rounds of the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament on March 18 and March 20, 2011. Included in the field were the Ohio State Buckeyes, which have historically had a large following in NE Ohio.

It was also the site of Canadian rock band Rush's concert DVD shoot for their 2010–2011 Time Machine Tour, due to Cleveland being the first U.S. city to give the band radio airplay in the early 70s.

External links

• Official site

Events and tenants
Preceded by Richfield Coliseum	Home of the Cleveland Cavaliers 1994 – present	Succeeded by current
Preceded by Orleans Arena	Home of the Cleveland Gladiators 2008 – present	Succeeded by current
Preceded by E Center	Home of the Lake Erie Monsters 2007 – present	Succeeded by current
Preceded by SeaGate Convention Centre	Host of the Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Tournament 2000 – present	Succeeded by current
Preceded by Alamodome	Host of the NBA All-Star Game 1997	Succeeded by Madison Square Garden