The BankAtlantic Center (previously known as Broward County Civic Arena , National Car Rental Center and Office Depot Center ) is an indoor arena located in Sunrise, Florida, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, near the popular Sawgrass Mills Mall. The arena is easily accessible off of the Sawgrass Expressway at the Oakland Park Boulevard exit. The arena was completed in 1998 at a cost of $185 million, almost entirely publicly financed. The arena features 70 suites and 2,300 club seats. [1]

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History

The search for a new arena began in 1993, when H. Wayne Huizenga obtained the new franchise for the Florida Panthers Hockey Team. The search process became a fast-track development strategy when the site in Sunrise, Florida was selected in June, 1996. In July, 1996, Alex Muxo gathered more than a dozen architects, engineers and contractors for the first major design brainstorming session. Time was of the essence. A state-of-the-art arena had to be built by August 30, 1998, to accommodate the fall 1998 Hockey Season.

Seventy suites were completed with wet bars, closed circuited monitors and leather upholstery. Averaging over 650 square feet, the suites are the largest in the country for this type of facility. All the activity was generated by over 50 subcontractors and 2.3 million man hours without a single injury.

Regular events

The arena is home to the Florida Panthers of the NHL and formerly the Florida Pit Bulls of the ABA and the Florida Bobcats of the AFL 1998-2001 along with the only season of the Florida ThunderCats.

The arena has also hosted the 2003 NHL All-Star Game and the 2005-2006 ABA All-Star game.

Notable events

• The Florida Panthers hosted the 2001 NHL Entry Draft at the arena.
• U2 started their Elevation Tour at the arena in 2001. ^[2]
• The arena served as the site for the 2003 NHL All-Star Game on Feb. 2, 2003. The Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference, 6-5, in a shootout victory. It marked the first "official" shootout in the NHL.
• Guns N' Roses started their 2006/2007 North American "Chinese Democracy" tour in the arena on the October 24, 2006.
• Also in 2006, The Who recorded a live CD as part of the Encore Series that November.
• In 2007 the 14 year old teen pop star Miley Cyrus sold out the arena in a matter of minutes for her Best of Both Worlds Tour. Tickets could be resold for $65 - $3,700 ^[3]
• On May 23, 2008, Senator Barack Obama held a rally as part of his Presidential campaign.

Boxing and wrestling

The arena has held boxing and wrestling events such as Bash at the Beach '99 , Armageddon '99 and Armageddon 2002 . It also hosted Monday Night Raw on 11/19/07 which featured the return of Chris Jericho. Monday Night Raw will return to the arena on January 2nd, 2009.

Barbra Streisand

On October 30, 2006, Barbra Streisand was pelted with a beverage and, as her politically-charged presentation ended, another man in the crowd found himself being escorted out as he shouted at her. Streisand shrugged both incidents off, saying some people would do better to buy her records than come to her shows. Her two shows here were filmed for a possible NBC or Showtime TV special and a DVD expecting to release between October - November 2008.

Van Halen

Van Halen played two shows here during their reunion tour with David Lee Roth.

George Michael

George Michael has ended his North-American leg of his 25 Live tour by playing one last show in Fort Lauderdale.

Future Development

Plans to develop property surrounding the arena are currently in progress. The plan involves removing the parking lot surrounding the building, in order to place high-rise apartments, as well as restaurants and retail businesses. An underground parking garage will be built to accommodate people driving into the arena for events.

Capacity

Seating

• Basketball: 20,737
• Hockey: 19,250
• End-Stage Concerts: 15,207 - 21,371
• Center-Stage Concerts: 22,457
• of arena floor space for trade shows and other events such as circuses and ice shows. ^[1]

Parking and loading docks

• Total: 7,045 Spaces (Does not include production or bus/oversized vehicle parking)
• General Parking: 4,787 Spaces
• Suite/Club Seat Parking: 1,430 Spaces
• Garage: 226 Spaces
• Disabled Parking: 90 Spaces
• Event Staff: 512 Spaces
• Truck Doors: 5
• Waste Removal Docks: 2 ^[1]

Food and novelty concessions

• Plaza Level: 3 Food Courts and Pantherland Retail
• Mezzanine Level: 3 Food Courts and two Points of Purchase Kiosks ^[1]

Notes

1. Facts and Figures
2. U2Tours.com - Elevation Tour, 1st leg
3. Ticket Craze
4. Facts and Figures
5. Facts and Figures
6. Facts and Figures