The Purple Palace, The Snake Pit, The Stick | |
North Entrance of Talking Stick Resort Arena in 2015
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Former names | America West Arena (1992–2006) US Airways Center (2006–2015) |
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Address | 201 East Jefferson Street |
Location | Phoenix, Arizona |
Coordinates | 33°26′45″N 112°4′17″W / 33.44583°N 112.07139°WCoordinates: 33°26′45″N 112°4′17″W / 33.44583°N 112.07139°W |
Public transit | Convention Center |
Owner | City of Phoenix |
Operator | Phoenix Arena Development, L.P. |
Capacity |
Basketball: 19,023 (1992–2003), 18,422 (2003–2014), 18,055 (2014–present) Ice hockey: 16,210 Arena football: 15,505 |
Construction | |
Broke ground | August 1, 1990 |
Opened | June 6, 1992 |
Renovated | 2003 |
Construction cost |
$90 million ($154 million in 2016 dollars 2001–04 renovations: $67 million ($85 million in 2016 dollars |
Architect | Ellerbe Becket |
Project manager | Huber, Hunt & Nichols |
Structural engineer | Horst Berger/Severud |
Services engineer | Flack + Kurtz |
General contractor | Perini Building Company |
Tenants | |
Phoenix Suns (NBA) (1992–present) Arizona Rattlers (AFL/IFL) (1992–present) Arizona Sandsharks (CISL) (1993–1997) Phoenix Coyotes (NHL) (1996–2003) Phoenix Mercury (WNBA) (1997–present) Phoenix RoadRunners (ECHL) (2005–2009) |
Talking Stick Resort Arena is a sports and entertainment arena in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It opened on June 6, 1992, at a construction cost of $89 million. It was known as America West Arena from 1992 to 2006 and as US Airways Center from 2006 to 2015.
It is home to the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. The Phoenix RoadRunners of the ECHL played at the arena from their inaugural 2005–06 season until they ceased operations at the conclusion of the 2008–09 season.
Located near Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, the arena is one million square feet (93,000 m2) in size on an 11-acre (4.5 ha) site. These two major league sports venues are half of those used by Phoenix area professional teams, the other two being University of Phoenix Stadium and Gila River Arena in the neighboring Phoenix suburb of Glendale.
Renovations were completed in March 2003, which feature a 16,000-square-foot (1,500 m2) air conditioned glass-enclosed atrium built on the northwest side of the arena, to keep patrons cool while waiting in line for tickets or spending time inside the building before events. The total cost was estimated at around $67 million. The upgrading of the arena was done as part of the Phoenix Suns' plan to keep it economically competitive after Gila River Arena opened. Former Suns owner Jerry Colangelo originally thought of the renovations after visiting Staples Center in Los Angeles and envisioned a similar entertainment district in Phoenix.