Albany Civic Center

The Albany James H. Gray, Sr. Civic Center (Albany Civic Center for short) is a 10,240-seat multi-purpose arena in Albany, Georgia, United States.

Albany Civic Center
Albany Civic Center as seen from Front Street.
Full nameAlbany James H. Gray Sr. Civic Center
Location100 West Oglethorpe Boulevard
Albany, Georgia 31701-6808
OwnerCity of Albany, Georgia
OperatorSpectra Venue Management
Capacity10,712 (concerts)
9,082 (Sesame Street Live)
8,436 (basketball)
7,782 (rodeo)
6,570 (Disney on Ice)
7,200 (arena football)
OpenedFebruary 1983 (1983-02)[1]
Tenants
Albany Sharp Shooters (GBA) (1991–1992)
South Georgia Blues (GBA) (1992)
Albany State Golden Rams (SIAC) (1994–1995)
South Georgia Wildcats (af2) (2005–2009)
Albany Panthers (SIFL/PIFL) (2010–2013)
Albany Shockwave (ABA) (2012–2013)
Georgia Firebirds (AIF/NAL) (2016–2017)

History

With the opening of the Albany Mall in 1976, most long-established firms closed their stores in downtown Albany. Mayor James H. Gray, Sr. led an effort to revitalize the downtown area by constructing a 10,240-seat civic center. The arena was named in honor of Gray after his sudden death in 1986.[2]

The Albany Civic Center was also designed to be an arena and a convention center; as a result the arena features 46,000 square feet (4,300 m2) of exhibit space plus an additional 6,000 square feet (600 m2) of meeting room space. As a rodeo arena it can seat 7,782; for Disney on Ice the arena can seat 6,570; as a basketball arena the center holds 8,436; for Sesame Street Live the arena seats 9,082; and for boxing and wrestling the arena seats 9,013. For concerts the arena seats 5,728 in a half-house configuration, 10,297 end-stage and 10,711 for a center-stage show. Up to 1,932 seats can be accommodated on the arena floor; there are only 905 retractable seats in addition to 7,794 permanent seats.

The arena is a part of the Flint River Entertainment Complex, a group of entertainment venues located in downtown Albany that also includes the Albany Municipal Auditorium and the Veterans Park Amphitheater.[3]

The Albany Civic Center was the home arena for the Georgia Firebirds indoor football team, last playing in the National Arena League in 2017.

From 1987 to 1992, the Albany Civic Center hosted The SEC Women's Basketball Tournament.[4]

Run-DMC music video for the song, "Mary, Mary", was filmed at the Albany Civic Center in 1988.[5]

The Albany Civic Center hosted several professional wrestling events. This included National Wrestling Alliance's Clash of the Champions III: Fall Brawl (which aired live September 7, 1988, on TBS).[6][7] It hosted World Championship Wrestling's pay-per-views Great American Bash (1992)[8] and SuperBrawl IV,[9] in addition to three episodes of WCW Monday Nitro on TNT (October 16, 1995, April 22, 1996 and April 29, 1996).[10][11]

The Albany Civic Center is also the former home arena of the Albany Panthers indoor football team from 2010 to 2013, last playing in the Professional Indoor Football League,[12][13][14] the South Georgia Wildcats of the now defunct af2 indoor football league,[15] the Albany Shockwave of the American Basketball Association,[16] Albany State University Golden Rams basketball (after the Flood of '94) and the Albany Sharp Shooters/South GA Blues of the defunct Global Basketball Association.

References
  1. https://www.albanyherald.com/news/local/civic-center-was-once-a-hot-venue/article_9e1186ae-b2ed-5ecd-b1a3-592f85b3f12a.html
  2. "Albany". New Georgia Encyclopedia. 2005-03-26. Retrieved 2015-05-09.
  3. http://dtownalbany.com/venues
  4. "SEC women's basketball tournament comes to Arkansas". TuscaloosaNews.com. 2002-10-02. Retrieved 2015-05-09.
  5. "RUN-DMC - Mary, Mary". YouTube. 2009-10-25. Retrieved 2015-05-09.
  6. "Clash of the Champions 1-20". Prowrestlinghistory.com. Archived from the original on 2008-06-23. Retrieved 2015-05-09.
  7. Watson, Buddy (2013-02-21). "Clash Of The Champions 3 1 Of 2". Dailymotion.com. Retrieved 2015-05-09.
  8. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2fkebe_wcw-great-american-bash-1992_sport
  9. desicorner khan (2012-03-14). "WCW Superbrawl 1994 - Desicorner.net_clip1 - Video Dailymotion". Dailymotion.com. Retrieved 2015-05-09.
  10. http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/wcw95.htm
  11. http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/wcw96.htm
  12. "Arena". Albanypanthers.net. Archived from the original on 2015-02-13. Retrieved 2015-05-09.
  13. Wallace, Jake. "PIFL announces Georgia Fire to take Panthers' place, South Georgia News, Weather, Sports". Walb.com. Retrieved 2015-05-09.
  14. WALB News Team. "Panthers owner: City doesn't want us here, South Georgia News, Weather, Sports". Walb.com. Retrieved 2015-05-09.
  15. http://www.southgawildcats.com/
  16. "Shockwave loses Civic Center home". Albany Herald. Retrieved 2015-05-09.

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