Capital Centre

The Capital Centre (also briefly known as US Airways Arena and USAir Arena) was an indoor arena located in Landover, a suburb of Washington, D.C. Completed in 1973, the arena sat 18,756 for basketball and 18,130 for hockey. It was renamed for corporate sponsor US Airways in 1993, but reverted to its original name of Capital Centre after the airline dropped its naming rights. Most TV and Radio crews broadcasting from the venue referred to it by its nickname "Cap Centre". The venue's name is also sometimes misspelled as Capital Center, Capitol Center, Capitol Center Arena or Capital Center Arena. The venue closed in 1997 and was demolished in 2002.
==As a sports venue==
The arena was the home of the Washington Bullets of the NBA from 1973–97, the Washington Capitals of the NHL from 1974–97 and the Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team from 1981–97. The Washington Wizards were known as the Bullets until 1997, and played the first 5 games of the 1997–98 NBA season at the old arena. All three teams departed for the MCI Center (now Verizon Center) just north of The Mall in D.C. when it opened on December 2, 1997. The Capital Centre hosted its first NBA game exactly 24 years earlier on December 2, 1973, with the home team defeating the same visiting team, the Seattle SuperSonics. During November 1973, the Capital Bullets held their home games at nearby Cole Field House on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland.
In 1978 and 1979, the arena hosted games of the NBA Finals, when the Bullets played the Seattle SuperSonics.
The Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball tournament was held there in 1976, 1981, and 1987. The 1980 NBA All-Star Game and 1982 NHL All-Star Game were held there.
The arena also was home to a few epic NHL Playoff games, including the 1987 Easter Epic.
==Demolition==
The arena was imploded on December 15, 2002, to make way for The Boulevard at the Capital Centre, a town center-style shopping mall that opened in 2003.
==Legacy==
The Capital Centre was the first indoor arena to have a video replay screen on its center-hung scoreboard. The four-sided video screen was known as the "Telscreen" (or "Telescreen") and predated the DiamondVision video screen at Dodger Stadium by seven years. It was also the first arena to be built with luxury boxes and a computerized turnstile system.
==External links==
*First game in MCI Center, Sports Illustrated, 2 December 1997.
Category:Former National Hockey League arena
Category:NHL arena
Category:Indoor ice hockey venues in Maryland