Capital One Arena

Capital One Arena
Capital One Arena in 2023
Capital One Arena is located in the District of Columbia
Capital One Arena
Capital One Arena
Location within Washington, D.C.
Capital One Arena is located in the United States
Capital One Arena
Capital One Arena
Location within the United States
Former namesMCI Center (1997–2006)
Verizon Center (2006–2017)
Address601 F Street NW
LocationWashington, D.C., U.S.
Coordinates38°53′53″N 77°1′15″W / 38.89806°N 77.02083°W / 38.89806; -77.02083
Public transit Washington Metro
at Gallery Place
OwnerMonumental Sports & Entertainment
Capacity20,356 (basketball)
18,573 (ice hockey)[1][2]
Construction
Broke groundOctober 18, 1995
OpenedDecember 2, 1997
Construction costUS$260 million
(US$475 million in 2023 dollars[3])
ArchitectEllerbe Becket[4]
Devrouax & Purnell[4]
KCF-SHG Architects[4]
Project managerJohn Stranix and Seagull Bay Sports, LLC[5]
Structural engineerDelon Hampton & Associates[6]
Services engineerJohn J. Christie Associates[4]
General contractorClark/Smoot[7]
Tenants
Washington Wizards (NBA) (1997–present)
Washington Capitals (NHL) (1997–present)
Georgetown Hoyas (NCAA) (1997–present)
Washington Mystics (WNBA) (1998–2018)
Washington Power (NLL) (2001–2002)
Washington Valor (AFL) (2017–2019)
Website
capitalonearena.com

Capital One Arena is an indoor arena in Washington, D.C. Located in the Chinatown section of the larger Penn Quarter neighborhood, the arena sits atop the Gallery Place rapid transit station of the Washington Metro. The arena was opened on December 2, 1997, as MCI Center but renamed to Verizon Center in 2006 when MCI was acquired by Verizon Communications and changed again to its current name in 2017.

Owned and operated by Monumental Sports & Entertainment, it is the home arena of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL), the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the Georgetown University men's basketball team. It was also home to the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1998 to 2018, after which they moved to the Entertainment and Sports Arena in southeast Washington for the 2019 season.

Though the arena project was a commercial success for its backers, it has contributed to the gentrification of the surrounding area, the displacement of most of its Asian-American residents (the local Chinese-American population, which numbered over 3,000 before the arena's construction, was a mere 300 in 2023), and the replacement of most of the small businesses and restaurants that served the Asian-American community by large national corporations.[8][9][10][11]

  1. ^ Carrera, Katie (December 6, 2012). "Hershey Bears Play AHL Showcase at Verizon Center, Keeping Capitals Fans Entertained for One Night During NHL Lockout". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 12, 2013. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  2. ^ Heath, Thomas (November 25, 2004). "On Hockey Nights, A Center of Inactivity". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  3. ^ Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved November 30, 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
  4. ^ a b c d "Verizon Center". AECOM. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  5. ^ Bailey, W. Scott (December 6, 2002). "New S.A. Sports Firm Set to Play Pivotal Pole in Big NBA Projects". San Antonio Business Journal. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  6. ^ "Verizon Center". Delon Hampton & Associates. Archived from the original on April 2, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  7. ^ "MCI Center". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ^ "Name Change: MCI Center to be Verizon Center". ESPN. Associated Press. January 7, 2006. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  9. ^ Kaplan, Seth (March 23, 2023). "After the arena came, the Asian population of Washington's Chinatown shrank". cbsnews.com. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  10. ^ Xiao, Jessica (February 1, 2023). "Incredibly shrinking DC Chinatown struggles to survive". AsAmNews. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  11. ^ Hunt, Kristin (January 12, 2023). "With 76ers new stadium, is Philly's Chinatown destined for same fate as Washington, D.C. neighborhood?". PhillyVoice. Retrieved April 13, 2023.

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