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Historic place

Orlando Arena / Amway Arena

600 W Amelia St, Orlando, FL

The Magic's first home, a $110 million public-money arena that locals called the O-Rena, imploded in 2012.

📅 1989–2010🏛️ StadiumDemolished
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The story

The Orlando Arena opened on January 29, 1989, and was later known as TD Waterhouse Centre and then Amway Arena. It cost about $110 million, all public money, and locals called it the O-Rena. The Orlando Magic played here from 1989 to 2010. The building hosted the 1992 NBA All-Star Game, Games 1 and 2 of the 1995 NBA Finals, and Games 3 to 5 of the 2009 NBA Finals.

It also hosted the Orlando Predators, the Orlando Solar Bears and the Orlando Titans. In 2008 a Barack Obama rally outside drew a crowd of more than 50,000. Plans to renovate stalled over cost and funding, and a new arena was built instead. The last NBA game here was Game 5 of the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals, a Magic win over Boston on May 26, 2010. The last event was a So You Think You Can Dance tour stop on September 30, 2010. Interior demolition began December 15, 2011, and most of the building was imploded on March 25, 2012.

What's There Now

The site was slated for the Creative Village development; the Wikipedia page does not confirm what stands there today.

Everything that was here

Did you know?

The arena closed after a dance-show tour, not a basketball game.
Its replacement was first called Amway Center and is now the Kia Center.
Locals called it the O-Rena throughout its existence.

Nearby history

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Sourceshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amway_Arena