Ford Center (Evansville)

Ford Center
Location	1 S.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.; Evansville, Indiana 47708
Coordinates	Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Owner	City of Evansville
Operator	Venuworks
Capacity	Concert: 11,000; Basketball: 10,000; Hockey: 9,000
Surface	Multi-surface
Construction
Broke ground	October 20, 2009
Opened	November 5, 2011
Construction cost	$127.5 million
Architect	Populous; Hafer Associates
Structural engineer	Thornton Tomasetti
Services engineer	M-E Engineers, Inc.
General contractor	Hunt/Harmon JV
Tenants
	Evansville Purple Aces (NCAA) (2011–present); Evansville IceMen (ECHL) (2011–2016); Evansville Thunderbolts (SPHL) (2016–present)

The Ford Center is a multi-use indoor arena in downtown Evansville, Indiana with a maximum seating capacity of 11,000.^[4] It officially opened in November 2011 and is mainly used for basketball, ice hockey, and music concerts. It is home to the Evansville Purple Aces basketball teams and the Evansville Thunderbolts minor league hockey team in the Southern Professional Hockey League.

Events

The first public event held at the Ford Center was an Evansville IceMen hockey game on November 5, 2011, when the IceMen defeated the Fort Wayne Komets 3-1. The first concert was held four days later on November 9, 2011 by Bob Seger and his Silver Bullet Band. The Evansville Purple Aces played their first basketball game on November 12, 2011, beating the Butler Bulldogs 80-77 in overtime.

In its first year, the new arena also hosted concerts for Elton John, Lady Antebellum, Reba, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Steel Panther with Judas Priest, Motley Crue with Alice Cooper, Aerosmith with Living Colour, and Cirque du Soleil's performance of Quidam.

The Ford Center played host to a game in the 2012 College Basketball Invitational, in which the Aces lost to the Princeton Tigers 95-86. The Ford Center also played host to the 2013 GLVC basketball championships and the 2014 and 2015 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Championship. In September 2014, the Ford Center hosted Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) Division 1 International playoffs,^[5] hosted by local roller derby league, Demolition City Roller Derby, featuring teams from the United States, England and Canada.^[6] In honor of the event, Evansville mayor Lloyd Winnecke declared the week of the event to be "Roller Derby Week" in the city.^[7]

History and construction

The Ford Center was designed by Populous (formerly HOK Sport) as a replacement for Roberts Municipal Stadium. The $127.5 million arena was approved by the Evansville City Council on December 22, 2008.^[2] Demolition work on the site began on December 5, 2009.

The Ford Center is bounded by Main Street, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, 6th Street, and Walnut Street. As planned, it will eventually connect to a new convention hotel and the existing convention center.

On August 17, 2011, the facility's name, Ford Center, was announced. The naming rights were the result of a 10-year, $4.2 million agreement with the Tri-State Ford Dealers.^[8]^[9]^[10]

On January 18, 2012, Aces junior Colt Ryan set an arena record with 39 points in a win against the Bradley Braves.^{[citation needed]}

In 2016, the ECHL's Evansville IceMen and the City of Evansville failed to come to an agreement on a new lease and the IceMen's owner, Ron Geary, announced his intentions to relocate the team to Owensboro, Kentucky. In response, the City of Evansville brought in a new minor league hockey team called the Evansville Thunderbolts as part of the Southern Professional Hockey League for the 2016–17 season.^[11]

Gallery

The Ford Center set up for an Evansville IceMen hockey game

References

↑ Evansville Arena Project - Timeline
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↑ New Evansville Arena architect: Populous
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External links

[1] Evansville Arena Project - Timeline

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[3] New Evansville Arena architect: Populous

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v t e University of Evansville
Facilities	Charles H. Braun Stadium Ford Center Harlaxton Manor
Athletics	Men's basketball Men's soccer
Media	WUEV
Organizations	Aces Brass
Awards	Richard Wilbur Award
Related	Men's basketball team plane crash

v t e Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball
Venues	Roberts Municipal Stadium (1956–2011) Ford Center (2011–present)
Culture & lore	History 1977 team plane crash Aces Brass
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16
NCAA national championships in bold

v t e SPHL
Teams	Birmingham Bulls Evansville Thunderbolts Fayetteville Marksmen Huntsville Havoc Knoxville Ice Bears Macon Mayhem Pensacola Ice Flyers Peoria Rivermen Quad City Storm Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs
Arenas	Berglund Center (Rail Yard Dawgs) Carver Arena (Rivermen) Crown Coliseum (Marksmen) Ford Center (Thunderbolts) Macon Coliseum (Mayhem) James White Civic Coliseum (Ice Bears) Pelham Civic Center (Bulls) Pensacola Bay Center (Ice Flyers) Vibrant Arena at The MARK (Storm) Von Braun Center (Havoc)
Seasons	2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
President's Cup William B. Coffey Trophy Other professional hockey leagues

Ford Center (Evansville)

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Location	1 S.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Evansville, Indiana 47708
Coordinates	Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Owner	City of Evansville
Operator	Venuworks
Capacity	Concert: 11,000 Basketball: 10,000 Hockey: 9,000
Surface	Multi-surface
Broke ground	October 20, 2009^[1]
Opened	November 5, 2011
Construction cost	$127.5 million^[2]
Architect	Populous^[3] Hafer Associates
Structural engineer	Thornton Tomasetti
Services engineer	M-E Engineers, Inc.
General contractor	Hunt/Harmon JV
Tenants
Evansville Purple Aces (NCAA) (2011–present) Evansville IceMen (ECHL) (2011–2016) Evansville Thunderbolts (SPHL) (2016–present)