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Roberts Municipal Stadium
 | |
| Location | 2600 East Division Street Evansville, Indiana 47711-6813 |
|---|---|
| Owner | City of Evansville |
| Operator | SMG |
| Capacity | 12,732 |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | March 18, 1955 |
| Opened | October 28, 1956 |
| Renovated | 1980, 1990 |
| Closed | October 29, 2011 |
| Demolished | January 2013 |
| Construction cost | $2 million $1.2 million (1980 renovations) $16.2 million (1990 renovations) |
| Architect | Ralph Legeman |
| Tenants | |
| Evansville Purple Aces (NCAA) (1956–2011) Evansville Thunder (CBA) (1984–86) Evansville BlueCats (NIFL/UIF) (2003–07) | |
Roberts Municipal Stadium was a multi-purpose arena in Evansville, Indiana, for sports, public events, and concerts. The arena was built in 1956. It seated up to 12,732 spectators and featured four locker rooms and a press room. On June 13, 1972, it hosted a concert by Elvis Presley. He then again performed at Roberts, for the second and last time on Oct. 24, 1976, breaking all existing attendance records, by drawing a crowd of 13,500.
Roberts Stadium hosted concerts by musicians such as Garth Brooks, Taylor Swift, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, Bon Jovi, Bob Dylan, and Tool.
The arena received a $16 million upgrade in 1990. In 2007, the city of Evansville hired a professional consultant to examine whether the stadium should be renovated or replaced with a new downtown arena.[1] In December 2008, the Evansville city council approved plans to construct the new arena, which opened in the fall of 2011 as the Ford Center.[2]
It was co-managed with Mesker Amphitheatre, The Centre, and Victory Theatre. The building was demolished in 2013.
- ^ "Arena Study". Evansville Courier & Press. January 24, 2007. Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
- ^ "City Council OKs arena plans". Evansville Courier & Press. December 22, 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-02-07. Retrieved 2008-12-24.
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