Landon Arena
Encyclopedia
Landon Arena, better known as the Kansas Expocentre, is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena
built in 1987 in Topeka, Kansas
. It is currently home to the Kansas Koyotes
indoor football team and the Topeka Roadrunners
ice hockey team. Previously, Topeka Sizzlers of the Continental Basketball Association
, Topeka Tarantulas
and Topeka ScareCrows
ice hockey
teams played there. Many other shows, including concerts, perform here.
It has hosted the Kansas State High School Activities Association
Class 5A boys and girls state basketball tournaments since its opening, and the KSHSAA Class 5A and 6A volleyball state championships since 1992. The arena also hosts the USA Wrestling
Kansas Kids state championship tournament every March.
Landon Arena is the main part of the Kansas Expocentre. Other areas include Exhibition Hall, a building for trade shows, and Domer Arena, a livestock/horse show arena.
Landon Arena - named for Kansas' elder statesman, Governor Alfred M. Landon (1887-1987) was built 1987. To tie the old buildings to the new facilities, an indoor passageway was constructed between the conference center and exhibit hall.
It hosted the first Expocentre event with nearly 9,000 people attending a Topeka Sizzlers basketball game.
The Grand Opening of the Kansas Expocentre was on April 17, 1987 with a sold-out concert featuring Kenny Rogers
, T. Graham Brown
and Ronnie Milsap
.
39.0341362°N 95.685854°W
Arena
An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...
built in 1987 in Topeka, Kansas
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
. It is currently home to the Kansas Koyotes
Kansas Koyotes
The Kansas Koyotes are a professional indoor football team based out of Topeka, Kansas. The Koyotes compete in the American Professional Football League . They began play in 2003....
indoor football team and the Topeka Roadrunners
Topeka Roadrunners
The Topeka RoadRunners is a Tier II Junior A ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's Southern Division. The team's home arena is the 7,777-seat Landon Arena in Topeka, Kansas.-Lone Star Cavalry:...
ice hockey team. Previously, Topeka Sizzlers of the Continental Basketball Association
Continental Basketball Association
The Continental Basketball Association was a professional men's basketball league in the United States, which has been on hiatus since the 2009 season.- History :...
, Topeka Tarantulas
Topeka Tarantulas
The Topeka Tarantulas were a professional ice hockey team. They were a member of the Central Hockey League. They played their home games at Landon Arena. They played one season then folded....
and Topeka ScareCrows
Topeka ScareCrows
The Topeka Scarecrows were a professional ice hockey team located in Topeka, Kansas, playing their home games at Landon Arena. The team was a member of the Central Hockey League from their founding in 1998 until 2001 when they were sold...
ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
teams played there. Many other shows, including concerts, perform here.
It has hosted the Kansas State High School Activities Association
Kansas State High School Activities Association
The Kansas State High School Activities Association is the organization which oversees interscholastic competition in the state of Kansas at the high school level. It oversees both athletic and non-athletic competition, and sponsors championships in several sports and activities.The KSHSAA was...
Class 5A boys and girls state basketball tournaments since its opening, and the KSHSAA Class 5A and 6A volleyball state championships since 1992. The arena also hosts the USA Wrestling
USA Wrestling
USA Wrestling is the organization that currently governs freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling in the United States...
Kansas Kids state championship tournament every March.
Landon Arena is the main part of the Kansas Expocentre. Other areas include Exhibition Hall, a building for trade shows, and Domer Arena, a livestock/horse show arena.
Features
Landon Arena contains 7,450 fixed seats, with 2,550+ floor seats. The arena is climate controlled and features computerized lighting, closed circuit TV security, a state-of-the-art sound system, 13 feet (4 m) drive-in entrance, plenty of power, and built-in ice capabilities.History
The 80 acres (323,748.8 m²) site in the center of Topeka now known as the Kansas Expocentre has a long history of use for activities related to agriculture, farming, exhibitions, education and entertainment.Landon Arena - named for Kansas' elder statesman, Governor Alfred M. Landon (1887-1987) was built 1987. To tie the old buildings to the new facilities, an indoor passageway was constructed between the conference center and exhibit hall.
It hosted the first Expocentre event with nearly 9,000 people attending a Topeka Sizzlers basketball game.
The Grand Opening of the Kansas Expocentre was on April 17, 1987 with a sold-out concert featuring Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
, T. Graham Brown
T. Graham Brown
Anthony "T." Graham Brown is an American country music artist. Active since 1986, Brown has recorded a total of thirteen studio albums, and has charted more than twenty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts...
and Ronnie Milsap
Ronnie Milsap
Ronnie Lee Milsap is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country’s most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s...
.
Significant events
Landon Arena has been the venue for many concerts, family shows, trade shows, consumer shows, horse shows, dog shows and all kinds of exhibitions.- Concert performers have included KISSKISS (band)Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
, Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, My Chemical RomanceMy Chemical RomanceMy Chemical Romance is an American alternative rock band from New Jersey, formed in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way and have a diverse sound incorporating elements of punk, emo, glam metal, and progressive rock...
, AerosmithAerosmithAerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
, RushRush (band)Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
, PrimusPrimus (band)Primus is an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, currently composed of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry "Ler" LaLonde and drummer Jay Lane. Primus originally formed in 1984 with Claypool and guitarist Todd Huth, later joined by Lane, though the latter two departed...
, CherCherCher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
, Rise AgainstRise AgainstRise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1999. The band currently consists of Tim McIlrath , Zach Blair , Joe Principe and Brandon Barnes .Rise Against spent its first five years signed to the independent record label Fat Wreck Chords, on which it...
, Carrie UnderwoodCarrie UnderwoodCarrie Marie Underwood is an American country singer-songwriter and actress who rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol, in 2005...
, Little Big TownLittle Big TownLittle Big Town is an American country music vocal group. Founded in 1998, the group has comprised the same four members since its inception: Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook, and Phillip Sweet. The quartet's musical style relies heavily on four-part vocal harmonies, with all...
, Avenged SevenfoldAvenged SevenfoldAvenged Sevenfold is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California. Formed in 1999, the group consists of vocalist M. Shadows, lead guitarist Synyster Gates, rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, bassist Johnny Christ....
, BuckcherryBuckcherryBuckcherry is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California formed in 1995. The band released two albums, Buckcherry and Time Bomb , before partially dissolving in the summer of 2002. In 2005, lead vocalist Josh Todd and lead guitarist Keith Nelson reformed Buckcherry and released a new album...
& Papa RoachPapa RoachPapa Roach is an American rock band from Vacaville, California. Their first major-label release was the triple-platinum album Infest . The group's success continued with their gold album Lovehatetragedy , their platinum album Getting Away with Murder , The Paramour Sessions , and Metamorphosis...
. - It has also hosted some wrestling shows such as WWE RawWWE RAWWWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
, ECW, WWE Friday Night SmackDown, and Total Nonstop Action WrestlingTotal Nonstop Action WrestlingTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...
house shows. - Ice Shows include Disney on IceDisney on IceDisney On Ice is a touring ice show produced by Feld Entertainment under agreement with The Walt Disney Company. Aimed primarily at children, the shows feature figure skaters dressed as Disney cartoon characters in performances that each derive their music and plot from elements collected from...
& High School Musical: The ConcertHigh School Musical: The ConcertHigh School Musical: The Concert was a 40-city concert tour based on the popular hit Disney Channel Original Movie, High School Musical, sponsored by AEG Live and presented by Buena Vista Concerts...
Tour. - Other Disney shows include Disney Live! Winnie the Pooh, Playhouse DisneyPlayhouse DisneyPlayhouse Disney was Disney Channel's television block for programs aimed at entertaining preschool aged children, often airing as its own channel outside the United States. It was introduced in 1997 after Disney Channel's move to basic cable from premium cable, with a target audience of children...
Live! & My Little PonyMy Little PonyMy Little Pony is a brand of toy ponies marketed primarily to girls produced by the toy manufacturer Hasbro. These ponies can be identified by their colorful bodies and manes and a unique symbol on one or both sides of their flanks...
Live. - The arena also hosts The Arab Shrine Circus each year.
External links
39.0341362°N 95.685854°W