Smirnoff Music Centre
Encyclopedia
Gexa Energy Pavilion is an outdoor performing arts center in Dallas
, Texas
(USA
). The stage/production area and covered pavilion seat 7,533 persons while a sloping lawn accommodates another 12,578. Completed in 1988, it is part of the Fair Park
complex, which includes museums, an aquarium, gardens, and the Cotton Bowl football stadium
. While the site is owned by the City of Dallas
, operation of the amphitheatre is contracted to a private leaseholder.
The venue opened in 1988 as the Coca-Cola Starplex Amphitheatre. After Coca-Cola's naming rights expired in 1998, the venue was known simply as Starplex Amphitheatre. In 2000, naming rights to the amphitheatre were sold to the Smirnoff
vodka
company as a result of a corporate sponsorship agreement with The House of Blues
, which currently operates the venue.
The center was previously called Smirnoff Music Centre. Naming rights were awarded again in January 2008 to Superpages.com Center. It was renamed in 2011 to Gexa Energy Pavilion.
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
(USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
). The stage/production area and covered pavilion seat 7,533 persons while a sloping lawn accommodates another 12,578. Completed in 1988, it is part of the Fair Park
Fair Park
Dallas Fair Park is a recreational and educational complex located in Dallas, Texas . The complex is registered as a Dallas Landmark, National Historic Landmark and is home to nine museums, six performance facilities, a lagoon, and the largest Ferris wheel in North America...
complex, which includes museums, an aquarium, gardens, and the Cotton Bowl football stadium
Cotton Bowl (stadium)
The Cotton Bowl is a stadium which opened in 1929 and became known as "The House That Doak Built" due to the immense crowds that former SMU running back Doak Walker drew to the stadium during his college career in the late 1940s. Originally known as Fair Park Stadium, it is located in Fair Park,...
. While the site is owned by the City of Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, operation of the amphitheatre is contracted to a private leaseholder.
The venue opened in 1988 as the Coca-Cola Starplex Amphitheatre. After Coca-Cola's naming rights expired in 1998, the venue was known simply as Starplex Amphitheatre. In 2000, naming rights to the amphitheatre were sold to the Smirnoff
Smirnoff
Smirnoff is a brand of vodka owned and produced by the British company Diageo. The Smirnoff brand began with a vodka distillery founded in Moscow by Pyotr Arsenievich Smirnov , the son of illiterate Russian peasants. It is now distributed in 130 countries.Smirnoff products include vodka, flavored...
vodka
Vodka
Vodka , is a distilled beverage. It is composed primarily of water and ethanol with traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made by the distillation of fermented substances such as grains, potatoes, or sometimes fruits....
company as a result of a corporate sponsorship agreement with The House of Blues
House of Blues
House of Blues is a chain of 13 live music concert halls and restaurants in major markets throughout the United States. House of Blues first location was in Cambridge's Harvard Square. It was opened in 1992 by Isaac Tigrett, co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, star of The Blues Brothers...
, which currently operates the venue.
The center was previously called Smirnoff Music Centre. Naming rights were awarded again in January 2008 to Superpages.com Center. It was renamed in 2011 to Gexa Energy Pavilion.