Pyramid Arena

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pyramid Arena

Location	Memphis, Tennessee
Opened	1991
Owner	Memphis and Shelby County
Operator	Memphis and Shelby County
Tenants
Memphis Tigers (NCAA) (1991-2004?) Memphis Grizzlies (NBA) (2001-2004)
Capacity
21,000 basketball

The Pyramid Arena is a 21,000 seat arena located in downtown Memphis at the banks of the Mississippi River. The facility was built in 1991 and is owned and operated jointly by the city of Memphis and Shelby County.

It is 32 stories high and has base sides of 180 m; it is the third largest pyramid in the world, and, at 98 m (321 feet) tall, it is taller than the Statue of Liberty. It was the home court for the University of Memphis men's basketball program, and later for the National Basketball Association's Memphis Grizzlies. However, both teams left The Pyramid in November 2004 to move into the newly built FedExForum.

Its unique structure plays on the city's namesake in Egypt, known for its ancient Pyramids.

The arena hosted the 1993 Great Midwest Conference Men's and Women's basketball tournaments, the 1994 and 1997 Southeastern Conference men's basketball tournament, the 1996 and 2000 Conference USA men's basketball tournament, and the 2003 Conference USA women's basketball tournament. It also held the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament in 1995, 1997, and 2001.

It was the site of the only WWF St. Valentine's Day Massacre pay-per-view, in 1999.

Since the recently completed FedExForum has overtaken the Pyramid as the city's primary indoor sports arena, the Pyramid does not currently have any long term tenants. A committee studied possible uses of the arena in 2005, and considered such uses as converting the arena into a casino, an aquarium, a shopping center, or an indoor theme park. In October 2005, media speculation began to focus on an aquarium or a Bass Pro Shops superstore as the most likely long-term tenants of the arena. In November 2006, Congressman-Elect Steve Cohen (D-Tennessee) suggested that he would attempt to open a "Mid-American branch" of the Smithsonian Institution in the building. Filmmaker Craig Brewer used the building as a sound stage for his film Black Snake Moan in late 2005.

Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band performed what is reputed to be the last concert ever in the Pyramid on February 3, 2007.