
The London Arena
The 'London Dockland Arena'
[1] was an
indoor arena and
convention center on the
Isle of Dogs [2] in
London,
England. It first opened in 1989
[3] and had a £10 million refit in 1998. Seating capacity was up to 12,500
[4], depending on the type of event held. It was the home of the
London Knights ice hockey team
[5], the
London Towers basketball team and later the
Greater London Leopards basketball team (from nearby
Tower Hamlets). Docklands Arena also hosted pop concerts, plays, boxing matches and wrestling events. In 1991, Docklands Arena hosted the
Great British Beer Festival.
It never managed to become a financial success, in part due to its fairly poor transport access, and in 2005 it closed. It has been superseded as the main arena in East London by
The O2 arena, which is in
The O2 entertainment complex (formerly the Millennium Dome), and the new 12,500 seat
Croydon Arena expected to be opened in 2011. In December 2005, it housed the annual 'Crisis Open Christmas' event (held the previous year in the Dome), organised by the London-based charity
Crisis. This provides food, accommodation, various medical and social services and company to around 1,500 guests and 3,500 volunteers each Christmas.
The London Arena was demolished in June 2006
[6] and is set to be replaced by a mainly residential development
[7].
London Arena was served by the
Crossharbour and London Arena DLR station, which has since been renamed to simply Crossharbour in 2007. The site of the arena is now being developed into high-scale apartments.
External links
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Description at sportsvenue-technology.com
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