Reunion Arena was demolished in November 2009 and the site was cleared by the end of the year.[6][7]
History
Reunion Arena circa 1984
Reunion Arena was completed in 1980 at a cost of US $27 million.[8] It was named for the early mid-19th century commune, La Reunion.[citation needed] Reunion Arena was notable for two lasts: it was the last NBA or NHL arena to be built without luxury suites, and it was the last NHL arena to still use an American Sign and Indicator scoreboard (though not the last in the NBA—see Charlotte Coliseum). The color matrix messageboards on that scoreboard were replaced in 1991 with Sony Jumbotron video screens.
The arena's last remaining full-time sports tenant was the MISLDallas Sidekicks, but the club was inactive after the fall of 2004.
Reunion Arena also hosted the WCT Tennis Tournament in the 1980s, including Virginia Slims Invitational Tournament. Due to scheduling conflicts in 1984, the WCT Tennis Tournament forced the Dallas Mavericks to play Game 5 of their first playoff series at Moody Coliseum, against the Seattle SuperSonics. While nearby Southern Methodist University competed in the Southwest Conference, Reunion Arena was known by University of Arkansas Razorbacks fans as "Barnhill South", due to the big following by the Arkansas fans away from home; the Barnhill Arena was the home to all UA games until 1993. Reunion Arena hosted the Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament in 1982–1983 and 1985–1996 as well as the 1986 NCAA Final Four.
Reunion was also a venue that was frequently used by World Class Championship Wrestling in the 1980s, in which the organization held its bi-monthly Star Wars events.
Reunion Arena also served as the venue for WWE's December 21, 1999 and November 9, 2000 SmackDown show as well as the Fully Loaded Pay-Per-View event in July of the same year.
Notable dignitaries
Reunion Arena was long a hot stop for politicians campaigning in Dallas.
President Ronald Reagan spoke at Reunion Arena at a prayer breakfast of an estimated 10,000 people on Aug. 23, 1984, during the Republican National Convention.[9] That night, he accepted the nomination for a second term at the Dallas Convention Center.[10]
Reunion Arena was the final campaign stop for Ross Perot, the Dallas billionaire, in his 1992 independent run for president. He drew about 5,000 people.
President George W. Bush headlined a campaign rally before 13,000 on behalf of Gov. Rick Perry on Nov. 6, 2006.
Barack Obama filled the arena to capacity of 17,000 at a presidential campaign rally on February 20, 2008, with many others turned away by the fire department. It was one of the last events at the venue before it was razed.[11]
Early events
The arena featured 30,000 ft2 (2,790 m2) of floor space and had great sightlines, making it ideal for a number of events and games, including many high school graduations. Although The Who was widely promoted as the first concert at Reunion on July 2, 1980, the first musical act to perform at the venue was actually Parliament-Funkadelic on May 9, 1980. At least five other concerts including Boz Scaggs, the Commodores, The Oak Ridge Boys, Foghat with the Pat Travers Band, and a triple bill of Ted Nugent, Scorpions, and Def Leppard were all booked before the official opening in July.
Listed below are artists and bands who performed at Reunion arena. They are divided up by the year they played, starting in the 1980s. The 1990s and 2000s are divided up a bit more by genre.
1980s hitmakers
This is a list of artists who constantly produced hits, and were considered stars during the 1980s, and performed at Reunion Arena.
A number of acts were so popular they booked (and usually sold out) multiple consecutive dates. Some of the most successful multi-night engagements at Reunion Arena included Stevie Wonder (November 2–3, 1980), AC/DC (February 1–2, 1982 and October 11–12, 1985), Rush (February 28 – March 1, 1983, January 12–13, 1986 and January 19–20, 1988), Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band (May 4–5, 1983), Bryan Adams and Journey (June 8–10, 1983; Journey returned December 2–3, 1986), ZZ Top (four-night stints September 28 – October 1, 1983, and August 30 – September 4, 1986; two-night engagements on August 30–31, 1986, April 22–23, 1991 and October 29–30, 1994), The Police with UB40 (November 13–14, 1983), Neil Diamond (December 4–6, 1983, December 6–8, 1984 and June 9–10, 1986), Van Halen (September 10–11, 1981, November 18–19, 1982 and July 14–16, 1984), Prince (December 30, 1984 – January 1, 1985), Genesis (January 18–19, 1987), David Bowie (October 10–11, 1987), Pink Floyd (November 21–23, 1987), Michael Jackson (April 25–27, 1988), Madonna (May 7–8, 1990), Mötley Crüe with Lita Ford and Faster Pussycat (July 30–31, 1990), Depeche Mode with The The (October 13–14, 1993), Garth Brooks (February 13–15, 1998), Backstreet Boys (March 3–4, 2000), Dixie Chicks (August 10–11, 2000), and Paul McCartney (May 9–10, 2002).
On March 18, 1995 Led Zeppelin principals Robert Plant and Jimmy Page—each of whom had played the venue as headliners and Page with British supergroup The Firm—reunited to play blues covers, songs from their respective solo careers and Zeppelin classics fin the style of their 1994 collaboration No Quarter. The duo returned to Reunion Arena September 27, 1998, in support of their follow-up Walking into Clarksdale.
Country artists
Country music superstars also dominated the scene at Reunion Arena in the 1980s beginning with a triple bill of Willie Nelson, Ray Price and Lacy J. Dalton on December 30, 1980. Other country artists of note at Reunion Arena included:
The venue was also host to some of the first large-scale hip-hop and rap concerts in Dallas including Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five on November 29, 1980, and a triple bill with Run-DMC, Beastie Boys and Timex Social Club on June 15, 1986 (the Run-DMC/Beastie Boys pairing proved successful enough to warrant a return engagement on July 24, 1987). In the 1990s and 2000s hip-hop and rap acts as diverse as MC Hammer, Bobby Brown, Method Man and Redman, DMX, Jay-Z, and Eminem would eventually headline the venue.
1990s and 2000 performances
1980s groups in the 1990s
Many 1980s stars played Reunion in the early 1990s including:
Mötley Crüe shot the video for "Home Sweet Home" partially at Reunion Arena (exteriors and time lapses) on October 2, 1985. The concert footage was shot two days later at Houston concert venue The Summit.
Judas Priest played June 27, 1986, recording the entire show which parts can be found on the Priest...Live! album. A full concert DVD was released as well. Pink Floyd played three consecutive shows at Reunion in November 1987. Pop singer Whitney Houston played two sold-out concerts at Reunion in September 1987.
Country music superstar Garth Brooks filmed his first television special, This Is Garth Brooks, in the arena on September 20, 1991. The concert became noteworthy after Brooks and guitarist Ty England smashed two guitars on stage.
Frank Sinatra played Reunion Arena three times: in 1984, 1987 and 1989. His October 24, 1987, concert was recorded and released in 2018 as part of the Standing Room Only album.
Metallica's February 5, 1989, show at Reunion Arena was broadcast nationally on FM radio and widely bootlegged. An abbreviated version of this recording was eventually released on CD in 2001 as part of the Fan Can 4 box set.
A temporary street circuit at Reunion Arena, known as the Dallas street circuit, was set up around the arena, and used some of the surrounding streets. The track was 1.290 mi (2.076 km) in length, had 10 turns, and hosted its first event on September 19, 1993, with the Trans-Am Series visiting the circuit.[12] The track hosted the SCCA Dodge Shelby Pro series in 1993, the Trans-Am Series between 1993 and 1994, and in 1996, and the IMSA GT Championship hosted its sole event at the circuit in 1996.[13][14]
Lap records
The fastest official race lap records at the former Dallas Street Circuit (Reunion Arena) are listed as:
After a unanimous vote by the Dallas City Council, Reunion Arena officially closed on June 30, 2008. In August 2008, the council said it would implode the arena if it could find an entity willing to foot the bill. The council hoped for the implosion to be part of a movie scene with the film company picking up the tab for the implosion. When no filmmaker seemed interested, the city decided to demolish it using other methods, a process which took several months.[19]
Demolition was officially completed on November 17, 2009, and the site was completely cleared by the end of the year. Post-demolition, the site has seen little use. In 2011, Prince was to perform as part of Super Bowl XLV-related festivities, but the show was canceled due to inclement weather. And in September 2012, Cirque du Soleil's Koozå took place here. As of October 2013, the adjacent parking garage remained standing and there were no plans for construction on the site.The parking garage is often broken into by the homeless and littered with trash. The trash clogs the water run-off drains often causing streets to flood during heavy rains. The city is aware of this issue and responds with “we are looking into this”.
Former Reunion Arena site today
The Reunion Arena site today is now known as Reunion Park with events throughout the year. In 2014, Bruce Springsteen played a concert at the park as the Dallas region played host to March Madness.[20] In 2015, Weezer headlined a concert at the park.[21]
1982: Ozzy Osbourne performed with guitar virtuoso Randy Rhoads, who was killed in a plane crash less than a month later.
1982: On November 25, singer Linda Ronstadt performed her famous Happy Thanksgiving Day concert, one of the first via satellite concerts, by a female solo artist, to be broadcast live on radio stations across the nation.[23]
1991: Garth Brooks taped his first television special, This Is Garth Brooks!, during a sold-out concert in September. The special airs on NBC in early 1992. It was released on VHS on June 16, 1992, and it waslater included as part of the November 2006 DVD release, Garth Brooks – The Entertainer. The concert was notable for Brooks and Ty England smashing two acoustic guitars together.
1993: The first Dallas Stars hockey game was played against the Detroit Red Wings on October 5. The Stars defeated the Red Wings 6–4.
1998: Shania Twain taped her television special Shania Twain Live, on September 12, which was aired exclusively on DirecTV for free. The special was later released on DVD in November 1999. Three of her music videos were also taken from this performance.
1999: Games 1, 2, and 5 of the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals were played between the Stars and Buffalo Sabres. The Stars won the cup in Game 6 over the Sabres 2–1 in the third overtime period at Buffalo's HSBC Arena.
Barney the Purple Dinosaur's 4th live stage show & second tour Barney's Musical Castle began performing.
2000: Games 3, 4, and 6 of the 2000 Stanley Cup Finals were played between the Stars and New Jersey Devils. However, the Devils won the Stanley Cup, defeating the Stars in Game 6, 2–1 in the second overtime period.
