America's finest
This article first appeared in the Spring 2007 issue
Introducing the most complete multipurpose sports centre in the US
The Home Depot Center in Carson, California, US, is more sports emporium than sports stadium.
A view of the impressive 8,000-capacity tennis stadium Photo: Rossetti The 125-acre development includes facilities for soccer (football), tennis, track and field, cycling, lacrosse, rugby, volleyball, baseball, softball and basketball. Numerous sport and music events have been staged at the centre, and it claims to be the US’s most complete training facility for Olympic, amateur and professional athletes.
The centre was developed and is operated by US sports and entertainment "presenter" Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), which owns several venues, including the Staples Centre, a multipurpose sports arena in Los Angeles, US. AEG has also teamed up with mobile phone network provider O² to transform the former Millennium Dome, in London, UK, into a music and sports arena.
Naming rights partner is US home improvement firm Home Depot, which will pay USD 70m in sponsorship over ten years, according to the newspaper USA Today.
Built on land owned by California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), facilities include a soccer stadium, a tennis stadium, a track and field facility, and an indoor velodrome. The Home Depot Center also has 18 tennis courts, 10 soccer training fields, two sand volleyball courts and a three-mile jogging trail. AEG spokeswoman Alison Groendal told Host City: "The facility is the only one of its kind in the US." It is also the first soccer-specific stadium in southern California, she says.
Three professional squads call the centre home – soccer teams Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA, and lacrosse team Los Angeles Riptide.
A host of organisations use the centre – it is training headquarters to the US soccer federation and USA cycling. The US tennis association uses the centre as its player development and high performance training centre, and it’s also a US track and field, and US Olympic, training site.
The entrance to the Home Depot Center Photo: Rossetti But it’s not just an exclusive sports facility for pros – local residents can use the tennis courts, soccer training fields and jogging trail. The US headquarters of youth soccer academy, the David Beckham Academy – open to children of all abilities – and a tennis and scholastic academy for at-risk youth, Agassi’s Safe Passage All-Stars, are also based at the site.
Groendal says: "The facility represents the largest investment ever made in amateur athletics and is a true celebration of pure sport and competition. The Home Depot Center is a place where professional, Olympic, amateur and youth athletes can train and compete. Young kids are training on the very same fields where FC Barcelona and Ronaldinho have trained. The Home Depot Center is southern California’s legacy to sports."
Construction of the soccer, tennis, and track and field stadiums began in February 2002. The build was completed in June 2003 at a cost of USD 150m, which Groendal says is the US’s largest investment in amateur athletics. Architect firm Rossetti designed the centre, while PCL Construction Services was the main contractor. Over one thousand construction-related jobs and about five hundred permanent and part-time jobs were created by the build and opening.
She says: "The four major facilities – soccer stadium, tennis stadium, velodrome and track and field facility were all built by AEG just over three years ago. AEG [also] refurbish[ed] some existing soccer training fields and softball fields originally built by the university. The CSUDH athletics department has shared use of our training fields."
Groendal says state-of-the-art technology included the soccer stadium canopy, manufactured from a Teflon-coated fibreglass material. The soccer fields have a below-surface drainage system, which connects to the storm drain system. The grass pitches are irrigated with recycled water only – each one requires 1.9 million litres of water each year.
The USD 15m ADT Event Centre, opened in July 2004, is North America’s only indoor velodrome. German velodrome designers Schuermann Architects provided supervision, and track and construction design. The general contractor was PCL Construction Services.
Groendal says the facilities could be extended. "There are plans for a phase two construction of the facility, to possibly include elements such as a hotel and convention meeting space, as well as an expansion of other athletic training facilities and equipment. We have not yet finalised our plans for phase two."
On 1 June 2003 the Home Depot Center held its first event – a track and field invitational, with the inaugural soccer match played six days later. Since then more than one million people have attended events, including the JPMorgan Chase Open tennis tournament. This WTA Tour fixture has been held at the tennis stadium for four years. In 2006 players included Maria Sharapova, Lindsay Davenport and Nadia Petrova. Russian Elena Dementieva claimed the title. The tennis stadium has also hosted Davis Cup Tennis, championship boxing and beach volleyball.
Other events held at the Home Depot Center include six games in soccer’s 2003 Women's World Cup, including the final, plus concerts and various other championships and tournaments. |
