Sydney Entertainment Centre

Construction

The construction of the Sydney Entertainment Centre was orchestrated by Neville Wran, who appointed Sir Asher Joel as chairman of the project. The site was formerly occupied by fruit and vegetable markets, which were vacated by 1975. Construction began in 1979, contracted by the John Holland Group. A ska concert sponsored by BWIU was held for construction workers at one point. Construction was completed in 1983, and the venue was opened to the public on May 1st.

Notable events

The first concert held just days after the opening was John Denver in May 1983. The concert was sold out. Over the coming years Denver played several concerts at the Centre.

In December 1983, Cold Chisel played its final Last Stand concert.

During its operation other notable acts were Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Queen, John Mellencamp, Dire Straits, Robert Plant, Michael Crawford, Linkin Park, Anthony Warlow. The venue was popular with local and international performers.

On December 7th and 8th, 1998, children's music group The Wiggles performed at the SEC as the finale concert in the Toot Toot Show! Both shows were filmed and were featured in various episodes of their second television series. They would release The Wiggly Big Show on September 6, 1999, in Australia followed by a UK release in February 2001, which featured footage from this show (with the UK release being named It's a Wiggly, Wiggly World! Live in Concert with some edits). They would have another concert filmed here on 20 December 2003 as the closing act of their Lights, Camera, Action! tour. This would be released on home media in the US and Australia in 2005 under the title Live Hot Potatoes!.

Elton John has played numerous concerts there over the years, including twelve dates in 1986 with an orchestra at Haymarket Arena. The latter shows were the last he performed prior to throat surgery. He played 46 shows at the venue and was the final artist to perform at the venue before its demolition in December 2015.

David Bowie played at the venue for a week in November 1987 during his worldwide Glass Spider Tour, and performances from several nights were included on video and CD on Glass Spider (1988).

Sporting events

As a sporting venue, the SEC was best known as the home venue of the Sydney Kings who play in the National Basketball League (NBL) over 3 stints. The Kings moved from the smaller (5,006 capacity) State Sports Centre in Homebush Bay in 1990 and remained until moving to the Super Dome in 1999. The Kings then returned to the SEC in 2002 and would enjoy immediate success winning the NBL championship in 2002–03, 2003–04 and 2004–05. The team remained until 2008 when they folded due to financial difficulties, but when the club returned to the NBL in 2010 they again made the SEC their home which lasted until the centre's closing in 2015.

In 1995, the Entertainment Centre hosted Game 4 of a 5-game international basketball series between the Australian Boomers and the Magic Johnson All-Stars in front of a sellout crowd of almost 12,000 fans. Despite the All-Stars being a collection of former NBA players, and with Magic Johnson not playing due to a calf injury, the crowd was actually behind the All-Stars on the night. They were treated to a game that went into overtime with the All-Stars keeping their unbeaten record intact with a 97–94 win. Before the game Magic Johnson apologised to the fans from centre court for not being able to play and called the SEC "A good sized gym that they can be proud of".

Other sports such as boxing, professional wrestling, tennis and indoor motocross have also been held. Australian boxer Jeff Fenech won a number of World title matches at the centre during the 1980s, While in July 2011, the IBO Cruiser-weight title match between Antonio Tarver and Danny Green took place at the SEC.

The SEC hosted the 1991 World Netball Championships, as well as games during the 1994 FIBA Women's World Championship including all Finals games and 3rd place playoff game.

At the 2000 Summer Olympics, the SEC was one of two venues for volleyball tournament.

Further, the facility co-hosted the FIBA Oceania Championship in 2007 and 2011. Both times, the Australian national basketball team won the gold medal.

Closure

As part of a redevelopment of the Darling Harbour precinct, the Sydney Entertainment Centre was planned to be demolished in 2013, along with the surrounding buildings, but was granted a reprieve. Demolition began in January 2016. The Darling Square residential development replaced the centre.

Replacement facilities were built closer towards the harbour surrounding Darling Quarter, the nearby 9,000-seat theatre at the International Convention Centre Sydney, as part of a $3 billion redevelopment of Darling Harbour. It also contains an exhibition centre and convention centre. The opening of the new facilities occurred in late 2016.

References

Bibliography

References

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2. "Interactive Floor Plan". Sydney Entertainment Centre.
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4. (22 February 1979). "SIR ASHER HEADS NEW STATE BODY". The Australian Jewish Times.
5. "Obituary – Sir Charles Walter Court". National Centre of Biography – ANU.
6. "Arena History". Sydney Entertainment Centre.
7. (13 December 2012). "Sydney Entertainment Centre". Sydney Morning Herald.
8. (16 February 1983). "Ska music and progressive politics". [[Tribune (Australian newspaper).
9. [http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-05/cold-chisel-planning-to-reform-for-a-final-27last-stand27-in-/5722084 Cold Chisel planning to re-form for another Last Stand in Sydney] ''[[ABC News (Australia). ABC News]]'' 8 September 2014
10. (3 May 2015). "Elton John to close Entertainment Centre". [[Sky News Australia]].
11. Gorman, James. (11 May 2015). "Elton John and Cold Chisel to rattle the walls of the old Sydney Entertainment Centre before bulldozers move in". [[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney).
12. Sinclair, Paul. (6 February 2013). "Record Collector: David Bowie / Never Let Me Down (1987)". SuperDeluxeEdition.com.
13. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWi_k7WzSzU 1995 Australian Boomers vs Magic Johnson's All Stars - Sydney]
14. [http://www.boxing.com/the_will_of_the_marrickville_mauler.html The Will of the Marrickville Mauler] ''Boxing.com'' 24 February 2015
15. Netball Australia. "World Netball Championships placings".
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17. [http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/2000/2000v1.pdf 2000 Summer Olympics official report.] Volume 1. p. 384.
18. (23 April 2012). "Sydney Entertainment Centre to be demolished". Austadiums.
19. (17 April 2012). "Sydney Entertainment Centre to be knocked down in $1b makeover". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].