Curtis Hixon Hall, located at 600 Ashley Drive, was an indoor sports arena, convention center, concert venue, and special events center built downtown beside the Hillsborough River in Tampa, Florida. An arena is an enclosed area often circular or oval-shaped designed to showcase Theater, musical performances or sporting events Conference centre redirects here For the conference facility in Salt Lake City Utah that is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Downtown Tampa, is the Central business district of Tampa, Florida and the chief financial district of the Tampa Bay Area. There are at least two Rivers named the Hillsborough River: Hillsborough River (Florida, which flows through Tampa Hillsborough It was built in 1964 and torn down in 1993
Contents |
Construction
Curtis Hixon Hall was built in 1965 during the administration of Tampa mayor Nick Nuccio, who pushed for the construction of many public works projects around town. Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) Mayor of Tampa 1956-1959 1963-1967 Nick Chillura Nuccio (Oct 24 1901 - Aug [1] It was named for Curtis Hixon, the mayor of Tampa from 1943 until he died while still in office in 1956. This is a list of mayors of Tampa Florida. Joseph B Lancaster (February 14 1856 - November 25 1856 died in office Darwin Austen Branch Year 1943 ( MCMXLIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. [2] Architect Norman Six designed the uniquely-shaped building in a modified Googie architecture style. Googie, also known as populuxe or doo-wop, is a subdivision of Futurist architecture, influenced by car culture and the Space Age
Events
Curtis Hixon Hall held a maximum of about 6000-7000 people, though it could be modified to many different seating configurations as needed. The hall hosted conventions and trade shows, parties and New Year's Eve dances, and many Gasparilla-related events. The Gasparilla Pirate Festival is an annual celebration held in the city of Tampa, Florida. It could be set up to host various sporting events and was the 1st home of home of the University of South Florida's basketball teams and the ABA's Floridians. The University of South Florida ( USF) known within its system as USF Tampa, is a public research University system located in Tampa, Florida Basketball is a team Sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a ball through a 10 feet (3 m The American Basketball Association ( ABA) was a professional Basketball league founded in 1967, and eventually merged in part with the National The Floridians were a professional Basketball franchise in the original now-defunct American Basketball Association.
The hall hosted many different special events, from boxing and wrestling cards to political speeches - Presidential candidate Richard Nixon campaigned there in September of 1968. Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. [3]
Music
Curtis Hixon Hall served as the site for many concerts, as it was the primary Tampa venue for major touring performers of the late 1960s and 1970s. The list of bands and performers who played the hall reads like a musical honor roll of that era - David Bowie, The Eagles, Led Zeppelin, Derek and the Dominos, The Grateful Dead, and Cat Stevens are among the many acts who played there in their prime. David Bowie (ˈboʊiː born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947 is an English Musician, actor producer, and arranger. Led Zeppelin were Derek and the Dominos were a Blues-rock supergroup formed in the spring of 1970 by guitarist and singer Eric Clapton with keyboardist Bobby Whitlock The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou on 21 July 1948 best known by his former Stage name Cat Stevens, is a British Musician
Jimi Hendrix played Curtis Hixon Hall twice in 1968, on August 16 and November 23 [4]. James Marshall Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix) (November 27 1942 – September 18 1970 was an American Guitarist, Singer and Songwriter In between those dates, the Jimi Hendrix Experience released their #1 charting album Electric Ladyland. "The Experience" redirects here For other uses of this term see Experience (disambiguation. Electric Ladyland is the third and final album by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, released on October 16, 1968 on Reprise Records (see Janis Joplin was arrested by the Tampa Police for "obscenity" while playing a show with B.B. King and others in the hall on November 16, 1969. Janis Lyn Joplin ( January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer songwriter and music arranger from B B King (born Riley B King, September 16 1925 is an American Blues Guitarist and Singer-songwriter. [5] And Elvis Presley played Curtis Hixon Hall in 1977, just months before his death. [6]
Decline and demolition
Curtis Hixon Hall was outdated by the mid-1980s, and was regulated to hosting smaller events such as high school graduations while most concerts shifted to places like the newly-built USF Sun Dome, the classic Tampa Theater, and other venues in the area. The USF Sun Dome is a 55000 square-foot multi-purpose entertainment/sports facility on the campus of the University of South Florida, which is located in Tampa Florida The Tampa Theater and Office Building is a historic US theater and city landmark in Downtown Tampa, Florida.
When the new and much bigger Tampa Convention Center was built and with plans in the works for a new downtown sports arena (the eventual St. Pete Times Forum), it became obvious that Curtis Hixon Hall had outlived its usefulness. The Tampa Convention Center is a mid-sized convention center located in Downtown Tampa, Florida. The St Pete Times Forum is an arena in Tampa, Florida, that is used for hockey games Basketball games Arena football Mayor Sandy Freedman and the city decided to tear down the building and replace it with Curtis Hixon Park. This is a list of mayors of Tampa Florida. Joseph B Lancaster (February 14 1856 - November 25 1856 died in office Darwin Austen Branch Demolition of the site began in 1993, and the park was dedicated in 1995. Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 Aquamarine-colored tiles from the hall were set into each bench at the park.
References
External links
Tampa set to tackle fate of Curtis Hixon St. Petersburg Times
The St Petersburg Times is a daily Newspaper based in St Petersburg Florida, that serves the larger Tampa Bay areaDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic