Hammond Civic Center is a 4,500-seat multi-purpose
arena
An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...
located in
Hammond, Indiana. The arena opened in 1938. It is well known for hosting various local concerts, and sporting events such
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...
Wrestling,
Impact Wrestling,
mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...
fighting and
roller derby, for the area. In the 1950s, it played host to a number of neutral-court
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
games. It is the home arena for the
Calumet College of St. Joseph's Crimson Wave
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
and
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...
teams, which play in the
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference. The Civic Center first became known to professional sports fans as the home to the
Hammond Rollers of the now defunct
American Basketball Association.
American rock band
Kiss
A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...
played at the Civic Center on Easter Sunday in April 1986, causing local church groups to protest the event. During the show, Kiss blew out half of the windows on the outside west wall of the Civic Center. The sound system they used on this tour was rated at 120 decibels. Before the show,
Gene Simmons and
Eric Carr of the band walked around the perimeter of the building, trying to hold polite conversations with the church groups. The concert went on as scheduled. Largely due to the church protest controversy, the concert sold only 1,900 tickets.
The Civic Center plays host to various well-attended professional sporting events. On September 9, 2012, K.O. Sports Promotions hosted a boxing card for a capacity crowd at the Civic Center, with the main event featuring former United States Boxing Organization cruiserweight champion
Carl Davis (boxer)
Carl Davis
(born November 16, 1973) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 2003 and 2017. He scored Notable Victories over Former Cruiserweight World Champion Arthur Williams and Former Heavyweight Title Challenger Bert ...
in an eight-round heavyweight bout against former number one heavyweight contender
Bert Cooper
Bertram Cooper (January 10, 1966 – May 10, 2019), nicknamed Smokin' Bert Cooper, was an American professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2012. He fought Evander Holyfield, George Foreman, Riddick Bowe, Michael Moorer, Chris Byrd, Ray ...
.
External links
Official Site
Indoor arenas in Indiana
Music venues in Indiana
Sports venues completed in 1938
1938 establishments in Indiana
Basketball venues in Indiana
Boxing venues in Indiana
College volleyball venues in the United States
College basketball venues in the United States
Gymnastics venues in Indiana
Hammond Calumet Buccaneers
Hammond Ciesar All-Americans
National Basketball League (United States) venues
Volleyball venues in Indiana
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