The Stormont Vail Events Center, formerly known as Kansas Expocentre, is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena built in 1987 in Topeka, Kansas. Previously, the Topeka Sizzlers of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

, Kansas Koyotes indoor football team,

Topeka Tarantulas The Topeka Tarantulas were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Topeka, Kansas. They were a member of the Central Hockey League and played their home games at Landon Arena. The team was established in 2004 when the Indianapolis Ice ...

, Topeka ScareCrows,

Topeka Pilots The Amarillo Wranglers are a Tier II junior ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports cal ...

ice hockey and

Topeka Tropics The Topeka Tropics are a professional indoor football in Champions Indoor Football. Based in Topeka, Kansas, the Tropics play their home games at the Stormont Vail Events Center. The team originally folded after its inaugural season, but was ...

of Champions Indoor Football teams played there. Many other shows, including concerts, perform here. The Kansas Expocentre was renamed on June 13, 2019, to the Stormont Vail Events Center after signing a ten-year partnership agreement with Topeka-based Stormont Vail Health. It has hosted the

Kansas State High School Activities Association The Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) is the organization which oversees interscholastic competition in the U.S. state of Kansas at the high school, high-school level. It oversees both athletic and non-athletic competition, ...

Class 5A boys and girls state basketball tournaments since its opening, and the KSHSAA Class 5A and 6A volleyball state championships since 1992. The arena also hosts the USA Wrestling Kansas Kids state championship tournament every March. Landon Arena is the main part of the events center. Other areas include the Exhibition Hall, a building for trade shows, and Domer Arena, a livestock/horse show arena.

Features

Landon Arena contains 7,450 fixed seats, with over 2,550 floor seats. The arena is climate controlled and features computerized lighting, closed circuit TV security, a state-of-the-art sound system, drive-in entrance, plenty of power, and built-in ice capabilities.

History

The site in the center of Topeka has a long history of use for activities related to agriculture, farming, exhibitions, education and entertainment as the Shawnee County Fairgrounds. The grand opening of the Kansas Expocentre was on April 17, 1987, with a sold-out concert featuring Kenny Rogers,

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, and

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. Landon Arena, named for Kansas' elder statesman, governor

Alfred M. Landon Alfred Mossman Landon (September 9, 1887October 12, 1987) was an American oilman and politician who served as the 26th governor of Kansas from 1933 to 1937. A member of the Republican Party, he was the party's nominee in the 1936 presidential e ...

(1887–1987) was built 1987. To tie the old buildings to the new facilities, an indoor passageway was constructed between the conference center and exhibit hall. It hosted the first Expocentre event with nearly 9,000 people attending a Topeka Sizzlers basketball game.

Significant events

Landon Arena has been the venue for many concerts, family shows, trade shows, consumer shows, horse shows, dog shows and a variety of exhibitions. *Concert performers have included

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, KISS, Bob Dylan, My Chemical Romance,

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, Heart,

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, Primus,

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, Alice Cooper,

Carrie Underwood Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of ''American Idol'' in 2005. Her single "Inside Your Heaven" made her the only country artist to debut atop the ''Bill ...

, Little Big Town, Avenged Sevenfold, Buckcherry,

Papa Roach Papa Roach is an American rock band from Vacaville, California, formed in 1993. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist Jacoby Shaddix, guitarist Jerry Horton, drummer Dave Buckner, bassist Will James, and trombonist Ben Luther. After ...

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, Eric Church, and Kansas. *It has also hosted some wrestling shows such as WCW, WWE Raw, ECW, WWE Friday Night SmackDown, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling house shows. *Ice shows include

Disney on Ice Disney on Ice, originally Walt Disney's World on Ice, is a series of touring ice shows produced by Feld Entertainment's Ice Follies And Holiday on Ice, Inc. under agreement with The Walt Disney Company. Aimed primarily at children, the shows fea ...

and High School Musical: The Concert Tour. *Other Disney shows include Disney Live, Winnie the Pooh, Playhouse Disney Live, and

My Little Pony ''My Little Pony'' (''MLP'') is a toy line and media franchise developed by American toy company Hasbro. The first toys were developed by Bonnie Zacherle, Charles Muenchinger, and Steve D'Aguanno, and were produced in 1981. The ponies feature c ...

Live. *The arena also hosts the ''Arab Shrine Circus'' each year.

References

External links

Landon Arena official site
{{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in 1987 Buildings and structures in Topeka, Kansas Indoor ice hockey venues in the United States Music venues in Kansas Sports venues in Kansas Tourist attractions in Topeka, Kansas 1987 establishments in Kansas Continental Basketball Association venues Indoor arenas in Kansas