Welcome To Thunder Alley

by Lisa Wooten

Title

Welcome To Thunder Alley

Artist

Lisa Wooten

Medium

Photograph - Photographs

Description

The Tampa Bay Lightning is a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. It is a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). Tampa Bay has one Stanley Cup championship in their history, in 2003�04.[3] The team is often referred to as the Bolts, and the nickname is used on the current third jersey. The Lightning plays home games in the Amalie Arena in Tampa.
The owner of the Lightning is Jeffrey Vinik while Steve Yzerman serves as general manager. The team is currently coached by Jon Cooper, who has led the team since 2013. Amalie Arena is an arena in Tampa, Florida, that has been used for ice hockey, basketball, and arena football games, as well as concerts. It is home to the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League and the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League.
The building was originally known as the Ice Palace. In 2002, the building's naming rights were sold to the St. Petersburg Times, which became the Tampa Bay Times in 2012; accordingly, the arena was known as the St. Pete Times Forum from 2002 to 2012 and Tampa Bay Times Forum (2012�2014). In September 2014, the arena was renamed Amalie Arena when the naming rights were transferred to Amalie Oil Company.[8]
Former logo from the time the arena was known as the Tampa Bay Times Forum.
The venue, located in Downtown Tampa's Channelside District was a secondary location chosen after the failure of Tampa Coliseum Inc. to secure funding to construct an arena on Tampa Sports Authority land near Tampa Stadium. The city of Tampa paid $86 million and the Tampa Bay Lightning paid $53 million for the venue's construction and infrastructure.[9] It opened in 1996 as the Ice Palace. Its first event was a performance by the Royal Hanneford Circus.[10] The first hockey game was the Lightning hosting the New York Rangers, which the Lightning won 5�2.[11]
The arena was built as a new home for the Lightning, necessary because of the lack of a major league-sized arena in the Tampa Bay Area. The two existing arenas in the region, Bayfront Arena in St. Petersburg and the Expo Hall at the Florida State Fairgrounds were too small for an NHL team. Prior to the opening of the Ice Palace, the Lightning spent one season at the Expo Hall,[12] and then moved to the Florida Suncoast Dome, which was nicknamed the "Thunderdome", in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1993.[13] The Thunderdome, now Tropicana Field, is currently home to Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays.[14]
The arena is owned by the Tampa Sports Authority, a partnership of the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County.[15] The authority leases the arena back to the Lightning, who operate it. The current lease agreement ties the arena to the Lightning ownership.
Naming rights to the arena were sold to the then St. Petersburg Times, a daily newspaper which circulates throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Other entertainment events occasionally held in the Forum include concerts, NBA exhibition games, USF basketball and NCAA Tournament games, tennis, professional wrestling, boxing, figure skating, and rodeos (as well as stand-alone bull riding events; the Forum has hosted an event by the PBR's premier tour, the Bud Light Cup (renamed Built Ford Tough Series in 2003), annually since 1998.)
The Tampa Bay Times Forum was ranked, in 2010, as the 4th busiest arena in the United States.[16]
A $35 million renovation was scheduled to be completed before the 2012 Republican National Convention.[17] The renovation includes a rebuilt grand plaza entrance, elimination of 2 lower-level suites in each corner (8 of current 28 suites) leaving views from the concourse area to the playing area, renovation of each suite, elimination of sections 323 and 324 on the terrace level (574 seats) for a bar and stage area that will feature a new digital theatre organ, more concessions areas on the terrace level, an 11,000-sq ft outdoor deck and party area overlooking outside plaza and facing the downtown skyline, new climate controls that improve both the ice surface and spectator comfort, new lighting, all new padded seats, resurfaced and redecorated concourse, combining Icons and Medallions restaurants into one venue, and updated restrooms.[17]
Also in 2012, the Tampa Bay Times Forum installed a new video display board. The board is billed as the largest of its kind in North America. Its two larger faces measure 28 � 50 feet (8.5 � 15.2 m), while its two smaller faces are 28 � 20 feet (8.5 � 6.1 m). In comparison, the arena's old display board measured 16 � 28 feet (4.9 � 8.5 m) on all sides.[18]
On September 3, 2014, Lightning owner Jeff Vinik announced the renaming of the Forum to Amalie Arena after coming to an agreement with Amalie Oil Company, an oil company based in Tampa. Wikipedia

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February 10th, 2017

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