Echo Arena Liverpool

Echo Arena Liverpool

Location Arena and Convention Centre, King's Dock, Liverpool, England
Coordinates 53°23′48″N 2°59′27.45″W / 53.39667°N 2.9909583°W / 53.39667; -2.9909583Coordinates: 53°23′48″N 2°59′27.45″W / 53.39667°N 2.9909583°W / 53.39667; -2.9909583
Owner Liverpool City Council
Capacity 11,000
Construction
Opened January 2008
Construction cost £164 million[1]
Architect Wilkinson Eyre
Project manager Davis Langdon, An AECOM Company
Structural engineer Buro Happold
Tenants
Mersey Tigers (BBL) (2008–2010)
British Gymnastics (2011–present)

The Echo Arena Liverpool is a purpose-built entertainment venue for live music, comedy performances and sporting events. It is the arena half of ACC Liverpool located on the former King's Dock in Liverpool, England, United Kingdom. The BT Convention Centre forms the other half of the complex.[2]

Architecture and design

Echo Arena soon after completion

In terms of capacity, Echo Arena Liverpool is the eleventh largest arena in the United Kingdom. ACC Liverpool as a whole was designed by Wilkinson Eyre architects[3] and Sport Concepts. There are six dressing rooms, five team locker rooms and two promoter offices within the arena.[3] Vehicles weighing up to 38 tonnes can gain access to the basement of the arena.[3]

ACC Liverpool, the home to both Echo Arena and BT Convention Centre has a BREEAM rating of "very good".[3]

The purpose built arena has a capacity of 11,000 and 22 hospitality boxes. A backstage artist village and 1,600 space car park are also located onsite.

History

Echo Arena Liverpool, part of The ACC Liverpool Group, opened its doors on 12 January 2008 with the official opening ceremony for the Capital of Culture, launching a year-long celebration and signalling the culmination of a decade of regeneration in the city. Since opening, Echo Arena Liverpool has hosted over 900 events and 5 million visitors. Concerts, live sporting events, comedy and dance events have all been held in the venue.

The opening of sister venue Exhibition Centre Liverpool, part of The ACC Liverpool Group, in September 2015 has resulted in the campus now being able to offer a much broader offer for standing concerts and international sporting events – accommodating competition, congress and training facilities all under the one roof.

Notable events

Since the arena's opening in 2008, it has regularly played host to many of the world's top musical acts. Many world-famous artists have performed at the arena, including Kiss,[4][5] Diana Ross,[6] Westlife,[7] Little Mix,[8] Paul McCartney,[9] Noel Gallagher,[10] Kylie Minogue,[11] Paloma Faith, Roger Waters, Peter Gabriel, The Eagles, Lady Gaga,Lana del Rey, Gloria Estefan, Oasis, The Killers, Nickelback, Nicki Minaj Queen + Paul Rodgers, Katy Perry, Lana Del Rey, Arctic Monkeys, Bruno Mars, Iron Maiden, and Girls Aloud who performed their final concert together here.

The MOBO Awards, 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards, Davis Cup tennis, the GB Judo World Cup and European Team Badminton Championships have all taken place at Echo Arena. Famous international singers such as Sir Paul McCartney, Elton John, Rod Stewart and Beyoncé have also graced the venue's main stage, along with national comedians like John Bishop and Russell Howard.

Incidents

2017 car park fire

On the evening of 31 December 2017, a fire broke out in an adjacent multi-storey car park and as a consequence, the Liverpool International Horse Show, taking place at the arena, had to be cancelled.[12] Around 80 horses were safely evacuated from temporary stabling built on the ground floor level of the car park, and held on the arena floor and the land surrounding the building. The fire continued into the small hours of 1 January 2018.[13][14] Virtually all of the 1,400 cars there were destroyed, but no serious harm to people or horses was reported.[12]

Death of Eric Bristow

On 5 April 2018, after attending a Premier League Darts event, darts legend Eric Bristow collapsed in front of the venue due to a heart attack and later died.[15]

Direct public transport to Echo Arena is by bus. James Street railway station is a short walk away and is served by the Merseyrail Wirral Line. The station is two stops away from Liverpool Lime Street mainline station via the city's underground Loop Line.

The arena is situated opposite the portal of the now disused Wapping Tunnel which runs from Edge Hill in the east of the city. There have been calls to reuse the 1.26 miles (2.03 km) tunnel with a station serving the arena and immediate docks on the site of the demolished Park Lane station which was at the end of the tunnel.

In August 2009, the Liverpool Daily Post reported that a new tram-train link from Edge Hill in the east of the city to the Echo Arena at Kings Dock is being considered.[16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Liverpool, Echo Arena. "The Venue".
  2. ↑ It's the Echo Arena Liverpool Echo, retrieved on 5 June 2007
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Liverpool Echo Arena". Emporis. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
  4. ↑ "REVIEW: KISS at the ECHO arena Liverpool". Liverpool Echo. 5 May 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  5. ↑ "KISS Setlist". Setlist.fm= 9 Jul 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  6. ↑ "Supreme night out at the summer pops". Liverpool Echo. 29 February 2008. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  7. ↑ "Westlife to begin national tour at ECHO arena". Liverpool Echo. 15 October 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  8. ↑ "Spot yourself in Little Mix crowd as Glory Days comes to Echo Arena". Liverpool Echo. 16 October 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  9. ↑ "Review: Paul McCartney at the ECHO Arena". Liverpool Echo. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  10. ↑ "Review: Noel Gallagher at the Liverpool ECHO Arena". Liverpool Echo. 25 April 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  11. ↑ "Gig Review: Kylie Minogue, ECHO arena". Liverpool Echo. 24 September 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  12. 1 2 "'Ferocious' fire engulfed arena car park". BBC News. 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  13. ↑ "Liverpool Echo Arena car park fire destroys 1,400 vehicles". BBC News. 1 January 2018.
  14. ↑ "Car park fire at Liverpool's Echo Arena has destroyed all vehicles". Sky News. 1 January 2018.
  15. ↑ Richards, Alex (2018-04-06). "Darts legend and five-time world champion Eric Bristow dies aged 60". mirror. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  16. ↑ "Tram link bid for Liverpool airport". Liverpool Daily Post. 3 August 2009. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
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