The Stormont Vail Events Center, formerly known as Kansas Expocentre, is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

built in 1987 in

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...

. Previously, the

Topeka Sizzlers The Topeka Sizzlers, originally the Kansas City Sizzlers, were a professional basketball team based in Kansas City, Missouri from 1985 to 1986 until they relocated to Topeka, Kansas where they played from 1986 to 1990. The Sizzlers were members of ...

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, Topeka ScareCrows, Topeka Pilots

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

and Topeka Tropics of the

National Arena League The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. As of the end of the 2024 season, the league consisted of five teams. A team's typical payroll budget is $600,000 per season, but as of the 2022 ...

(NAL) 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 level. It oversees both athletic and non-athletic competition, and spon ...

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 USA Wrestling (formerly known as the United States Wrestling Federation and as the United States Wrestling Association) is the organization that currently governs freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling in the United States. 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 Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...

, T. Graham Brown, and

Ronnie Milsap Ronnie Lee Milsap (born Ronald Lee Millsaps; January 16, 1943) is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country music's most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s. Nearly completely blind from birth, h ...

. Landon Arena, named for Kansas' elder statesman, governor Alfred M. Landon (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

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

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait has sold over 120 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He holds ...

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American Country music, country singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him his immense popularity, particularly in the United States, ...

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Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

, Rush, Primus,

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

Rise Against Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rise Against's mu ...

Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...

Carrie Underwood Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of ''American Idol'' in 2005, returning as a judge beginning with the twenty-third season. Underwood's f ...

Little Big Town Little Big Town is an American country music vocal group from Homewood, Alabama. Founded in 1998, the group has had the same four members since its founding: Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman (née Roads), Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook. Fa ...

Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, lead gui ...

Buckcherry Buckcherry is an American hard rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1995. The band released two albums, ''Buckcherry (album), Buckcherry'' (1999) and ''Time Bomb (Buckcherry album), Time Bomb'' (2001), before dissolving in 2002. Buckche ...

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, and

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. *It has also hosted some wrestling shows such as WCW,

WWE Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It currently airs Live television, live every Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Netflix. The show fe ...

, ECW,

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, and

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house shows. *Ice shows include

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

Winnie the Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh (also known as Edward Bear, Pooh Bear or simply Pooh) is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared by ...

Playhouse Disney Playhouse Disney was a brand of programming blocks and international cable and satellite television channels that were owned by the Disney Channels Worldwide unit (now Disney Branded Television) of The Walt Disney Company's Disney–ABC Tele ...

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 ...

Live. *The arena also hosts the ''Arab Shrine Circus'' each year. * Blizzard Bash, an annual demolition derby event.

References

External links

Landon Arena official site
{{Authority control Sports venues completed in 1987 Buildings and structures in Topeka, Kansas Ice hockey venues in Kansas Music venues in Kansas Tourist attractions in Topeka, Kansas 1987 establishments in Kansas Sports in Topeka, Kansas