The RP Funding Center (formerly the Lakeland Civic Center and the Lakeland Center) is a multipurpose entertainment complex in

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. Located along Interstate 4, I-4 east of Tampa and southwest of Orlando, Florida, Orlando, it is the List of municipalities in Florida, most populous city in Polk County. As of the 2020 ...

, comprising a

convention center A convention center (American and British English spelling differences, American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a Convention (meeting), convention, where individuals and groups ...

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 ...

and

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

. Formerly, it was the home of the Lakeland Magic, the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

's affiliate in the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

and the

Florida Tropics SC Florida Tropics SC is a professional soccer club based in Lakeland, Florida. They are owned by Central Florida Sports Ventures, LLC, led by Dr. Panos Iakovidis, and former USL commissioner and Rochester Rhinos owner Chris Economides. The or ...

of the

Major Arena Soccer League The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a professional indoor soccer league in North America. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico. The league is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. The le ...

About

It was home to the Lakeland Loggerheads of the World Hockey Association 2 during the 2003–04 season, the Lakeland Thunderbolts of the

National Indoor Football League The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, ...

and later the

American Indoor Football Association American Indoor Football (AIF) is a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the East Coast of the United ...

from 2005 until 2007, the Lakeland Raiders of the Ultimate Indoor Football League (later to be known as the Florida Marine Raiders of X-League Indoor Football) from 2012 until 2015, and the Central Florida Jaguars of the

American Indoor Football American Indoor Football (AIF) is a professional Indoor American football, indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the ...

in 2016. In 2018, the Florida Tarpons of the

American Arena League The American Arena League (AAL) is a professional Indoor American football, indoor football minor league that began playing in 2018. The league was initiated by a merger between Arena Pro Football (APF) and the Can-Am Indoor Football League (Ca ...

relocated to Lakeland to use the arena for its home games. The

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

of the defunct

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

used the arena for indoor soccer on several occasions including three of their sixteen home games during the 1983-84 indoor season. This would also prove to be the league's final indoor campaign before suspending operations following the 1984 outdoor season. In 1975 and 1976 the arena hosted

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

exhibition matches between the

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

and the

Atlanta Flames The Atlanta Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta from 1972 until 1980. They played home games in the Omni Coliseum and were members of the West and later Patrick divisions of the National Hockey League (NHL). Along with t ...

. Atlanta won both matches by the scores of 3–2 and 5–2, respectively. Beginning with their inaugural season (1992–93), the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. The Lightning compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the ...

used the center for training camp and exhibition games for several years. On September 23, 1992, hockey history was made as

Manon Rhéaume Manon Rhéaume (born February 24, 1972) is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender. An Olympic silver medalist, she achieved a number of historic firsts during her career, including becoming the first woman to play in an exhibition game in any o ...

became the first woman to play in an NHL exhibition game as the Tampa Bay Lightning played against the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

. Elvis Presley played the Civic Center on April 27, 1975 (two shows, a matinee and an evening performance) and another evening performance on April 28, 1975. He played the center again a year later on September 4, 1976 (two performances, a matinee and an evening show).

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

performed here in 1976 when guitarist

Ace Frehley Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (, ; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician who was the original lead guitarist, occasional lead vocalist and founding member of the rock band Kiss (band), Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. ...

was electrocuted leading him to later go on and write his song "Shock Me", included on the ''

Love Gun ''Love Gun'' is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Kiss, released on June 30, 1977. Casablanca Records and FilmWorks shipped one million copies of the album on this date. It was certified platinum and became the band's first top ...

'' album.Gooch, Curt and Jeff Suhs. ''KISS Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History'', Billboard Books, 2002.

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...

played the Lakeland Civic Center's arena on March 26, 1984, as part of their Sing Blue Silver Tour. Since 2019 it is the current home of the Central Florida Comic Con.

References

External links

*
The Concert Database
{{Authority control Basketball venues in Florida Buildings and structures in Lakeland, Florida Defunct indoor soccer venues in the United States Florida Tropics SC Indoor arenas in Florida Ice hockey venues in Florida Indoor soccer venues in the United States Lakeland Magic Music venues in Florida North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor venues Tampa Bay Rowdies sports facilities Sports venues in Lakeland, Florida Sports venues completed in 1974 1974 establishments in Florida