Rod Laver Arena
Editorial
Rod Laver Arena is an incredibly versatile sports and entertainment venue and has been host to tennis, basketball, netball, swimming, monster truck rallies and live concerts, including over the years, Riverdance, Kylie Minogue, Pink, U2, Il Divo, Andre Rieu, John Farnham, Justin Timberlake, the Wiggles and Pavarotti.
It all began in 1987 as the National Tennis Centre, a multi-purpose venue but built specifically for the Australian Open Tennis Championship. With a seating capacity of 16,000 at centre court, the world's first retractable roof of its kind, and a number of other outdoor and indoor tennis courts, it officially opened in 1988 and proved an immediate success.
Its second stage of development, at a cost of $23 million, was ready in time for the 1996 Australian Open and included two new show courts, more match courts, a function centre and the very popular Garden Square, the central public lawn with a massive video screen. It is now, along with HiSense Arena next door, part of Melbourne Park, and an important element of the Melbourne and Olympic Parks precinct near the city's heart and easily accessible by public transport.
Attracting more than 1 million visitors every year, it's a world-class stadium, and in an amazingly brave and technical transformation, even hosted the FINA World Swimming Championships in 2007. There are also guided tours of the arena every day of the week.
For more information, visit the Melbourne Olympic Parks site.
Tim Hunter, Citysearch
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