DeltaPlex Arena

DeltaPlex Arena

The Old Barn
Full name	DeltaPlex Arena & Conference Center
Former names	Grand Rapids Stadium Stadium Arena Turner Arena
Address	2500 Turner Avenue
Location	Walker, Michigan
Coordinates	43°0′31″N 85°40′54″W
Owner	Joel Langlois
Capacity	Basketball: 5,000 Concerts: 7,000
Construction
Built	1952
Renovated	1998
Closed	July 31, 2022
Tenants
Grand Rapids Rockets (IHL) (1952–1956) Grand Rapids Owls (IHL) (1977–1980) Grand Rapids Bearcats/Rockets (NAHL) (1998–2000) Grand Rapids Hoops (CBA) (2001–2003) Grand Rapids Flight (IBL) (2008) West Michigan ThunderHawks (IFL) (2010) Grand Rapids Drive/Gold (NBA G League) (2014–2022) Grand Rapids Wanderers (M3) (2020-2022)
Website
Venue Website

DeltaPlex Arena & Conference Center (formerly Grand Rapids Stadium, Stadium Arena, and Turner Arena) was a 5,000-seat multipurpose arena in Walker, Michigan, United States. It was the home of the Grand Rapids Gold of the NBA G League and the Grand Rapids Wanderers of the Major Arena Soccer League 3. It was built in 1952 and since then the DeltaPlex sports, entertainment and convention complex has grown around the arena. The arena is a 23,000-square-foot (2,000 m²) space, which has a 52-foot (16 m) ceiling, seats up to 8,000 for concerts and has 1,088 loge seats. It has a 60-by-56-foot portable stage. DeltaPlex Arena is a venue usable for not only sports and concerts but also trade shows, conventions, concerts and special events. On December 23, 2021 the DeltaPlex was purchased from the Visser Brothers Inc. A Grand Rapids-based contractor who plans on turning the Arena into industrial warehousing space.

History

The original building was constructed in 1952, and began life as the Stadium Arena. The building had an arched roof design with wooded arch supports instead of steel. The building housed many different tenants including two defunct IHL Hockey teams. The Grand Rapids Rockets in the 1950s (an NAHL team of the same name played in the building during the 1990s) and the Grand Rapids Owls in the late 1970s until 1980. During the 1960s and early 1970s it was home to Atlantic Mills Department Store. It was also home for a short time to a drive-in theater, known as the Stadium Drive-In Theater. For most of its life it was located at the corner of Turner Ave. and West River Drive. However, due to a reconstruction of West River Drive, the parking lot was enlarged and Turner Ave. ended at West River Drive.

It was the Grand Rapids area's main indoor entertainment facility until the opening of Van Andel Arena in 1996. In the mid-1990s the building was sold to the Langlois Family. After the purchase an extensive, ground-up restoration and remodeling regimen followed and the newly christened DeltaPlex was born.

The arena served as the Grand Rapids chapter of Arena Racing. It also previously hosted the Grand Rapids Flight of the International Basketball League in 2008. In 2010, the DeltaPlex Arena was home to the West Michigan ThunderHawks of the Indoor Football League.

The DeltaPlex was the home of the Denver Nuggets' NBA G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold.

On April 27, 2022 it was announced that the DeltaPlex Arena would close permanently on July 31, 2022.

External links

• Official Site