Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon

The Rose Garden Arena is actually named the Rose Quarter. This arena is home for Portland, Oregon sporting events and performances. Ground was broken in 1993 for the arena, and two years later it had its grand opening. The arena is meant for large indoor events such as basketball, ice hockey, rodeos, circuses, conventions, ice shows, and concerts.

The facility has the capacity for 20,630 people for basketball and almost that many for the center stage concerts. Global Spectrum owns and operates the arena. Construction costs were $262 million with Ellerbe Becket as the architect and Drake/ Turner for contractors. The Rose Quarter has state of the art acoustics and amenities to please spectators. The facility is primarily used for the Portland Trail Blazers, a NBA team. Portland State University men's basketball team also uses the facility for home games.

The arena provides 14,000 permanent seats, with 1540 permanent seats in the 70 skyboxes. Depending on the event seats are set up on the floor of the arena. The suites have television monitors, sound system, and private restrooms to make them stand apart from the regular seating area. There is one mega suite with 88 person capacity. For the Theater of the Clouds more intimate seating is offered. Floor to ceiling curtains are used for the production and an average of ten events per year are held at the theater.

The scoreboard is Mitsubishi manufactured with high definition video. It hangs over center court and has 15 feet by 22.5 feet screens. Rose Garden has 650 televisions throughout the center for individuals at concessions or away from their seats. Among the sports teams the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL call the arena home. It is also home to the Portland Winterhawks, a WHL hockey team and the Canadian junior hockey league.

The Rose Garden Arena offers 1147 parking spaces with 26 handicapped places. Parking in these spaces is in a garage. There are additional parking areas close by the arena at other garages. Parking will vary from event to event from $6 to $13. Large vehicles can expect to pay more for parking, such as RV's.

Events that are not sports will include shows like Disney on Ice, Fright Town, Dave Ramsey, Rascal Flatts, Billy Joel, Elton John, Celtic Thunder, Jeff Dunham, Revolve 2009 Tour 4 Real, Portland Comic Book Show, and Kiss. A number of performers have been at the facility in the past. Performers of country music, rock, hard rock, and many other genres have used the facility. Rose Garden Arena tries to bring the top names in concerts and performances to their facilities.

Concessions are available at the arena. A variety of food such as hot dogs, hamburgers, nachos, pizza, and sandwiches are available at concessions. They also provide the typical beverage choices such as beer and soda. No outside food or drink is allowed inside the arena. They also will search or hold backpacks or large bags for safety purposes during all events, even concerts.