J. S. Dorton Arena is a 7,610-seat multi-purpose arena located in Raleigh, North Carolina, on the grounds of the North Carolina State Fair. It opened in 1952 as State Fair Arena. It has hosted many sporting events, concerts, political rallies, and circuses.

Dorton Arena was the first structure in the world to use a cable-supported roof. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on April 11, 1973. It was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2002.

History

Dorton Arena was originally named the State Fair Arena when it opened in 1952 on the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, North Carolina. The building was designed by architect Maciej Nowicki of the North Carolina State University Department of Architecture, who was killed in an airplane crash before the construction phase. Local architect William Henley Dietrick supervised the completion of the arena using Nowicki's innovative design. It was dedicated to Dr. J. S. Dorton, former North Carolina State Fair manager, in 1961.

Dorton Arena was one of only two new building in the United States given a 1953 National Honor Award by the American Institute of Architects. Dorton Arena was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on April 11, 1973. It was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2002.

Architecture

Dorton Arena was the first structure in the world to use a cable-supported roof. Its design features a steel cable supported saddle-shaped roof in tension, held up by parabolic concrete arches in compression. The arches cross about 26 feet above ground level and continue underground, where their ends are held together by more steel cables in tension. The outer walls of the arena support next to no weight at all.

The arena served as an inspiration to many architects and civil engineers, both at home and abroad. This led to a boom in lightweight constructions such as the Europe 1-Broadcasting House (1954) in Überherrn, the auditorium Paul-Emile Janson (1956) in Bruxelles, the Ingalls Rink (1958) in New Haven, the Športová hala Pasienky (1958) in Bratislava, the Yoyogi National Gymnasium (1964) in Tokyo, the Ice Aréna (1965) in Prešov and the Sporthal Beverwijk (1971) in Beverwijk.

Events

Sports

Dorton Arena has hosted numerous sporting events and teams throughout the decades. The longest-running tenant was the Raleigh IceCaps (ECHL) ice hockey team from 19911998. The American Basketball Association's Carolina Cougars also played some games in the arena from 196974. It was also the home of the Carolina Rollergirls (WFTDA).

The Cougars became tenants after the Houston Mavericks moved to North Carolina in 1969. The Cougars were a "regional franchise", playing "home" games in Charlotte (Bojangles' Coliseum), Greensboro (Greensboro Coliseum), Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum and Raleigh (Dorton Arena). Hall of Fame Coach Larry Brown began his coaching career with the Cougars in 1972. Billy Cunningham was the ABA MVP for Brown and the Cougars in the 197273 season. Despite a strong fan base, the Cougars were sold and moved to St. Louis in 1974.

Dorton Arena was a popular venue for professional wrestling in the 70s and 80s, with sometimes weekly matches. Wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper defeated "Nature Boy" Ric Flair for the National Wrestling Alliance U.S. Heavyweight championship in Dorton Arena on Jan. 27, 1981.

Beginning in 2016, it became the home of the Triangle Torch in American Indoor Football. The Torch have since played as members of Supreme Indoor Football but left Dorton Arena before the 2018 season in the American Arena League.

Other events

Besides hosting sporting events, the arena is also used for concerts during the North Carolina State Fair. Various conventions and fairs also use the floorspace of the arena as an exhibition space, often in conjunction with the neighboring Jim Graham building. One such event is the annual Southern Farm Show.

The arena has hosted the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) regional robotics competition and was the first space to hold a regional in the state.

Both Shaw University and Meredith College use Dorton Arena as a site for graduation, and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics uses the facility as a rain site for their commencement exercises.

Concerts (non-fair)

Dorton Arena and Reynolds Coliseum were the only concert venues in the Capital City for many decades before Coastal Credit Union Music Park and Lenovo Center were built. The building was originally designed for livestock shows, and before popular music concerts began to be regularly hosted in arenas, so while there are unobstructed views of the stage, the sound tends to bounce off the glass. Fair officials have made significant changes to improve the acoustics of the building in recent years. Many of the biggest names in entertainment have played in this arena.

See also

• Tensile architecture

• Tensile and membrane structures

• Thin-shell structure

• List of thin shell structures

• List of Registered Historic Places in North Carolina

• List of historic civil engineering landmarks

References

External links

• Official Website via the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

• Historic photos of Dorton Arena

• Matthew Nowicki Papers at NCSU Libraries, includes drawings of Dorton

• Video: JS Dorton Arena, the Fairground Pavilion That Was a Modernist Marvel by ArchDaily.com, 4 September 2014