What to know about Dallas Memorial Auditorium, potential new home of WNBA’s Dallas Wings

Dallas officials will vote on a 15-year proposal Wednesday in an effort to relocate the WNBA’s Dallas Wings from Arlington to the Dallas Memorial Auditorium, part of Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center downtown.

The recently awarded a three-year, nearly $7.7 million contract to a national architecture, engineering and construction management firm for the arena renovation and reconstruction, and city officials anticipate the project could be done as early as 2026.

If the Wings were to relocate to the site, they would have to use the arena at least 70 days a year between April 15 and Nov. 1, according to the proposal before council members on Wednesday. The proposal includes year-round use of the building for training and office space, with the team obtaining a final certificate of occupancy no later than March 1, 2026.

Here’s what to know about the Memorial Auditorium arena:

The oldest structure in the convention center complex downtown

The convention center is a mosaic of structures. Every new building has been part of a city-led effort to expand the complex that stretches from the City Hall to the Cedars neighborhood.

Memorial Auditorium, built in 1957, is the complex’s first and oldest structure. It is near The Black Academy of Arts and Letters, which also is undergoing renovations as part of the larger redevelopment plan.

George Dahl, the Dallas architect responsible for the construction and design of the 26 Art Deco-style buildings in Fair Park, designed the arena.

How many people can the arena host?

The arena has the capacity to hold nearly 10,000 attendees. It was always imagined as a multipurpose space capable of hosting concerts and arena sports matches, among other entertainment events.

In 1973, the auditorium was renamed the convention center arena after the complex had a million square-feet added to it.

The arena has hosted big ticket names such as the Beatles and Led Zeppelin

At its peak, the arena was the stage for acts like Elvis Presley, the Jackson Five, the Beatles and Led Zeppelin.

Between 1967 and 1977, artists like the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Miles Davis, the Rolling Stones, the Who, the Grateful Dead, Black Sabbath, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Billy Joel, Prince, and Fleetwood Mac also performed at the memorial.

The Dallas Chaparrals, a basketball team affiliated to the American Basketball Association were also based in the arena until 1973, and the arena also hosted an appearance by John F. Kennedy during his 1960 presidential campaign.

How will the arena change with the renovations?

Rosa Fleming, director of the city’s convention and event service department, told The Dallas Morning News in February that the arena’s renovation and upgrades will include efforts to make the space compliant with the requirements of the American with Disabilities Act. The renovations could also add more seats to the arena.

Right now, its antiquated design and the lack of accessibility limits the arena’s use to 26 events per year. But the upgrades will allow the space to be used as many as 100 times per year.

How does the arena fit with the larger redevelopment plan

In the last decade, the city has approved projects that could make the area around the convention center more walkable and public-transit friendly.

The city estimated in January 2023 that it would need $2.8 billion to build the new convention center, with a new deck park over Interstate 30 nearby. The city also said it estimated needing more than $386 million to renovate and reconstruct the arena and The Black Academy of Arts and Letters, both of which which are attached to the current convention center.

The convention center’s expansion and the deck park will open the Cedars neighborhood and Old City Park to Farmers Market, and city officials see it as a way of amping up the revitalization efforts in neighborhoods split by I-30.