'It's Just Insane': Final Tour Of Arco Arena Lures Large Crowd
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - One last hurrah for what's now a piece of history. The Sacramento Kings invited fans out to their old home for one final tour of the Arco Arena before it's demolished.
It's a bittersweet goodbye for the old arena.
"This is the loudest arena in the NBA for a reason. It's a shame to see it go," said fan Basheer. "It kind of looks like an office building but it's the nicest dang office building anyone has ever seen."
"We just had a lot of great times here. Yeah, we're gonna miss it," said fans Patty and David Soulsby.
"It's just insane. The number of people that want to come out and say goodbye to a building. This is unique to this city," said fan Michael Coe.
Arco Arena opened in 1988. Serving as the home of the Kings until 2016, it hosted nearly 200 events each year for nearly three decades.
"The electricity in this building was just incredible. You know the Arco thunder, the wood bleachers, how raucous this crowd could get, the passion," said Coe. "I grew up here. I was 8 years old when I came to my first Kings game; I'm 34 now. Being at this building, a lot of good times. A lot of tough times too but it's the memories you make."
Snapping one last picture inside the arena was the final memory of many that fans will take with them for a long time to come.
"Sad to see it go. But we move on to bigger and better things," said fan Rodney Imura.
"My parents brought me here when I was like 4 or 5 years old. And just watching those guys during that era was an honor," said Basheer.
Arco Arena played host to several big performers before closing, including Bruno Mars, Linkin Park, and Neil Diamond.
It's being knocked down and redeveloped. The new plan for the site includes a new teaching hospital.