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Capital Centre

Landover, Maryland · Arena

The Capital Centre in suburban Landover was home to the Bullets and Capitals from the 1973-74 season until both moved to downtown Washington's MCI Center in 1997. It was imploded in December 2002.

Opened
1973
Closed
2002
Demolished
2002
Capacity
18,756
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Replaced by Capital One Arena

History

Abe Pollin built the Capital Centre near the Capital Beltway in suburban Landover to house his Bullets, who opened the building in December 1973, and the Capitals, who began play there in 1974.

The Bullets reached three NBA Finals while based here and won the 1978 championship. Georgetown's men's basketball team also played home games in Landover, and the building drew boxing, wrestling and major concert tours.

After the teams moved to the downtown MCI Center (now Capital One Arena) in late 1997, the renamed US Airways Arena saw little use. It was imploded on December 15, 2002, and replaced by a shopping center, which was itself cleared in 2019 for the Carillon mixed-use project.

Why it matters: Washington's major-league arena for a quarter century and the home court of the Bullets' only NBA championship team.

Timeline

  1. August 24, 1972
    Groundbreaking[1]

    Construction began on Abe Pollin's suburban arena.

  2. December 2, 1973
    Opening night[1,2]

    The Bullets beat Seattle 98-96 in the first game.

  3. April 30, 1976
    Ali vs. Young[1]

    Muhammad Ali fought Jimmy Young at the arena.

  4. 1978
    Bullets' title run[1]

    Games 2 and 6 of the Bullets' championship-winning 1978 NBA Finals were played here.

  5. November 29, 1997
    Final NBA game[1]

    The Wizards lost to Chicago in their last game before moving downtown; the Capitals had played their finale on November 26.

  6. January 3, 1998
    Aerosmith concert[1]

    An Aerosmith show is listed by Wikipedia as the arena's final event, though lacrosse was played there in 2002.

  7. December 15, 2002
    Implosion[1,2,3,4]

    Controlled Demolition, Inc. imploded the arena.

The site today

Physical statusSite redeveloped[1,2,3,4]
Current useCarillon mixed-use development (successor to The Boulevard at the Capital Centre shopping center, demolished 2019)[1,4]
Mapped locationApproximate historic location

Teams & events

Capital / Washington Bullets (Wizards)NBA · 1973–1997
Washington CapitalsNHL · 1974–1997
Georgetown HoyasNCAA · 1981–1997 · tenant
Washington PowerNLL · 2002 · tenant

Listed here are organizations that used this physical venue. A franchise's history and a venue's history are tracked separately.

Venue facts

Official nameUS Airways Arena
Other namesUSAir Arena (1993–1996); US Airways Arena (1996); Cap Centre
Location1 Harry S. Truman Drive, Landover, Prince George's County, Landover, Maryland[1]
Venue typeArena
SportsBasketball, Football, Hockey, Soccer, Boxing & wrestling
LevelNBA, NHL, NCAA, Arena Football League
OpenedDecember 2, 1973[1,2]
Last used for sports2002[1,2]
DemolishedDecember 15, 2002[1,2,3,4]
Physical statusSite redeveloped
Original capacity19,035[1]
Final capacity18,756[1]
Capacity notesBasketball 19,035 (1974-1989), 18,756 (1989-1997); hockey 18,130.
ArchitectShaver Partnership[1]
Construction cost$18 million[1]
Owner / operatorAbe Pollin / Washington Sports & Entertainment[1]
ClosureBoth principal tenants moved to the new downtown MCI Center in 1997.

Documented details

  • A commemorative display on the redeveloped site recalls the arena, according to a University of Maryland Libraries exhibit.[2]
  • The demolition required a shutdown of the Capital Beltway.[3]

Connected venues

Sources

  1. Capital Centre (Landover, Maryland) (Wikipedia), Wikipedia. Accessed 2026-10-19
    Supports: address, architect, capacity, closed, construction cost, coordinates, current land use, demolished, events, opened, owner operator, teams
  2. Hello Maryland Parking Lot exhibit - Parking lot, University of Maryland Libraries. Accessed 2026-10-19
    Supports: closed, demolished, opened
  3. Capital Centre implosion report (Dec. 15, 2002), The Washington Times. Accessed 2026-10-19
    Supports: demolished
  4. Old Cap Centre comes tumbling down (Dec. 16, 2002), GlobeSt.com. Accessed 2026-10-19
    Supports: current land use, demolished

Research confidence

Key facts on this page (opening, closing, status and location) are each supported by sources, with key dates corroborated by at least two independent sources. Last reviewed 2026-10-19.

Where sources disagree (2)
  • Closure: Wikipedia infobox says March 23, 2002 while the text lists a January 3, 1998 Aerosmith concert as the final event and the Washington Power (NLL) as a 2002 tenant. Recorded as 2002 (year).
  • US Airways Arena name end: infobox says 1997, text says it lasted until demolition in 2002.

See something wrong or missing? Suggest a correction or submit a source.

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