Norfolk Scope
Norfolk Scope is a multi-function complex in Norfolk, Virginia, comprising the 11,000-seat Scope Arena, a 2,500-seat theater known as Chrysler Hall, a 65,000-square-foot (6,000 m2) modular exhibition hall, and a 600-car parking garage.
Norfolk Scope Location within Virginia Norfolk Scope Location within the United States | |
| Location | 201 East Brambleton Avenue Norfolk, Virginia 23510 |
|---|---|
| Owner | City of Norfolk |
| Operator | City of Norfolk |
| Capacity | Ice hockey: 8,701 Basketball: 10,253 Concerts: 13,800 Prism Theatre: ~4,000 |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | June 6, 1968 |
| Opened | November 12, 1971 |
| Construction cost | $35 million ($253 million in 2022 dollars) $14.5 million (upgrades since 2003) |
| Architect | Pier Luigi Nervi Williams and Tazewell |
| Structural engineer | Fraioli-Blum-Yesselman |
| General contractor | Daniel Construction Co. |
| Tenants | |
| Virginia Squires (ABA) (1971–1976) Old Dominion Monarchs (NCAA) (full time 1977–1990, part time 1971–2002) Hampton Roads Admirals (ECHL) (1989–2000) Norfolk Nighthawks (AF2) (2000–2003) Norfolk Admirals (AHL) (2000–2015) Norfolk SharX (MISL) (2011–2012) Norfolk Admirals (ECHL) (2015–present) | |
The arena was designed by Italian architect/engineer Pier Luigi Nervi in conjunction with the (now defunct) local firm Williams and Tazewell, which designed the entire complex. Nervi's design for the arena's reinforced concrete dome derived from the PalaLottomatica and the much smaller Palazzetto dello Sport, which were built in the 1950s for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.
Construction on Scope began in June 1968 at the northern perimeter of Norfolk's downtown and was completed in 1971 at a cost of $35 million. Federal funds covered $23 million of the cost, and when it opened formally on November 12, 1971, the structure was the second-largest public complex in Virginia, behind only the Pentagon.
Featuring the world's largest reinforced thinshell concrete dome (though eclipsed by the Seattle Kingdome from 1976 to 2000), Scope won the Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects Test of Time award in 2003. Wes Lewis, director of Old Dominion University's civil engineering technology program, called it "a beautiful marrying of art and engineering." Noted architectural critic James Howard Kunstler described the design as looking like "yesterday's tomorrow."
The name "Scope", a contraction of kaleidoscope, emphasizes the venue's re-configurability. The facility logo (right), which features a multi-colored, abstracted kaleidoscope image, was designed by Raymond Loewy's firm Loewy/Snaith of New York.