Pechanga Arena, Indoor sports arena in Midway, San Diego, US.
Pechanga Arena is an indoor arena in San Diego, California, built in the New Formalism style and designated a historic resource by the city. Its facade rises as a tall, pale, vertically ribbed wall with a horizontal seam, carrying large red capital letters reading "SPORTS ARENA" above a dark entrance. An attached lower structure in front has a flat roof edged with a bright orange band above a row of dark-framed windows, and palm trees stand before the ribbed wall.
Bob Breitbard built the arena for $6.4 million on the site of a 1943 housing project, and it opened on November 17, 1966, when the San Diego Gulls beat the Seattle Totems 4–1 before more than 11,000 fans. It was the San Diego Rockets' home from 1967 to 1971 and the Clippers' from 1978 to 1984. The name went from San Diego International Sports Arena to iPayOne Center in 2005, Valley View Casino Center in 2010, and Pechanga Arena in December 2018.
The arena carries a name from the Luiseño language and recalls the tribal community living in the region. Today sports fans gather here for home games and concert audiences for music evenings that regularly fill the hall.
Several entrances ease access from the surrounding neighborhood, and parking spaces are found on different lots around the building. Those arriving by public transport find bus stops within walking distance of the main entrance.
Beneath the hall floor lies a network of cooling pipes that creates the ice surface for hockey games within a few hours. For other events the same area is covered with mobile floor panels that provide a firm foundation for concert stages or basketball courts.
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