It's hard to believe the St. Pete Times Forum is 15 years old now. Once the Ice Palace, this Downtown Tampa Arena has been a dependable host for the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Storm, and big name concerts and events throughout the years.
When owner, Jeff Vinik purchased the Tampa Bay Lightning a little over a year ago, he envisioned an arena beyond just the dependable, though. Businessman Tod Leiweke was brought on as CEO, and soon plans were in the works to upgrade the Forum a simple arena to an all-encompassing entertainment experience for hockey fans in the Tampa Bay Area.
$35 million worth of upgrade, in fact. The most notable additions include an 11,000 square foot, outdoor party deck overlooking Channelside and Downtown Tampa and a full-on, old time pipe organ in the arena's upper section.
The party deck, or Margarita Deck as it seems they'll be calling it, will boast ten areas where fans can buy food and drink (including margaritas) as well as a stage for pre- and post-game concerts.
Other additions to the teenage arena include a new heating and cooling system, a tesla-coil lightning rig that will fire off when the Lightning score, an expanded West entrance making entrance into the stadium much quicker, and much more.
Vinik and Leiweke assure this won't significantly increase ticket prices and comes from love for the hockey experience, not a drive to boost profits. The work is underway as we post this and everything should be ready for the Bolts' upcoming 2011-12 season.
It's going to be a whole new Forum, so head out and enjoy, Tampa Bay!
