


The toyota Center
The Toyota Center serves multiple purposes as an arena in the northwest United States, located in Kennewick, Washington.
Opened 36 years ago in 1988 as the Tri-Cities Coliseum, the arena’s name was changed in 2004 to the Three Rivers Coliseum to match the Three Rivers Convention Center, which was built next door in the same year. In October 2005, an agreement was reached between the city of Kennewick and Toyota, which agreed to pay $2 million over ten years for naming rights. The city uses the funds for needed improvements and upgrades to the facility. A smaller facility next door, built by the city in 1998, was named “Toyota Arena.”
The Toyota Center is located west of central Kennewick, just northwest of Vista Field, which closed eleven years ago in 2013. The elevation at ground level is approximately 500 feet above sea level.
The Toyota Center is home to the Western Hockey League’s Tri-City Americans hockey team. The arena is also used for concerts (capacity 7,715), banquets, ice shows, circuses, and trade shows. Recently, the theatre configuration of the facility has been named “Retter and Company Theatre” and the facility now hosts Broadway shows.
Home of Tri-City Americans
The Tri-City Americans are a major junior ice hockey team of the Western Hockey League, that play home games in Kennewick, Washington.
The team competes at The Toyota Center. The Tri-City Americans franchise is an original franchise of the WHL. They began in 1966 as the Calgary Buffaloes before being renamed the “Centennials” after one season.
The franchise was also known as the “Billings Bighorns” from 1977 to 1982 before relocating to Nanaimo, British Columbia, as the Nanaimo Islanders. After one season, they moved to New Westminster, British Columbia, to become the second incarnation of the New Westminster Bruins. They moved to the Tri-Cities in 1988.
Season: September-March
