CoreStates Center: the new home of the Philadelphia Flyers and 76ers mixes sports and entertainment in a high-tech setting.(Philadelphia, PA)(Special Report - Architecture - Sports Venues)(Cover Story)

The new home of the Philadelphia Flyers and 76ers mixes sports and entertainment in a high-tech setting

Philadelphians are great sports fans. They've got those winning home teams--the Flyers (NHL), Eagles (NFL) and Phillies (MLB)--who have been known to carry their championship seasons well into the playoffs. And, since the opening of the X215 million CoreStates Center on August 31, 1996, they've got something else to cheer about: Interactive kiosks, banks of video monitors, Sony Jumbo Tron video screens, and state-of-the-art audio and lighting systems, all designed to give the new arena a winning high-tech personality.

This new 21,000-scat home for the Flyers and the Philadelphia 76ers (NBA) is part of a 100-acre sports complex on South Broad Street which also includes its sister facility, the CoreStates Spectrum, and Veteran's Stadium, home of the Eagles and Phillies. Unfortunately, Philadelphia's classic outdoor 100,000-seat JFK Stadium, built in 1926, was razed to make way for the ultra-modern CoreStates Center, as technology replaced tradition.

Owned by Ed Snider's Comcast-Spectacor communications conglomerate (which also owns the Flyers and the Sixers), and named for CoreStates banks, the new facility was designed to host both sports and entertainment events by architects Ellerbe Becket of Kansas City, MO. Flack & Kurtz of New York City served as mechanical, plumbing, and electrical engineers for the project.

On the outside, the CoreStates Center is a mix of steel, stone, and glass, with touches of red brick in keeping with Philadelphia's architectural heritage. The building itself is not round but rectangular, with raised rounded ends. Inside, five concourse levels served by six escalators and six elevators surround the arena, or bowl, and the oval design guarantees good sightlines from every seat.

In addition to the main auditorium areas, the CoreStates Center offers a variety of premium seating options: two Superbox sections with approximately 100 seats; 14 Club Box sections for 110-130 patrons each; 26 balcony suites with 12-18 seats; and 100 luxury suites with 12-14 seats. Colorful team banners (orange and black for the Flyers, red, white, and blue for the Sixers) hang over the floor, which can be …