The Knights played their home games at the
Omni Coliseum
.
It stood for 25 years as the Atlanta area's primary indoor spectator sporting arena.
The Omni was easily recognized by its square outline and its unusual steel-egg-carton
designed roof. The roof design served to allow a larger building without need of
internal roof supports. The Omni was demolished soon after the 1996-97 NBA season
to make way for a new multipurpose coliseum -- Philips Arena.
Other
events and tenants: The Omni hosted the Democratic Party's 1988 national convention
(which nominated Michael Dukakis for president); The Roller Hockey International
League's Atlanta Fire Ants (owned by the Knights organization) also played home
games here during that league's 1994 season.
The
Omni was an eyesore, to be sure, with its 1970s brown metal exterior and distinctive
(but very ugly) egg-carton roof. It had no amenities to speak of -- no luxury boxes,
no club seating, only one restaurant, no video or replay boards, a single, narrow
concourse, limited parking, and inadequate restroom facilities. It had a number
of quirks, such as "the Well" in the upper deck -- the walkway around the upper
deck was between the first and second rows, separating the first row into its own
"well" that overhung the lower deck. It was bug- and rat-infested and the office
complexes in the building, designed for the teams that played there, were accessible
only through an assortment of underground passages.
The Knights called the Omni home from their inception in 1992 to their final game in
1996. During that time, there were virtually no improvements made to the Omni's
infrastructure, neighborhood, or amenities. Knights fans didn't care -- they were
there for the hockey -- but the lords of the Atlanta Hawks were missing out on the
lucrative luxury box, merchandising, and concessions income that would come from
a lavish new arena. So, it was announced, after the 1996 Olympics, the Omni would
be torn down and replaced with a new palace.
The main gondola scoreboard from the Omni now hangs in the Philips Arena entrance atrium on Techwood Drive near the CNN Center portals. A goal net from the Omni is displayed in the Philips Arena gift shop.
