BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Penn Qtr -- Verizon Center

DC -- Penn Qtr -- Verizon Center:

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Description of Pictures: The Verizon Center became the MCI Center in 2006.
This was a fluke. I was coming back from the Sixth and I Synagogue, where I'd seen John Kerry, when I had to move around a crane parked in the street in front of the MCI Center. It turned out the crane was putting up the new "Verizon" sign and the MCI Center was being renamed. I was impressed that my camera could pick this up at all given it was at night and fairly far away but there's so much light downtown that it wasn't a huge problem.

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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[1] VERZON_060228_023.JPG	[2] VERZON_060228_050.JPG	[3] VERZON_060228_061.JPG	[4] VERZON_060228_099.JPG	[5] VERZON_060228_112.JPG
[6] VERZON_060228_136.JPG	[7] VERZON_060228_146.JPG	[8] VERZON_060228_168.JPG	[9] VERZON_060228_200.JPG	[10] VERZON_060228_212.JPG
[11] VERZON_060228_222.JPG	[12] VERZON_060228_271.JPG	[13] VERZON_060228_289.JPG	[14] VERZON_060228_301.JPG	[15] VERZON_060228_320.JPG
[16] VERZON_060307_01.JPG	[17] VERZON_060307_08.JPG	[18] VERZON_060307_11.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. VERZON_060307_08.JPG: This is the MCI Center after the Verizon Center name change had gone into effect.
Wikipedia Description: Verizon Center
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Verizon Center (formerly MCI Center until March 5, 2006) is a sports and entertainment arena in Washington, D.C., USA, named after telecommunications sponsor Verizon Communications. The arena has been nicknamed the "Phone Booth" because of its association with telecommunications companies. The arena is home to the Washington Capitals of the NHL, Washington Wizards of the NBA, Georgetown University men's basketball, and Washington Mystics of the WNBA. It is located in the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington.

History:

The arena opened as the MCI Center on December 2, 1997 in downtown Washington's Chinatown. When Verizon bought out MCI in 2006, the arena's name was changed accordingly. The building replaced the US Air Arena, which was located on the Capital Beltway in Landover, Maryland. Some complained that the building's construction, by closing off a block of G St, corrupted the historic L'Enfant layout of the Washington city streets.

Others were concerned it would lead to the displacement of Chinese businesses in Chinatown. While largely considered a commercial success, the Verizon Center was the catalyst that led to gentrification of Washington's Chinatown, with rent increases after construction of the Arena forcing many small Chinese businesses to close. On the other hand, the Arena is not only a popular venue for sports and concerts, but helped to turned "Gallery Place/Chinatown" neighborhood into one of the prime sites for commercial development in Washington. Virtually all Chinese residents in the D.C. area already live in the suburbs, and displacement that occurred over the years has been mostly commercial rather than residential.

2007:

In 2007, what was claimed as the "first true indoor high-definition LED scoreboard" was installed at the Verizon Center .

2008:

2008 marks the first year that the Wizards and Capitals both played playoff games in the building in the same calendar year. Furthermore in D.C. sports lore 2008 also marks the first time the Wizards, Caps and Washington Redskins made the playoffs since 1988.

Tenants:

The Verizon Center is the home arena of the NHL's Washington Capitals, the NBA's Washington Wizards, the NCAA's Georgetown University Hoyas men's basketball team, and the WNBA's Washington Mystics. It was home to the Washington Power of the NLL from 2001–2002. It seats 20,173 for basketball and 18,277 for hockey. ...

Fan fixtures:

Two notable fan fixtures at Washington Capitals games at Verizon Center since the late '90s include Goat and The Horn Guy. "Goat," aka William Stilwell, sits in Section 105 and loudly stomps and starts cheers for the team, with his loud voice that The Washington Post once called "the loudest voice and stompiest stomp on F Street." "The Horn Guy," aka Sam Wolk, sits in section 415 and blows out three blasts on a horn to which the arena responds "Let's Go Caps!," a chant that can be heard during radio and TV broadcasts, home and away. ...
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