THE SUMMIT

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Houston Aeros (WHA) (1975-1979) Houston Summit (MISL) (1978-1980) Houston Rockets (NBA) (1975-2003) Houston Aeros (IHL/AHL) (1994-2003) Houston Hotshots (CISL) (1994-1997) Houston Comets (WNBA (1997-2003) Houston Thunderbears/Texas Terror (AFL) (1996-2001) Lakewood Church (2005-present)

In 1971, the National Basketball Association's San Diego Rockets were purchased by a new ownership group that moved the franchise to Houston. The city, however, lacked an indoor arena suitable to host a major sports franchise, so plans were immediately undertaken to construct the new venue that would become The Summit. The Rockets played their home games in various local facilities such as Hofheinz Pavilion during the interim.

Completed in 1975, The Summit represented a lavish new breed of sports arena, replete with amenities, that would help the NBA grow from a second-tier professional sport into the multi-billion dollar entertainment industry that it is today. The Omni in Atlanta (now the site of Philips Arena), McNichols Sports Arena in Denver (now a parking lot for Invesco Field), and the Coliseum at Richfield in Richfield, Ohio (now reclaimed forest) were all constructed during this period and remained in service until the continued growth of the NBA sparked a new arena construction boom in the late 1990s.

Unused 4" x 6" continental size chrome

Dist. by Smith-Southwestern