The Albany Firebirds were a professional arena football team of the AF2 based in Albany, New York . Albany was granted an expansion team in 2002 and began play as the Albany Conquest . The Firebirds played their home games at the Times Union Center . They are the second arena football team for Albany, as the city was granted an expansion team, the Albany Firebirds, in the Arena Football League in 1990. The team moved to Indianapolis, Indiana in 2000 and played as the Indiana Firebirds through 2004 before disbanding.
23-954: Arena football team Norfolk Nighthawks Established 1999 Folded 2003 Played in Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia [REDACTED] League/conference affiliations af2 ( 2000 – 2003 ) American Conference (2000–2003) Eastern Division (2001) Atlantic Division (2002–2003) Current uniform Team colors Blue, gold, white Personnel Team history Norfolk Nighthawks (2000–2003) Championships League championships (0) Conference championships (0) Division championships (0) Playoff appearances (1) 2000 Home arena(s) Norfolk Scope (2000–2003) The Norfolk Nighthawks are
46-513: A cost of $ 3.5 million in 2014. This would result in additional restrooms and concession stands at the arena. There has been discussion about expanding the Norfolk Scope, by adding 5,000 seats and 24 luxury suites, in the near future, in order to remain competitive with neighboring venues in the southeastern and mid-Atlantic states. In 2018, the city decided to move on from the renovation concept, which would total $ 200 million. In his 2019 State of
69-584: A new franchise by the name the Albany Conquest. The team enjoyed little success and in 2009 for marketing purposes changed their name back to the Albany Firebirds before disbanding in 2010. They cited low attendance and poor fan support. Due to financial difficulties and low support, the Conquest were expected to fold following the 2008 season when a new investor could not be found. The franchise had notified
92-700: A now-defunct charter member of the AF2 . They played their home games at The Norfolk Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia . After a very impressive inaugural season, the Nighthawks never made it back to the playoffs and ceased all operations after the 2003 Af2 season. The Nighthawks coaches were: Deatrich Wise (2000-01), Mike Buck (2002), and Rick Frazier (2003). The assistant coaches were: Ron Hill, Offensive Coordinator, Ed Cunningham, Line coach, Keith Easley, Defence and Quality Control. The primary owners were Kenny Easley, Jr. (2000-03) and Bruce Smith (2000-03). Billy Mann served
115-549: A sports complex in Norfolk. Subsequently, President Lyndon B. Johnson asked Robertson to support federal funding for a multimillion-dollar cultural center in Colorado , and Robertson said he would if Johnson would support one in Norfolk. Williams and Tazewell was subsequently commissioned; they in turn commissioned Nervi. The complex was an important part of the first phase of Norfolk's post-World War II revitalization. A large section of
138-432: Is a multi-function complex in Norfolk, Virginia , comprising the 11,000-seat Scope Arena, a 2,500-seat theater known as Chrysler Hall , a 65,000-square-foot (6,000 m ) modular exhibition hall, and a 600-car parking garage. The arena was designed by Italian architect/engineer Pier Luigi Nervi in conjunction with the (now defunct) local firm Williams and Tazewell, which designed the entire complex. Nervi's design for
161-524: The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) men's and women's basketball conference championship tournaments since 2013. 36°51′11.79″N 76°17′12.20″W / 36.8532750°N 76.2867222°W / 36.8532750; -76.2867222 Albany Firebirds (af2) Then the city of Albany ventured into the world of arena football again, this time joining the AF2 in 2002, creating
184-607: The 1970s on, many times as a pay-per-view event. The biggest was Starrcade '88 in December 1988. The venue also hosted WCW 's Starrcade 1991 PPV & World War 3 PPV in November 1995 and 1996, featuring the 3 ringed battle royal. On April 27, 1998, during the Monday Night War , professional wrestling stable D-Generation X drove a jeep up to the doors of the venue during an episode of WCW Monday Nitro . The arena has hosted
207-509: The City address, Norfolk mayor Kenny Alexander announced plans to study the possibility of building a new arena, in a not yet named location. In March 2024, the city once again considered renovating Scope and potentially adding more seats. National Wrestling Alliance , Jim Crockett Promotions , World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment had wrestling shows in Scope many times from
230-472: The adjacent Chrysler Hall, a music and theater venue, home to the Virginia Symphony Orchestra . The arena's seating can be reconfigured to accommodate from 10,253 for sporting events up to 13,800 for concerts. With a concrete monolithic dome measuring 440 feet (130 m) in diameter and a height of 110 feet (34 m), the dome was, at the time of its construction, the largest of its kind in
253-583: The arena's reinforced concrete dome derived from the PalaLottomatica and the much smaller Palazzetto dello Sport , which were built in the 1950s for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome . Construction on Scope began in June 1968 at the northern perimeter of Norfolk's downtown and was completed in 1971 at a cost of $ 35 million. Federal funds covered $ 23 million of the cost, and when it opened formally on November 12, 1971,
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#1733085184286276-470: The city's downtown was razed, and the Scope complex was to "anchor" its northern corner, with the Vincent Kling designed courthouse and civic complex anchoring the eastern edge of downtown. The arena is located on its 14-acre (5.7 ha) site above a raised plinth , below which is located a parking garage for 640 cars. The facility includes a 65,000 sq ft (6,000 m ) exhibit hall as well as
299-402: The city's water table. The roof is a ribbed concrete dome, independent of seating bowl formed of sloped concrete beams supporting precast treads and risers which form the seating bowl. The perimeter of the dome roof is supported by a combination of vertical columns and inclined buttresses, which tie into a tension ring below ground. A concentric ring, approximately 7' 9" wide, is suspended from
322-619: The design as looking like "yesterday's tomorrow." The name "Scope", a contraction of kaleidoscope , emphasizes the venue's re-configurability. The facility logo (right), which features a multi-colored, abstracted kaleidoscope image, was designed by Raymond Loewy 's firm Loewy/Snaith of New York. After watching the 1960 Rome Summer Olympics on television, and seeing the Palazzo dello Sport and Palazzetto dello Sport , Brad Tazewell and Jim Williams, two Norfolk architects, solicited Senator A. Willis Robertson , father of Pat Robertson , to build
345-587: The dome, for service and lighting needs. During preparations for the first hosting of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus , a bear escaped its cage and ran across the wet paint on the floor of the unfinished Exhibition Hall below. During the first presentation in the Exhibition Hall of the Hampton Roads Automobile Show, visitors could spot bear tracks in the painted floor, between
368-427: The exhibitions. (Source: The Virginian-Pilot ) The arena has undergone $ 11 million of renovations since 2003, including the replacement of a center-hung scoreboard with a matrix screen on each side with a center-hung scoreboard with LED video and matrix boards and two LED end-zone videoboards in 2008. A new glass wall has been installed, and is expected to be extended in order to expand the arena's main concourse at
391-567: The league in late September that it would not return, but following a meeting with the Albany Times Union and the operator of the Times Union Center, an agreement was reached that would allow the team to return for 2009 . The team also acquired the rights to the old Firebirds name and logo in a rebranding effort to raise interest in the team, hoping to bring back fans from the days of the original Firebirds team. On April 28, 2009, it
414-820: The structure was the second-largest public complex in Virginia , behind only the Pentagon . Featuring the world's largest reinforced thinshell concrete dome (though eclipsed by the Seattle Kingdome from 1976 to 2000), Scope won the Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects Test of Time award in 2003. Wes Lewis, director of Old Dominion University 's civil engineering technology program, called it "a beautiful marrying of art and engineering." Noted architectural critic James Howard Kunstler described
437-607: The stunt, was cited as saying, "I'm a dog lover and I don't want anything to do with (Vick)." In a September 2016 article in Sports Illustrated , it was discovered that the Conquest/Firebirds almost became known as the Albany WarBirds. In 2001, 20-year-old college students Jason Klein and Casey White of branding firm Brandiose were chosen to come up with a new catchy name for a new franchise for Albany. The name that
460-4349: The team as General Manager, Patricia Easley and Adianna Manzella were the front office leaders. Corporate Sales was covered by Don Mears, Sr. Season-by-season [ edit ] Season records Season W L T Finish Playoff results 2000 11 7 0 2nd AC Won Round 1 (Norfolk 41, Jacksonville 28) Lost Semifinals ( Quad City 75, Norfolk 27) 2001 8 8 0 3rd AC Northeast -- 2002 8 8 0 3rd AC Atlantic -- 2003 8 8 0 3rd AC Atlantic -- Totals 35 31 0 (including playoffs) Season-By-Season [ edit ] Norfolk Nighthawks on ArenaFan.com References [ edit ] ^ "Rick Frazier: The Man With A Plan" . Eric Pesola . 2003-04-05 . Retrieved 2021-07-11 . v t e Defunct af2 teams Alabama Steeldogs Albany Conquest/Firebirds Amarillo Dusters Arkansas Twisters Augusta Stallions Austin Wranglers Bakersfield Blitz Baton Rouge Blaze Boise Burn Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings Cape Fear/South Georgia Wildcats Carolina Rhinos Central Valley Coyotes Charleston Swamp Foxes Cincinnati Jungle Kats Cincinnati Swarm Columbus Wardogs Corpus Christi Sharks Daytona Beach ThunderBirds Everett Hawks Florida Firecats Fort Wayne Fusion Fresno Frenzy Green Bay Blizzard Greensboro Prowlers Hawaiian Islanders Iowa Barnstormers Jacksonville Tomcats Kentucky Horsemen Lafayette Roughnecks Laredo Law Laredo Lobos Lincoln Lightning Louisville Fire Lubbock Renegades Macon Knights Mahoning Valley Thunder Manchester/Mohegan Wolves Memphis Xplorers Milwaukee Iron Mobile Wizards New Haven Ninjas Norfolk Nighthawks Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz Pensacola Barracudas Peoria Pirates Quad City Steamwheelers Richmond Speed Rio Grande Valley Dorados Roanoke Steam Rochester Brigade San Diego Riptide Spokane Shock Stockton Lightning Tallahassee Thunder Tennessee Valley Vipers Texas Copperheads Toledo Bullfrogs Tri-Cities Fever Tulsa Talons Wichita Stealth Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers Related articles Arena Football League AF2 Arena football Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norfolk_Nighthawks&oldid=1033766876 " Categories : American football teams in Virginia Defunct af2 teams Sports in Norfolk, Virginia American football teams established in 1999 American football teams disestablished in 2003 1999 establishments in Virginia 2003 disestablishments in Virginia Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata Norfolk Scope Norfolk Scope
483-437: The world — and was displaced as the record holder after the construction of the Seattle Kingdome . After the demolition of the larger Kingdome in 2000, Scope reclaimed the title as having the world's largest reinforced thin-shell concrete dome . Supported by 24 flying buttresses , the arena roof encloses 85,000 sq ft (7,900 m ). With over 1,000 pilings, the facility was constructed 10 feet (3.0 m) below
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#1733085184286506-404: Was announced that the Albany Firebirds had offered former NFL quarterback Michael Vick a contract. Under the terms of this contract, Vick would be required to donate $ 100,000 to a local animal shelter. The following day, the team retracted the announcement, claiming that it had been a publicity stunt created by the team's marketing department. The team's owner, Walter Robb , who knew nothing of
529-567: Was chosen was the "WarBirds" and logos, helmet and uniform designs were created. They filed for a trademark on August 15 and set September 12 as the day to unveil the name, logo and uniforms. Then, the September 11th attacks occurred in New York City , The Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania . It was then determined that all parties involved agreed that the concept, which Klein described as
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