Compaq Center

From sports arena to spiritual home: the story of Houston's Compaq Center.

via Wikipedia: Lakewood Church Central Campus · see source

The Lakewood Church Central Campus is the main facility of Lakewood Church, a non-denominational evangelical Christian megachurch in Houston, Texas, five miles southwest of Downtown Houston and next to Greenway Plaza. From 1975 to 2003, the building served as a multi-purpose sports arena for professional teams, notably the NBA's Houston Rockets. It was known as The Summit until 1998, when technology firm Compaq bought naming rights and dubbed it Compaq Center. That name was dropped when Toyota Center opened as a new and more advanced professional sports venue in the same city, and the building was leased to Lakewood Church. Seven years later, in 2010, the church bought the building outright.

Quick Facts

Address: 3700 Southwest Freeway
Location: Houston, Texas
Groundbreaking: December 1973
Opened: November 1, 1975
Closed: December 1, 2003 (as a sports arena)
Reopened: July 16, 2005
Owner: Lakewood Church
Architect: Kenneth Bentsen Associates, Lloyd Jones Associates

Lore & Background

Completed in 1975 at a cost of $18 million, there was an Opening Night Spectacular called 'Heart To Heart', benefitting the Baylor College of Medicine, The Methodist Hospital, and the Texas Heart Institute. Andy Williams was the headliner. The Summit represented a lavish new breed of sports arena. On each end of the arena was a Fair-Play scoreboard with a small two-line monochrome message center. Both scoreboards were upgraded in 1986 with the addition of three front-projection videoboards on top of each scoreboard. The center videoboard showed live game footage, fan shots, and replays while the left and right videoboards showed slides displaying advertisements for the Rockets' (and Aeros') sponsors.

Reader's Guide

The Summit housed the NBA's Rockets, the now defunct WHA/IHL/AHL Aeros, the now also defunct WNBA Comets, several now defunct arena football and indoor soccer sports teams until they vacated the arena in favor of the new Toyota Center in downtown Houston. The NBA Finals were hosted by The Summit in 1981, 1986, 1994, and 1995, including the deciding games of 1994 and 1995, and the celebrations that followed. The Summit also hosted the WNBA championships of 1997 through 2000, all of which were won by the Houston Comets. It held the Royal Rumble on January 15, 1989.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the primary role of the Compaq Center for the Houston Rockets?

It served as the team's main home arena located in Downtown Houston, Texas, from 1993 to 2003. This venue provided the backdrop for the franchise during a decade defined by regular season success and playoff contention.

Why was the venue named Compaq Center instead of The Summit?

Corporate sponsorship deals with Compaq Computer Corporation led to the renaming of the facility during its tenure as an NBA home. This branding change coincided with the team's relocation from previous venues like the Astrodome.

How long did the Rockets call this location their home court?

The franchise utilized the stadium for exactly ten years, spanning from 1993 until it closed in 2003. After that period, the team moved to a different venue to continue their operations.