The St. Pete Times Forum is the Shining Star of Downtown Tampa.
It is home to the National Hockey League’s Tampa Bay Lightning and the Arena Football League’s Tampa Bay Storm. It is also host to some of the world’s top entertainers.
It opened in 1996 as the Ice Palace and in 2002 the naming rights were sold to the St. Petersburg Times, the daily newspaper in the Tampa Bay area. The arena was originally built to be the new home of the Tampa Bay Lightning replacing the old home in the Thunderdome in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Thunderdome has changed its name to Tropicana Field and is home to Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays.
The Forum is a state-of-the-art arena that hosts more than 150 events per year. It has 660,000 square feet of space and there are 3 decks with seven different levels. The capacity for hockey is 19,758, for basketball games it is 20,500, and for concerts up to 21,500.
Every seat in the arena is good. It also has 80 luxury suites and 2 gourmet restaurants, Medallions and Icons, which both have panoramic views of downtown Tampa. The concourse is wide and provides good access to concessions and restrooms. There are a total of 37 restrooms, 22 concessions stands, 8 elevators, and 4 escalators.
The arena is located on the Garrison Channel in the heart of the Garrison Seaport District between the Florida Aquarium and the Tampa Convention Center.
The TECO Line Streetcar runs along the south side of the arena. The streetcars are air conditioned and accessible for people with disabilities. They are historic replicas of the Birney Safety Cars that were so important to Tampa’s daily life from the 1890s to 1946.
There is adequate parking for the arena. The most convenient is the South Regional Parking Garage across Chrysler-Jeep Plaza at the corner of Florida Avenue and Channelside Drive. This garage has approximately 1500 spaces and is owned and operated by the city of Tampa. Other parking is available in and around downtown Tampa within a 5-block radius of the arena.
The McDonald’s Box office is located on the west side of the arena under the entrance to gate B. Their hours are 9:00am to 6:00pm Monday through Friday on non-event weekdays and 10:00am to 2:00pm Saturdays on non-event weekends. They are closed on non-event Sundays. When there is an event that day, the hours are 9:00am to a ½ hour after the event on Mondays through Friday and 10:00am to a ½ hour after the event Saturday and Sunday.
If you need handicap seating, they ask that you let them know when purchasing your tickets. They accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover.
The St. Pete Times Forum is a smoke free facility and is fully accessible and ADA compliant. The entrance for the person with disabilities is located off the Chrysler-Jeep Plaza on the west side of the arena thru the McDonald’s Box Office. There is an elevator that allows access to all seating levels for persons with disabilities and their companions.
There are handicap parking spaces in the South Regional Parking Garage. You must have a valid handicap parking permit and the spaces are on a first come, first served basis. If you need it, there is a drop-off point along Channelside Drive for persons with disabilities. It is the 15-minute circle located right off Channelside Drive.
Whether you come by Car, Plane, Trolley, Streetcar, or Boat, you will enjoy your visit to the St. Pete Times Forum. Not a bad seat in the house. Major hotels, world-class restaurants, and other entertainment are all within a short walk, streetcar ride or boat ride.