Cairns Convention Centre, which opened in 1997, is a multi-purpose arena, located in Cairns, Australia. The capacity is 5,300 people.
It is the home arena of the Cairns Taipans basketball team. The record crowd is 5,500 for an NBL Finals game in 2004 between Cairns Taipans and Perth Wildcats. During Taipans games it is commonly referred to as "The Snakepit" in reference to the team's nickname.
The convention centre is said to be Australia’s first environmentally-designed major public building. It boasts several green features such as a double-layer pleated plate roof that provides half of the centre’s grounds and garden watering needs. It has won a number of awards for its green features, including the first EIBTM environmental award in 1994.
Famous quotes containing the words convention and/or centre:
“The metaphor of the king as the shepherd of his people goes back to ancient Egypt. Perhaps the use of this particular convention is due to the fact that, being stupid, affectionate, gregarious, and easily stampeded, the societies formed by sheep are most like human ones.”
—Northrop Frye (b. 1912)
“The bogholes might be Atlantic seepage.
The wet centre is bottomless.”
—Seamus Heaney (b. 1939)