Capital One Arena

This guide to Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, D.C. opens on the night in December 1997 when the Wizards took the court in a brand-new arena built by owner Abe Pollin's own fortune, not the city's. It traces why Pollin insisted on this rundown Chinatown block over suburban money, and the deal that brought the District in as a partner. Along the way it follows the arena's name changes and Washington's later fight to keep its teams from moving away.