Motorpoint Arena Cardiff

Motorpoint Arena Cardiff (formerly known as Cardiff International Arena and also as The CIA) is an indoor exhibition centre and events arena located in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, and was opened in September 1993 by singer Shirley Bassey. Its current name is due to a five-year sponsorship agreement. It is Cardiff's largest purpose-built exhibition facility.

History

The arena was opened on 10 September 1993, by Shirley Bassey, in front of 5,500 fans. On 1 March 2011, the Cardiff International Arena was officially renamed Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, after the car sales company with a branch in Newport bought the naming rights to the Cardiff International Arena for five years in what was called "a seven-figure investment". Other names who have performed here are among One Direction, Jessie J, JLS and Jason Derulo.

In March 2015 the venue's 3000th event was marked by a show headlined by singer Katherine Jenkins.

Facilities

The Main Arena offers 4,500 square metres of exhibition space, and is very versatile, for the number of different events that take place at the Arena. Full capacity can reach 7,500, in a standing layout and 5,000, for a fully seated event.

Cardiff International

Cardiff International may refer to:

Cardiff

Cardiff (ⁱ/ˈkɑːrdɪf/; Welsh: Caerdydd [kairˈdiːð, kaˑɨrˈdɨːð]) is the capital and largest city in Wales and the tenth largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is the country's chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for Wales. The unitary authority area's mid-2011 population was estimated to be 346,100, while the population of the Larger Urban Zone was estimated at 861,400 in 2009. Cardiff is part of the Cardiff and south Wales valleys metropolitan area of about 1,100,000 people. Cardiff is a significant tourist centre and the most popular visitor destination in Wales with 18.3 million visitors in 2010. In 2011, Cardiff was ranked sixth in the world in National Geographic's alternative tourist destinations.

The city of Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan (and later South Glamorgan). Cardiff is part of the Eurocities network of the largest European cities. The Cardiff Urban Area covers a slightly larger area outside the county boundary, and includes the towns of Dinas Powys and Penarth. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a major port for the transport of coal following the arrival of industry in the region contributed to its rise as a major city.

HM Prison Cardiff

HM Prison Cardiff is a Category B men's prison, located in the Adamsdown area of Cardiff, Wales. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.

History

By 1814, the existing Cardiff Gaol was deemed insufficient for coping with the both the scale of demand and quality of building to cope with the quickly expanding industrial town, and so proposals were made to build a new county jail for Glamorgan. Construction commenced in 1827, and the new stone building located south of Crockherbtown opened at the end of 1832, capable of housing 80 prisoners, including 20 debtors.

The three Victorian wings of Cardiff Prison underwent a major refurbishment programme in 1996, and the prison’s capacity was extended by the commissioning of three new wings (C, D and E), with the number of places for life-sentenced prisoners increased also.

In 1997 Cardiff Prison was criticised for chaining sick inmates to their hospital beds after a probe into the death of one of Cardiff's prisoners. Three years later one of Canterbury's Assistant Governors was found dead after an investigation into child pornography. The manager had been arrested at the prison days earlier by detectives investigating the alleged misuse of a personal computer.

Cardiff (surname)

Cardiff is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: