Laurel History Boys Produce 280-page Hardcover Book Honoring the Capital Centre’s 50th Anniversary
When The Laurel History Boys first announced that we would be producing a book to honor the 50th anniversary of the legendary Capital Centre, the timing was symbolic. I pressed the proverbial button myself, posting a Facebook update exactly 20 years to the very second that the famed Landover arena had been imploded on December 15, 2002. On what was otherwise a somber anniversary, we wanted to offer some unexpected, uplifting news on the subject—an official announcement that our next book project (already secretly well-underway) was going to be something special that would reach beyond Laurel and appeal to the greater Prince George’s County region and beyond. And we intended to finish it in time for another important milestone, on what would have been the 50th anniversary of the Capital Centre’s grand opening: December 2, 2023.
Kevin Leonard, Jeff Krulik, and I set about creating the book in early 2022, when Jeff—who produced the cult documentary Heavy Metal Parking Lot (which was filmed outside the Capital Centre in 1986)—had been knee-deep working with the University of Maryland Libraries to establish their Capital Centre Collection, which includes photos and ephemera from the earliest days of the arena to its final moments. Jeff has also been working to secure oral histories from many former Capital Centre employees—everyone from executives to concession stand contractors, whom owner Abe Pollin always referred to as “The Capital Centre Family.” One of Jeff’s most important contacts has been Jerry Sachs, the former Capital Centre President and right hand man of Abe Pollin. Sachs was there from the very beginning, and is the sole survivor of that original group of founders who built the Capital Centre—a group that frequently had to learn on the fly, while somehow managing to incorporate innovations that would go on to become standard in arenas around the world.
Jeff floated the idea of a Capital Centre commemorative book to Jerry, who loved the idea. We met Jerry last spring and were inspired by his enthusiasm for the project, which was infectious. After seeing the books we’d produced for Laurel, he was convinced that we were more than up for the task.
Over the next several months, Kevin, Jeff, and I each had a role to play in making this book a reality. Kevin began a months-long process of interviewing former employees, which yielded many unexpected stories and details. Jeff coordinated with photographers and collectors who shared material for the book, and he brought a curator’s eye to the project. I set about photographing and acquiring anything and everything I could find to help tell the Capital Centre story, and then organized it into the design.
Like the famed parking lot, the book is comprised of four sections: the venue, sports, concerts, and other events. Within these sections, we were able to paint with a broad brush to cover the general history of the arena through photos, ephemera, ads, and stories. The result is a robust, visual scrapbook—and what I always envisioned to be a love letter to the Capital Centre that anyone with fond memories of the venue will appreciate.
Of course, it was also a chance to share plenty of facts and tidbits that many have likely never heard of. One of our favorite stories came from former Ogden contractor Mike Bargeron, who worked for years selling t-shirts and other merchandise at Capital Centre events. In the early 1980s, The Police were a still a relatively new rock band. Like many musical acts that played the Capital Centre, bandmembers Sting and Stewart Copeland took advantage of the downtime before their show to check out the merchandise booth in the concourse area. But when they began rifling through a box of t-shirts, one of Mike’s colleagues put a stop to it. “Hey, you’re not allowed to do that,” he said. The musicians responded, “It’s okay, we’re with The Police.” Thinking they meant the actual PG County Police Department, the exasperated vendor replied, “Well, then you should know better!”
We’re also very proud to have been able to include a full events list—a 60-page chronology of every event hosted by the Capital Centre throughout its history.
As we’ve done to fund the printing of our previous books, we launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign that raised more than enough to meet our minimum goal. The $22,000 raised over the course of the 15-day campaign allowed us to upgrade all 2,000 copies to hardcover.
While we’d hoped to have all of the books in time for the holiday season, the hardcover printing took a bit more time than expected. However, we were able to receive a very small quantity of advance copies by air freight, which allowed us to premiere the book at a special Capital Centre Family reunion on December 3rd, organized by Abe Pollin’s sons, Jimmy and Robert. The overwhelmingly positive reaction by those who knew the arena best confirmed what we’d hoped for—that our book accurately and lovingly tells the story of what this venue meant to so many people.
As of this writing, we’re still awaiting the full shipment of books to arrive, but they’re expected to reach U.S. Customs in New York by mid-January. We will post an update on our Facebook page as soon as we have them in hand, and will begin processing orders immediately. You can reserve your copy now at our website, laurelhistory.com/shop.
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