Building for the venue began in early 1990 and involved the excavation of 75,200 tonnes of earth and the pouring of 36,480 tonnes of concrete, the largest concrete pour in South Australia at the time, as well as over 750,000 hours on construction. The Main Arena floor is 65.4 metres by 42.1 metres and the roof height is approximately 20 metres from the Arena floor (approximately the height of a 5 storey building). The clear span of the Arena is 85 metres, the 8 roof trusses weighed a total of 216 tonnes and 980 tonnes of structural steel was used in the construction. The Adelaide Entertainment Centre was officially opened on 20 July 1991 by John Bannon, the then Premier of South Australia.