Civic Arena

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Civic Arena
The Igloo
The House That Lemieux Built
The Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh (2007)
The Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh (2007)
Earlier names

Civic Auditorium (1961)
Civic Arena (1961–1999, 2010–2011)
Mellon Arena (1999–2010)

Data
place 66 Mario Lemieux Place Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania 15219-3504
United StatesUnited States
Coordinates 40 ° 26 ′ 30 ″  N , 79 ° 59 ′ 24 ″  W Coordinates: 40 ° 26 ′ 30 ″  N , 79 ° 59 ′ 24 ″  W
owner City of Pittsburgh
operator Spectacor Management Group (SMG)
start of building March 12, 1957
opening September 19, 1961
Renovations 1986, 1993
demolition September 26, 2011 to March 31, 2012
surface Concrete
ice surface,
parquet,
artificial turf
costs 22 million US dollars (1961)
19.5 million US dollars (1986)
architect Mitchell & Ritchey Architects
capacity 16,940 seats (ice hockey)
17,537 seats (basketball)
15,924 seats (arena football)
12,800-18,039 seats (concerts)
Societies)
Events

The Civic Arena was a multi-purpose hall with a closable roof in the US city ​​of Pittsburgh in the state of Pennsylvania . Nicknamed Igloo , the arena was home to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL from 1967 to 2010 and was previously the home of the Pittsburgh Hornets in the AHL . In addition, the Pittsburgh Pipers, the Pittsburgh Condors in the ABA and the Pittsburgh Spirit played here. The arena offered 17,537 seats for ice hockey games , there were also 56 luxury suites and 1,696 club seats. The naming rights acquired from Mellon Financial in 1999 expired on August 1, 2010. Then the old home of the penguins was renamed Civic Arena again .

history

The arena was the oldest and third smallest venue in the NHL in its last season of use by the Penguins. It was in 1961 for 22 million dollars built. Originally, the hall was not planned for sporting events, but for the local Civic Light Opera, which until then had performed in the Pitt Stadium . The building was constructed with a retractable dome, 126 meters in diameter, made up of eight stainless panels, six of which could be moved below the remaining two static panels in two and a half minutes.

The Civic Light Opera left the arena in 1968 when it became clear that the acoustics were too poor. The Pittsburgh Hornets moved in in 1961 and were replaced by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1967. The stadium was gradually expanded in 1975 and 1993 with additional tiers on each side, luxury suites and club seats, increasing the spectator capacity from 12,000 to over 17,000. When a new display board was installed in 1995, the roof could no longer be fully opened and closed.

Finally, the owners of the Penguins complained that the old arena was too expensive and did not produce enough spectators to keep the team profitable. The goal was now to build a new arena to prevent the penguins from moving out of Pittsburgh. At the beginning of 2008, an agreement was reached with the administration on the financing. Immediately next to the arena, the Consol Energy Center was built on the site of a former hospital and was ready for occupancy for the 2010/11 season .

Despite municipal efforts to preserve the arena as a monument, it was demolished between September 2011 and March 31, 2012. A forge in Pittsburgh made souvenirs from the steel girders of the roof structure, around 40,000 of which were sold for charitable purposes.

Culture

The arena was the location for the 1995 action film " Sudden Death " with Jean-Claude Van Damme .

gallery

Web links

Commons : Civic Arena  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. pittsburghhockey.net: naming rights ( memento of the original from March 15, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / pittsburghhockey.net
  2. lakingsinsider.com: Demolition date (English)
  3. youtube.com: Time-lapse video of the demolition . Retrieved July 4, 2012.
  4. usatoday.com: Civic Arena ornament sales go through roof . Retrieved July 4, 2012.