XL Center

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XL Center
XL Group 2011 logo.svg
XL Center Logo
Former names Hartford Civic Center (1975–2007)
Location 1 Civic Center Plaza, Hartford, Connecticut 06103
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Owner City of Hartford[1]
Operator Global Spectrum
Capacity Basketball:
16,294 (1975-2014)
15,564 (2014-present)
Hockey:
15,635
Surface 200 × 85 ft (hockey)
Construction
Broke ground April 2, 1971[2]
Opened January 9, 1975
Closed 1978–1980 (roof collapse, renovations)
Construction cost $30 million[3]
($132 million in 2024 dollars[4])
Architect Kling & Associates
Danos and Associates[5]
Project manager Gilbane Building Company[6]
Structural engineer Fraoli, Blum, and Yesselman, Engineers[7]
General contractor William L. Crow Construction Company[6]
Tenants
Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL) (1997–present)
Connecticut Huskies (NCAA) (1975-1978, 1980–present, part-time)
New England / Hartford Whalers (WHA / NHL) (1975–1978, 1980–1997)
Connecticut Coyotes (AFL) (1995–1996)
New England Blizzard (ABL) (1996–1998)
New England Sea Wolves (AFL) (1999–2000)
Boston Celtics (NBA) (1975–1995, part-time)
Hartford Hellions (MISL) (1980–1981)

The XL Center (originally known as the Hartford Civic Center) is a multi-purpose arena and convention center located in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. It is owned by the City of Hartford and operated by Global Spectrum. In December 2007, the Center was renamed when the arena's naming rights were sold to XL Group insurance company in a 6-year agreement. The arena is ranked the 28th largest among college basketball arenas. Opened in 1974 as the Hartford Civic Center and originally located adjacent to Civic Center Mall, which was demolished in 2004. It consists of two facilities: the Veterans Memorial Coliseum and the Exhibition Center.

On March 21, 2007, the CDA selected the Northland/Anschutz Entertainment Group proposal. It was revealed that Northland will assume total responsibility for the building paying for any and all losses, and will keep any profits. In 2012, the CDA, put the contract out to bid with hopes of combining the operations with Rentschler Field.[8] In February 2013, Global Spectrum of Philadelphia, was chosen to take over both the XL Center and Rentschler Field[9] with Ovations Food Services taking over all food and beverage operations.

Hartford Civic Center

The Civic Center is the full-time home of the Hartford Wolf Pack AHL hockey team and part-time home of the University of Connecticut men's and women's basketball teams. Starting in the late 1990s, the UConn men moved most of their important games—including the bulk of their Big East Conference games—to the Coliseum. During the 2011–2012 season, for instance, they played 11 home games at the Coliseum and only eight at their on-campus facility, Gampel Pavilion. This practice continued when the Huskies joined the American Athletic Conference, successor to the original Big East, in 2013.The Uconn Men's Hockey team will move all games off campus starting in the 2014-15 season and use the XL Center as its primary home as the newest member of Hockey East.

It was the home of the New England/Hartford Whalers of the WHA and NHL from 1975–1978 and 1980–1997, and the Hartford Hellions of the MISL from 1980–1981, and the New England Blizzard of the ABL from 1996–1998, and hosted occasional Boston Celtics home games from 1975–1995. It was the home of the Connecticut Coyotes and later the New England Sea Wolves of the Arena Football League.

The arena seats 15,635 for ice hockey and 16,294 for basketball, 16,606 for center-stage concerts, 16,282 for end-stage concerts, and 8,239 for ¾-end stage concerts, and contains 46 luxury suites and a 310-seat Coliseum Club, plus 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2) of arena floor space, enabling it to be used for trade shows and conventions in addition to concerts, circuses, ice shows, sporting events and other events. The graduation ceremonies of Central Connecticut State University and other local colleges are also held annually at the XL Center.

Early history and ceiling collapse

The arena remains a site for popular concerts. October 2007.

As originally built in 1975, it seated 10,507 for hockey, and served as the home of the then-New England Whalers for three years. After failed negotiations to with the ABA to maintain a franchise to be the main tenant, coliseum management contacted the Whalers. The Whalers came from Boston after being pushed even further down in line with awful dates given from Boston Garden management as they usually came after the Bruins, Celtics and the minor league Braves. Whalers majority owner Howard Baldwin flew into Brainard Airport during a snowstorm and never looked back, moving operations to the newly built coliseum in 1975. In the early morning of January 18, 1978, just hours after the University of Connecticut Men's Basketball team defeated the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the weight of snow from the day's heavy snowstorm and a faulty roof design caused the Civic Center roof to collapse.[10] There were no injuries. The building was heavily renovated and re-opened January 17, 1980.

The Arena hosted the Hartford Whalers from January 11, 1980 to April 13, 1997. Shortly thereafter the team relocated to Raleigh to become the Carolina Hurricanes. In 1994, new owner Peter Karmanos purchased the team and pledged to keep the Whalers in Connecticut until 1998, unless they could not sell over 11,000 season tickets. After failed negotiations to build a new downtown arena for the Whalers with then-Governor John G. Rowland, on March 25, 1997, Karmanos announced that the team would leave. The New York Rangers, looking to capitalize on Hartford as a potential market, placed its farm team there to become the Hartford Wolf Pack starting in 1997. After a short stint as the Connecticut Whale, they reverted to the Wolf Pack moniker in 2013. Renovations were complete in October 2014, which is set to serve the arena until its fiftieth birthday.

Seating capacity

The seating capacity for hockey has gone as follows:

  • 10,507 (1975–1979)
  • 14,460 (1979–1980)[11]
  • 14,510 (1980–1982)[12]
  • 14,817 (1983–1985)[13]
  • 15,126 (1985–1987)[14]
  • 15,223 (1987–1989)[14]
  • 15,635 (1989–present)[14]

Current arena and recent renovations

In September 2010, the arena was upgraded with a new center-hung scoreboard with four Sony Jumbotrons and a state-of-the-art sound system.[15] Recent update: The Connecticut State Legislature set aside $35 million in funding for improvements to the XL Center to begin in early spring 2014 and completed in time for the start of the 2014-15 seasons of the Wolf Pack and Uconn Men's Hockey in October. Improvements include upgrades to the mechanical system, locker rooms and concourse, replacing jumbotrons with a new high definition video board, as well as aesthetic improvements such as a new bar area inside the arena and luxury seating in the lower bowl. A portion of the $35 million allocation will go towards a study on the arena’s long-term viability; either more major renovations or replacing it with a new facility.

Events

The XL Center has held many notable events including:

The Veterans Memorial Coliseum as set up for Monster Jam.

Exhibition center

The Exhibition Center consists of a 68,855-square-foot (6,397 m2) exhibit hall, a 16,080-square-foot (1,494 m2) assembly hall that can divide into two meeting rooms, plus seven meeting rooms totaling 7,390 square feet (687 m2) and two lobbies totaling 6,100 square feet (570 m2). It is used for trade shows, conventions, banquets, meetings and other events.

The surrounding shopping mall was torn down in 2004 and was replaced by street-level retail shops and a 36-story residential tower named Hartford 21 which opened in 2006 and is the tallest residential tower between New York City and Boston.

Possible new arena

With the XL Center approaching its 40th birthday, leaders in Hartford have been considering whether it should be replaced with a new facility. In 2006, developer Lawrence Gottesdiener began lobbying to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins and move them to a new Hartford arena, but the Lemieux Group was reluctant to sell. The Penguins bid was officially off the table in March 2007, when the team announced that they were beginning construction on a new arena and that they signed a 30-year deal with the city of Pittsburgh to keep the team there well into the future. Penguins owner Mario Lemieux claimed at the arena's ground-breaking ceremony that relocating the franchise was never a possibility, but was instead a negotiation tactic to help the team get funding for the arena from both state and local officials.[20]

After the Pittsburgh bid fell through, Gottesdiener made another bid for the Nashville Predators franchise with the hope of bringing them to Hartford. That bid was lost in August 2007, as the Predators ownership ultimately decided to sell to a local holding company that would keep the team in Nashville.

Since that time, Mayor Eddie Pérez and former House Speaker James Amann continued to investigate the feasibility of a new downtown arena,[21] with Mayor Perez making statements to tear down the XL Center and replace it with the new arena as recently as March 2008. The current lease for the XL Center runs until 2013. After that, the facility must be turned over to the city of Hartford. By that point, the city wants to decide whether the building can be refurbished or if it has enough financial support to build a new arena. Mayor Eddie Perez met with a newly formed task force of city business leaders to determine the benefits of building a new arena. "In order to consider the new arena, we have to find out where the corporate support is for a new arena and that's the charge I gave the task force," Perez said. "My hope is that by late September of this year, they can give me an idea where the corporate support would be and how we can go about organizing that support. "The mayor said that he feels the city needs a new arena to attract more events and possibly a professional sports franchise. "For a region to survive, you need a dynamic urban center and entertainment is part of a dynamic urban center," said Oz Griebel of the Metro Hartford Alliance. "If you're going to offer entertainment venues, whether they be basketball games, hockey games, rodeos, concerts, you have to have a venue that people are going to want to come to." Perez said he thinks a new arena could bring about 1,500 new jobs to the city.

Early in 2010, Howard Baldwin, the former owner of the Whalers, moved back to Connecticut and formed Whalers Sports and Entertainment in an attempt to grow interest in hockey and the NHL in Connecticut. These efforts may lead to the building a state-of-the-art arena as a replacement for the aging XL Center. In November 2011, Howard Baldwin announced a $105 million proposal to renovate the XL Center as a part of an effort to improve attendance at current minor hockey and college basketball games and improve Hartford's chances at attracting a new NHL hockey team. In June 2012, it was announced that MSG was severing ties with Baldwin and his company, WSE. AEG assumed the business operations for the Connecticut Whale immediately after that, until Global Spectrum took over the Whale's business operations, and that of the XL Center in 2013.[22]

On February 19, 2015, the CRDA released a case study on the future of the arena. The report presents three options. The first option would be to completely tear down the existing arena down and construct a new one. The second option would be to expand the existing arena and completely rebuild the interior. The third, and final option, is to neither expand nor construct a new arena, and rather overhaul the current site. Each option will come complete with additional luxury boxes and suites, and other amenities up to par with comparable NHL facilities. The study estimates 2-3 years of construction time and a $250-$500 million price tag.

See also

References

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External links

Events and tenants
Preceded by Home of the New England / Hartford Whalers
1974–1978
1980–1997
Succeeded by
Springfield Civic Center
Greensboro Coliseum
Preceded by Home of the New England Sea Wolves
1999–2000
Succeeded by
Air Canada Centre
Preceded by Host of NHL All-Star Game
1986
Succeeded by
St. Louis Arena
Preceded by Home of the Hartford Wolf Pack/Connecticut Whale
1997-Present
Succeeded by
Current Arena