Alerus Center
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| Former names | Aurora Events Center (pre-construction) |
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| Location | 1200 S 42nd St. Grand Forks, ND 58201-3733 |
| Coordinates | 47°54′58″N 97°5′27″W / 47.91611°N 97.09083°WCoordinates: 47°54′58″N 97°5′27″W / 47.91611°N 97.09083°W |
| Owner | City of Grand Forks |
| Operator | City of Grand Forks |
| Capacity |
Concerts (full-house set): 21,000 Concerts (half-house set): 11,000 Theater: 4,600 Football: 12,283 Basketball: 9,500 |
| Field size | Overall square footage: 447,000 Ballroom square footage: 26,000 Arena floor dimensions: 415' north to south 240' east to west |
| Surface | Multi-surface |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | July 15, 1998 |
| Opened | February 10, 2001 |
| Construction cost |
$80 million ($108 million in 2017 dollars) |
| Architect |
Ellerbe Becket JLG Architects Schoen & Associates |
| Structural engineer | Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, Inc. |
| Services engineer | Obermiller Nelson Engineering, Inc. |
| General contractor | Mortenson Construction |
| Tenants | |
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North Dakota Fighting Hawks football (NCAA) (2001-present) |
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Alerus Center is an indoor arena and convention center located in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The facility is owned and operated by the city of Grand Forks and opened on February 10, 2001. The arena's major tenant is the University of North Dakota football team. The arena also plays host to many large concerts, sporting events, and trade shows. It can seat more than 21,000 people at one time. The convention center section of the facility includes a 26,000-square-foot (2,400 m2) ballroom and 12 meeting rooms. The convention center is used for conferences, seminars, banquets, parties, and smaller concerts. Directly adjacent to the Alerus Center is a large hotel and waterpark complex called the Canad Inns Destination Center.
Alerus Center is named after a local financial institution, Alerus Financial, which purchased the building's naming rights. Prior to opening, the facility had been referred to as the Aurora Events Center.
After attempts going back to 1984 to fund expansion of the downtown civic center or construction of a new convention center (1992), in 1995 a vote to increase the local sales tax to build a new events center (dubbed The Aurora Events Center, costing $43 to $49 million) passed with 60% approval. Cost overruns required another vote in 1996 on an events center to cost $57 million which passed with 51% approval.
The Flood of 1997 delayed the project and led to redesigns to make the facility less susceptible to future flooding. Compass Management was hired to manage facility and in 2000 Aurora was renamed Alerus Center after Alerus Financial bought naming rights for a period of 20 years. Alerus Center opened on February 10, 2001 with a final cost of $80 million. In 2006 construction started on Canad Inns hotel tower and water park, and was completed in 2007.
In 2007 the city ended its management contract with Compass Management but the same year rehired Compass Management, now renamed VenuWorks, with the provision they won't be paid if they lose taxpayer money. In 2009 Alerus Commission announced they lost $720,000 in the events fund due to Alerus operations. No accounting of that loss is made available to the public. VenuWorks notified the City of Grand Forks it intends to terminate its management contract with the events center effective December 31, 2011. The city will likely manage most of the facility with the option of bringing help to assist in specialty areas.
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Wikipedia