*** Welcome to piglix ***

CONSOL Energy Center

PPG Paints Arena
PPG Paints Arena logo.svg
Former names Consol Energy Center
(2010–2016)
Address 1001 Fifth Avenue
Location Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Coordinates 40°26′22″N 79°59′21″W / 40.43944°N 79.98917°W / 40.43944; -79.98917Coordinates: 40°26′22″N 79°59′21″W / 40.43944°N 79.98917°W / 40.43944; -79.98917
Public transit Pittsburgh Light Rail Steel Plaza
Owner Sports & Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County
Operator Anschutz Entertainment Group
Capacity Ice hockey: 18,387
Basketball: 19,100
Arena football: 16,280
End stage: 14,536
Center stage: 19,758
Field size 720,000 square feet (67,000 m2)
Surface Multi-surface (ice)
Scoreboard 15x25 Mitsubishi "Black-Packaged LED"
Construction
Broke ground August 14, 2008
Built August 2008 – August 2010
Opened August 18, 2010
Construction cost $321 million
($357 million in 2017 dollars)
Architect Populous
Astorino
Architectural Innovations
Fukui Architects
Lami Grubb
Project manager ICON Venue Group
Structural engineer Thornton Tomasetti/Raudenbush
Services engineer M-E Engineers, Inc.
General contractor Hunt Construction Group
Main contractors Oxford Development
Pittsburgh Arena Development, LP
Tenants
Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL) (2010–present)
Pittsburgh Power (AFL) (2011–2014)

PPG Paints Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that serves as home to the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL), and was the home of the Arena Football League's (AFL) Pittsburgh Power from 2011 to 2014.

Construction was completed on August 1, 2010, and the arena opened in time for the 2010–11 NHL season. It replaced the Penguins' former arena, Civic Arena (formerly known as Mellon Arena), which was completed in 1961. A ceremonial ground-breaking was held on August 14, 2008. The arena is the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold-certified arena in both the NHL and AFL. As soon as the arena opened in 2010 it was lauded as one of the best arenas in the world, winning both "Best New Major Concert Venue" in the Pollstar Concert Industry Awards and "Best NHL Arena" in the Sports Business Journal reader poll. The arena was originally named Consol Energy Center after Consol Energy purchased the naming rights in December 2008; in October 2016, the building was renamed after PPG Industries took over the naming rights.

The Lemieux Group explored options to build a replacement for Pittsburgh Civic Arena, the oldest arena in the NHL, since its purchase of the Penguins in 1999. In an attempt not to use public funding, the Penguins filed for a slots license under the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. The Penguins were granted the license, though the decision of which casino company would receive approval was the Gaming Control Board's decision. The Lemieux Group reached an agreement with Isle of Capri Casinos, which offered to fully fund a $290 million arena, if Capri could also construct a $500 million casino nearby. Other casinos, including Majestic Star Casino and Forest City Enterprises, also agreed to partially contribute to the arena's funding. On December 20, 2006, the Gaming Control Board awarded the license to Majestic Star Casino, who agreed to pay $7.5 million for the first 30 years, in addition to the Penguins paying $4 million per year. The casino experienced financial difficulty, which could have led to taxpayers financing the entire project. However, on August 14, 2008 the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board selected Neil Bluhm to take ownership of the casinos, which pulled the casinos out of risk of bankruptcy.


...
Wikipedia

...