Meridian Centre
 |
|
| Location | 1 IceDogs Way St. Catharines, Ontario L2R 0B3 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | Coordinates: 43°09′20.94″N 79°14′39.20″W / 43.1558167°N 79.2442222°W |
| Owner | City of St. Catharines |
| Operator | SMG Canada ULC |
| Capacity | 5,300 - Hockey 5,580 - Standing Room 6,000 - Concerts 4,030 - Basketball |
| Field size | 200' X 85' |
| Construction | |
| Opened | September 2014 |
| Construction cost |
$50 million ($50.6 million in 2017 dollars) |
| Architect | PBK Architects |
| General contractor | Ball-Rankin |
| Tenants | |
|
Niagara IceDogs (OHL) (2014–present) Niagara River Lions (NBL Canada) (2015–present) Niagara Lock Monsters (CLax) (2015–2016) |
|
The Meridian Centre is a 5,300 seat arena in downtown St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, located at 1 IceDogs Way. The arena is the home of the Niagara IceDogs of the Ontario Hockey League as well as the Niagara River Lions of the National Basketball League of Canada.
In December 2011, after years of debate, St. Catharines city council voted 9-3 and approved the construction of a multi-use spectator facility with 4,500 to 5,300 seats, at a maximum cost of $50 million. The project was to be funded with $17 million from the civic project fund, $5 million in fundraising, $1 million from federal gas tax fund.
In October 2012, city councillors voted 11-2 to pay $45 million to Ball-Rankin Construction to build a new 4,500-seat facility, to be completed by September 2014.
Meridian Credit Union was given the naming rights of the facility in recognition of its $5.23 million contribution to the project. The name of the arena was announced in September 2013.
Upon the completion of the Meridian Centre, the St. Catharines Sports Hall of Fame was relocated to concourse level of the arena. The St. Catharines Sports Hall of Fame was founded in 1990 to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of both women and men, athletes and builders whom have significantly contributed to the development of sport in St. Catharines and went on to success at Provincial, National and/or International levels of competition.
The primary tenant at the Meridian Centre is the Niagara IceDogs of the Ontario Hockey League. The Niagara IceDogs won their first game at the Meridian Centre on October 16, 2014 against the Belleville Bulls by a score of 7-4 in front of a sellout crowd of 5,300, the largest attendance in franchise history. This record was later broken when standing room tickets were sold during the 2015-16 OHL playoffs with a new attendance of 5,580.
In 2015, the Meridian Centre welcomed a secondary tenant in the Niagara River Lions of the National Basketball League of Canada. The addition of the River Lions basketball court also allows for important Brock University men's and women's basketball games to be relocated to the much larger venue of the Meridian Centre.
...
Wikipedia