Pittsburgh Civic Arena
| The Igloo The House That Lemieux Built |
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| Former names | Civic Auditorium (1961) Civic Arena (1961–99; 2010–11) Mellon Arena (December 1999 – June 2010) |
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| Location | 66 Mario Lemieux Place, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219-3504 |
| Coordinates | 40°26′30″N 79°59′24″W / 40.44167°N 79.99000°WCoordinates: 40°26′30″N 79°59′24″W / 40.44167°N 79.99000°W |
| Owner | Sports & Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County |
| Operator | SMG |
| Capacity |
Ice hockey: 16,940
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| Field size | 250 x 120 ft |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | March 12, 1958 |
| Opened | September 17, 1961 |
| Renovated | 1986 ($19.5 million) Summer 1993 |
| Closed | June 26, 2010 |
| Demolished | September 26, 2011 – March 31, 2012 |
| Construction cost | US$22 million ($178 million in 2017 dollars) |
| Architect | Mitchell & Ritchey Architects |
| Structural engineer | Ammann & Whitney |
| General contractor | Dick Corporation |
| Tenants | |
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Duquesne Dukes (NCAA) (1961–88) Pittsburgh Rens (ABL) (1961–63) Pittsburgh Hornets (AHL) (1961–67) Pittsburgh Pipers/Condors (ABA) (1967–68, 1969–72) Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL) (1967–2010) Pittsburgh Triangles (WTT) (1974–76) Pittsburgh Spirit (MISL) (1978–86) Pittsburgh Gladiators (AFL) (1987–90) Pittsburgh Bulls (MILL) (1990–93) Pittsburgh Phantoms (RHI) (1994) Pittsburgh Stingers (CISL) (1994–95) Pittsburgh CrosseFire (NLL) (2000) Pittsburgh Xplosion (ABA) (2005–06) |
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Ice hockey: 16,940
Hockey SRO: 17,132
Basketball: 17,537
Concert:
Civic Arena (formerly the Civic Auditorium and later Mellon Arena) was an arena located in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Civic Arena primarily served as the home to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the city's National Hockey League (NHL) franchise, from 1967 to 2010. It was the first retractable roof major-sports venue in the world, covering 170,000 sq. feet, constructed with nearly 3,000 tons of Pittsburgh steel and supported solely by a massive 260-foot-long cantilevered arm on the exterior. Even though it was designed and engineered as a retractable-roof dome, the operating cost and repairs to the hydraulic jacks halted all full retractions after 1995, and the roof stayed permanently closed after 2001. The first roof opening was during a July 4, 1962 Carol Burnett show to which she exclaimed "Ladies and Gentlemen...I present the sky!"
Constructed in 1961 for use by the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera (CLO), it was the brainchild of department store owner Edgar J. Kaufmann. The Civic Arena hosted numerous concerts, the circus, political and religious rallies, roller derbies as well as contests in hockey, basketball, fish tournament weigh-ins, pro tennis, boxing, wrestling, lacrosse, football, ice skating championships, kennel shows, and soccer. The structure was used as the backdrop for several major Hollywood films, most prominently Sudden Death in 1995. Prior to its demise, it was known as Mellon Arena, named for Mellon Financial, specifically American businessman and 49th Secretary of the Treasury Andrew W. Mellon, which purchased the naming rights in 1999. Their naming rights expired on August 1, 2010 and the arena was once again known as the Civic Arena.
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