Pittsburgh Civic Arena (Demolished) (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

USA / Pennsylvania / Pittsburgh / Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania / Logan Street, 66
 historical layer / disappeared object, ice hockey arena
The Civic Arena (formerly Mellon Arena and the Civic Auditorium) was an indoor arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It served as the home of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins from 1967 to 2010. It was constructed from March 1957 to September 1961 at a cost of $22,000,000. It was originally designed for the use of the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera. In December 1999, Mellon Financial purchased the arena's naming rights in a 10-year $18,000,000 agreement which renamed it the Mellon Arena. BNY Mellon's most recent contract for naming rights expired July 31, 2010.

The Civic Arena's design incorporates 2,950 tons of stainless steel. The roof is supported by a 260-foot arch and has a diameter of 415 feet. It is free of internal support leaving no obstruction from the seats within. The roof is divided into eight sections. Six of the sections could fold underneath two in 2.5 minutes. The arena is the world's first major indoor sports stadium with a retractable roof. It originally had 12,508 seats in one tier, but in 1972 and 1991 upper decks were added to the arena's end zones to increase capacity. The arenas capacity is currently 16,940 for ice hockey and 17,537 for basketball. It has 56 luxury boxes and 1,696 club seats. A new scoreboard was added to the arena in 1995, but it hindered the roof's ability to open and close completely.

In 1990, the Civic Arena hosted the 41st NHL All-Star Game. Games of the 1991, 1992, 2008, and 2009 Stanley Cup Finals were hosted in the arena. It also hosted the 1983 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

The Civic Arena was replaced by the Consol Energy Center in 2010 and was demolished in winter 2011.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mellon_Arena
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   40°26'30"N   79°59'23"W

Comments

  • The Civic Arena? Yes. That's what We think it is. The practice of selling naming rights is silly and should be done away with post haste.
  • Atleast the name has relevance, like PNC and Heinz.
  • I heard the penguins are staying now.
  • Yes, staying, but not in this arena for long.
  • AUG-3-2007 Penguins playing here until 2010
  • Tha Igloo. :o)
  • Deconstruction began in November 2011. As of this post the Google maps images have not been updated, however much of the stainless steel plating on the roof has been removed.
  • Show all comments
This article was last modified 6 years ago