Bournemouth International Centre
The Bournemouth International Centre (commonly known as the BIC /ˈbɪk/) in Bournemouth, Dorset, was opened in September 1984. It is one of the largest venues for conferences, exhibitions, entertainment and events in southern England. Additionally, it is well known for hosting national conferences of major British political parties and trade unions. At opening it comprised two halls, the Windsor Hall and the Tregonwell Hall as well as a leisure swimming pool which has since been closed to provide further conference and exhibition space.
| Bournemouth International Centre | |
|---|---|
 Exterior of the BIC, April 2008 | |
| |
| Location | Bournemouth, Dorset, England |
| Coordinates | 50°43′00″N 1°52′41″W |
| Owner | Bournemouth Borough Council |
| Operator | BH Live |
| Built | 1982–1984 |
| Inaugurated | 16 August 1984 |
| Opened | 6 September 1984[1] |
| Renovated | 2004 |
Construction cost | £19.5 million (£66.3 million in 2020 pounds[2]) |
Classroom-style seating | 10–50 |
| Banquet/ballroom | 2,500 (Purbeck Hall) 1,300 (Solent Hall) |
Theatre seating | 4,045 (Windsor Hall) 1,100 (Tregonwell Hall) |
| Enclosed space | |
| • Total space | 6,982 m2 (75,150 sq ft) |
| • Exhibit hall floor | 1,973 m2 (21,240 sq ft) |
| • Breakout/meeting | 1,000 m2 (11,000 sq ft) |
| • Ballroom | 2,748 m2 (29,580 sq ft) |
| Parking | 650 spaces |
| Website | |
| www | |
Venues
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The BIC's location on the seafront
The venue's Windsor Hall has a concert capacity of nearly 4,100 and is one of the bigger indoor music venues in the UK, often included on the arena tours of major artists. This hall has the largest tensile grid in Europe – a tensioned mesh comprising 30 miles of steel wire hung 40 metres above the stage which can suspend approximately 90 tonnes of weight.[3]
In 1990 the circular Purbeck Hall was added at a cost of £6 million.
The Solent Hall can house exhibitions or hold up to 2,000 people for standing music concerts. As part of a refurbishment costing £22 million, this hall controversially replaced the popular swimming pool and wave machine in 2004 after an unsuccessful campaign to save the facility.[3] [4]
Managed by social enterprise BH Live in partnership with Bournemouth Borough Council, the BIC is operated alongside its sister venue, The Pavilion Theatre and Ballroom.
Notable events
Between 1998 and 2000 the BIC hosted snooker's UK Championship. Since 2006 the BIC has hosted the Premier League Darts on several occasions.[5][6][7][8]
| Dates | Performing Act | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 March 1985 | Wham! | The Big Tour |
| 12 March 1985 | Tina Turner | Private Dancer Tour |
| 3-5 March 1989 | Liberal Democrats | Liberal Democrat Federal (Spring) Conference |
| 15 December 1990 | INXS | X-Factor Tour |
| 9-12 September 1991 | Liberal Democrats | Liberal Democrat Federal (Autumn) Conference |
| 6 October 1991 | Morrissey | Kill Uncle Tour |
| 21 November 1991 | Diana Ross | Here and Now Tour |
| 3 December 1991 | New Kids On The Block | No More Games Tour |
| 8-10 November 1993 | Take That | Everything Changes Tour |
| 22 January 1996 | Bjork | Post Tour |
| 14 December 1997 | Louise | Soft and Gentle Tour [9] |
| 21 December 1999 | Gary Barlow | For the Fans Tour |
| 17-21 September 2000 | Liberal Democrats | Liberal Democrat Federal (Autumn) Conference |
| 13 November 2000 | Tom Jones | Reload Tour |
| 14 December 2000 | Gabrielle | Rise Tour |
| 15 March 2001 | Kylie Minogue | On a Night Like This Tour |
| 23-27 September 2001 | Liberal Democrats | Liberal Democrat Federal (Autumn) Conference |
| 15 October 2002 | Coldplay | A Rush of Blood to the Head Tour |
| 27 January 2003 | Counting Crows | Hard Candy World Tour |
| 19–23 September 2004 | Liberal Democrats | Liberal Democrat Federal (Autumn) Conference |
| 9 October 2004 | Rod Stewart | From Maggie May To The Great American Songbook Tour |
| 25 February 2006 | Kelly Clarkson | The Breakaway Tour |
| 1 April 2006 | Sugababes | Taller In More Ways Tour |
| 31 May 2006 | Girls Aloud | Chemistry: The Tour |
| 27 November 2006 | Pink | I'm Not Dead Tour |
| 10 March 2007 | Journey | UK Tour |
| 25–26 March 2007 | Westlife | The Love Tour |
| 6 March 2008 | Rihanna | Good Girl Gone Bad Tour |
| 23 March 2008 | Kelly Clarkson | My December Tour |
| 21 April 2008 | Sugababes | Change Tour |
| 3 June 2008 | Avril Lavigne | The Best Damn World Tour |
| 15-17 September 2008 | Liberal Democrats | Liberal Democrat Federal (Autumn) Conference |
| 25 January 2009 | The Pussycat Dolls | Doll Domination Tour |
| 30 June 2009 | Seal | Soul Tour |
| 23-25 September 2009 | Liberal Democrats | Liberal Democrat Federal (Autumn) Conference |
| 30 October 2009 | The Nolans | 30th Anniversary Reunion Tour |
| 20 November 2009 | Lily Allen | It's Not Me, It's You World Tour |
| 15 February 2010 | Kelly Clarkson | All I Ever Wanted Tour |
| 16 December 2010 | Scissor Sisters | Night Work Tour |
| 31 March 2011 | Katy Perry | California Dreams Tour |
| 9 April 2011 | The Wanted | The Behind Bars Tour |
| 6 September 2011 | Dolly Parton | Better Day World Tour |
| 28 October 2011 | Will Young | Echoes Tour |
| 3 January 2012 | One Direction | Up All Night Tour |
| 2 March 2012 | The Wanted | The Code Tour |
| 4 March 2012 | Florence and the Machine | Ceremonials Tour |
| 7 July 2012 | Blink-182 | Neighbourhoods tour |
| 13 November 2012 | Gary Barlow | Gary Barlow: In Concert |
| 16 February 2013 | Little Mix | DNA Tour |
| 8-9 March 2013 | Olly Murs | Right Place Right Time Tour |
| 18–20 May 2013 | Eddie Izzard | Force Majeure |
| 12 October 2013 | M People | 20th Anniversary Greatest Hits Tour |
| 4-5 December 2013 | Boyzone | BZ20 Tour |
| 13 December 2013 | Imagine Dragons | Night Visions Tour |
| 23 April 2014 | Gary Barlow | Since I Saw You Last Tour |
| 21–22 & 28–29 May 2014 | McBusted | McBusted Tour |
| 4 June 2014 | Little Mix | The Salute Tour |
| 18–24 August 2014 | Lee Evans | Monsters Tour |
| 22 September 2014 | The Saturdays | Greatest Hits Live! Tour |
| 12 October 2014 | The Vamps | Meet the Vamps Tour |
| 9 March 2015 | The Script | No Sound Without Silence Tour |
| 14 March 2015 | Morrissey | N/A |
| 15 March 2015 | Paloma Faith | Paloma Faith Autumn Tour 2014 |
| 26 July 2015 | British Gymnastics | GymFusion Legends Tour 2015 |
| 19–23 September 2015 | Liberal Democrats | Liberal Democrat Federal (Autumn) Conference |
| 10 October 2015 | Fall Out Boy | American Beauty/American Psycho Tour |
| 28 November 2015 | Will Young | Love Revolution Tour |
| 1 December 2015 | Alt-J | UK Tour |
| 15 March 2016 | Little Mix | The Get Weird Tour |
| 4 April 2016 | Years & Years | UK Tour 2016 |
| 21 June 2016 | Barry Manilow | One Last Time Tour |
| 19 March 2017 | Craig David | Following My Intuition Tour |
| 28 March 2017 | Olly Murs | 24 Hrs Tour |
| 10 June 2017 | Anastacia | Ultimate Collection Tour |
| 16-19 September 2017 | Liberal Democrats | Liberal Democrat Federal (Autumn) Conference |
| 25 November 2017 | James Blunt | The Afterlove World Tour |
| 27 November 2017 | Steps | Party on the Dancefloor Tour |
| 30 November 2017 | James Arthur | Back from the Edge Tour |
| 11 March 2018 | Paloma Faith | The Architect Tour |
| 26 March 2018 | Niall Horan | Flicker World Tour |
| 1–2 June 2018 | Gary Barlow | Gary Barlow In Concert |
| 22 September 2018 | Kylie Minogue | Golden Tour |
| 10 November 2018 | Rick Astley | Beautiful Life Tour |
| 2 December 2018 | Jess Glynne | Always In Between Tour |
| 27 January 2019 | Snow Patrol | Wildness Tour |
| 9-10 February 2019 | Boyzone | Thank You & Goodnight Tour |
| 9 May 2019 | Olly Murs | You Know I Know Tour |
| 22 May 2019 | Rita Ora | Phoenix World Tour |
| 2-4 August 2019 | Love Never Fails! | Convention of Jehovah's Witnesses |
| 14-17 September 2019 | Liberal Democrats | Liberal Democrat Federal (Autumn) Conference |
| 12 December 2019 & 7-8 January 2020 | Jack Whitehall | Stood Up Tour |
| 19 February 2020 | The 1975 | UK Tour |
| 5 March 2020 | Whitney Houston | An Evening with Whitney: The Whitney Houston Hologram Tour |
| 14 April 2020 | Craig David | Hold That Thought Tour |
References
- Adido. "About The BIC · BH Live". www.bic.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-12-23.
- UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
- "Bournemouth venue marks 25 years". 2009-09-09. Retrieved 2017-12-24.
- "Letter to the Editor: Council should never have closed BIC swimming pool". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
- "Darts: Historic achievement can help Taylor bounce back in Bournemouth". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 2017-12-24.
- "Darts: Tickets still available for BIC Premier League show". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 2017-12-24.
- "2015 BETWAY PREMIER LEAGUE DARTS". BH Live Tickets. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
- "Premier League darts: Anderson to savour BIC atmosphere". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 2017-12-24.
- "Louise Redknapp Setlists". setlists.fm. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
External links
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