Tucson Convention Center

The Tucson Convention Center (previously named the Tucson Community Center) is a large multi-purpose convention center located in downtown Tucson, Arizona. Built in 1971, the location includes an 8,962-seat indoor arena, two performing arts venues, and 205,000 square feet (19,000 m2) of meeting space. The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

Tucson Convention Center
Tucson Arena at the Tucson Convention Center
LocationDowntown Tucson
OperatorSMG
Renovated1987, 2014
Former names
Tucson Community Center (1971-2002)
Banquet/ballroom1,200 (Grand Ballroom)
Theatre seating
8,962 (Tucson Arena)
2,289 (Tucson Music Hall)
551 (Leo Rich Theater)
Enclosed space
 • Total space205,000 sq ft (19,000 m2)
 • Exhibit hall floor113,940 sq ft (10,585 m2)
 • Breakout/meeting10,640 sq ft (988 m2)
 • Ballroom20,164 sq ft (1,873.3 m2)
Public transit access Tucson Sun Link
at Granada/Cushing

Performance venues
  • Tucson Music Hall, with 2,289 seats, is used for concert performances, including opera.
  • Leo Rich Theater, with 511 seats, is used for small scale and more intimate performances.
  • Tucson Arena, with maximum capacity of 8,962. In the 200 seating series, total capacity is 4,988, 100 series total capacity is 2,724 and the floor capacity is 1,250. Standard hockey capacity is 6,791.[1]

University of Arizona Hockey

The University of Arizona Wildcats club hockey team currently plays at Tucson Arena. Although associated with the college, the team receives no funding directly from the school. The hockey team is a Division 1 member of the American Collegiate Hockey Association. Leo Golembiewski had been the head coach for the last 27 years, leading the team to 21 straight national tournaments with eight semi-final appearances and one national championship. The current coach is Chad Berman,[2] in his first year with the team.

Tucson Roadrunners

Beginning from the fall of 2016, the arena has been home to the Tucson Roadrunners in the American Hockey League.[3][4][5][6]

Tucson Sugar Skulls

On August 23, 2018, the Indoor Football League announced the addition of the expansion Tucson Sugar Skulls to begin play in 2019.

Other events

The Tucson Convention Center has been host to many other events including the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show, Jehovah's Witnesses Regional Conventions, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, concerts, monster truck shows as well as many live WWE television broadcasts featuring Raw, SmackDown & ECW. In 1999, the arena hosted an Empty Arena match between The Rock and Mankind for the WWF Championship, which aired during halftime of Super Bowl XXXIII.

The arena also hosted a concert played by Elvis Presley on November 9, 1972. He would return again on June 1, 1976.

Past minor league teams

Renovation

Throughout 2014, the Tucson Convention Center was renovated at a cost of $22 million,[7] via funding by the Rio Nuevo downtown redevelopment and revitalization district and the City of Tucson, including new bathrooms, lighting, seats, a revamped sound system, a new kitchen and a video scoreboard.[8] Mike Love's Beach Boys headlined a January 4, 2015 concert at the venue, debuting the remodeled arena.[9]

Management of the convention center is now handled by SMG.[10]

See also

References
  1. "TCC Space Configurations" (PDF). TucsonConventionCenter.com. 2017-06-06. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-04-20. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  2. "Arizona Hockey staff page". Retrieved 2015-01-05.
  3. "Coyotes Sign Agreement to Purchase Springfield Falcons AHL Franchise". Arizona Coyotes. April 19, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  4. "BOG conditionally approves Coyotes' purchase". TheAHL.com. American Hockey League. May 10, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  5. Pallack, Becky (May 17, 2016). "City Council approves deal with Coyotes for AHL hockey in Tucson". AZCentral.com. Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  6. McLellan, Sarah (May 17, 2016). "Tucson City Council approves lease agreement for Arizona Coyotes' AHL team". AZCentral. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  7. Burch, Cathalena E. "Tucson Arena renovations aimed at enhancing audience experience". tucson.com. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-01-07. Retrieved 2015-01-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. Star, Darren DaRonco Arizona Daily. "Rio Nuevo seeks 'Good Vibrations' as arena renovations near end". tucson.com. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  10. VenuesNow. "VenuesNow :: SMG to Manage Tucson Convention Center". www.venuestoday.com. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
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