Westchester County Center
The Westchester County Center is a 5,000-seat multi-purpose arena in White Plains, New York. It hosts various local concerts and sporting events for the area.
 | |
 Facade of the Westchester County Center | |
| Address | 198 Central Avenue |
|---|---|
| Location | White Plains, New York 10606 |
| Coordinates | 41°2′13″N 73°46′43″W |
| Capacity | Basketball: 5,000 Concerts: 5,000 Indoor football: 3,000[1] |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1924 |
| Opened | 1930 |
| Renovated | 1988 |
| Tenants | |
| Westchester Golden Apples (USBL) (1985) New York Liberties (MLV) (1987–1989) Westchester Knicks (NBA G League) (2014–present) New York Liberty (WNBA) (2018–2019) New York Streets (NAL) (2019) | |
| Website | |
| www | |
The County Center was conceived by the Westchester Recreation Commission in 1924 as a multi-purpose indoor recreational facility to host community programs and income-producing commercial events. It was designed by the architectural firm of Walker & Gillette, and built and decorated in the Art Deco style. The construction project cost approximately $785,000; a $16-million rehabilitation was completed in 1988.
For nearly 80 years the County Center has been Westchester's premier setting for thousands of concerts, trade shows, sports events, meetings, seminars, theatrical presentations, conventions and civic and community events.
On the weekend of May 22, 1930, the Westchester County Center Grand opening gala was held, attracting thousands from all over Westchester to hear such notable musicians as the pianist Percy Grainger, Metropolitan Opera Company tenor Edward Johnson, organist Palmer Christian and more than 1,500 local choral group performers. In the ensuing years, generations of County Center audiences have been treated to performances by such greats as Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Joan Sutherland, James Brown, Kenny Rogers, Janis Joplin and John Sebastian, along with the Harlem Globetrotters, World Wrestling Entertainment, and the Royal Hanneford Circus, one of the longest running events at the Center to date.
Notable events
- Grand opening was held May 22, 1930 features pianist Percy Grainger, Metropolitan Opera Company tenor Edward Johnson, organist Palmer Christian [2]
- First Westchester Music Festival is held in July, 1930 in the newly opened center [3]
- Governor Herbert H. Lehman winds up his campaign with an address at a rally of the American Labor party in 1936 [4]
- Joe Baksi, future heavyweight contender, beat future movie actor Jack Palance (who fought under the name of Jack Brazzo) on December 17, 1940.[5]
- The boxrec database lists nearly 500 cards held at Westchester over the years dating back to 1934, with televised Tuesday night bouts a staple in the early 1950s.[6]
- The New York Guard, a team in the short-lived All-American Basketball Alliance, played here in 1978.
- The Westchester Golden Apples, a charter franchise of the minor league, summertime United States Basketball League, played at the County Center in 1985. A second USBL team, the Westchester Kings, played at the Center in 1997.
- The New York Liberties volleyball team used the Center as their home venue in 1988.[7]
- Since the fall of 2014, it has been the home of the Westchester Knicks, the New York Knicks' farm team in the NBA G League.
- In 2018, it became the primary home of the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association.[8] The Liberty were purchased in 2019 by the owner of the Brooklyn Nets and will be moved to the Barclays Center in 2020.[9]
- In 2019, the arena was the home venue for the expansion New York Streets of the National Arena League. As the arena was too small to fit a regulation indoor football field of 50 yards plus end zones, the team played on a field that was marked as 50-yard field but was actually about 38 yards.[10] The Streets folded after one season.
- During March 2020, it was announced that the Westchester County Center would be used to hold non-COVID-19 patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] During a March 30, 2020 press conference in the White House Rose Garden, President Donald Trump discussed the conversion of the Westchester County Center to a makeshift hospital, although he referred to it as the "Westcher Community Center."
References
- "THE STREETS' HOME IN WESTCHESTER IS HISTORICAL, INTIMATE AND LOUD". New York Streets. February 20, 2019.
- "History of the Westchester County Center". Westchester County Center. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
- "TO BEGIN ORGAN RECITALS; Westchester's Summer Program Will Open Today in County Centre", NY Times, July 6, 1930, p 28.
- "LEHMAN WIND-UP MONDAY; Ends Campaign With Talk at Labor Party Rally in White Plains" October 29, 1936, NY Times
- Boxrec Jack Brazzo aka Jack Palance
- "Locate Events". BoxRec. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
- "Volleyball at Center". nytimes.com. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
- "MSG to Operate Liberty While Continuing to Pursue Sale, Westchester County Center to Serve as Team's Primary Home for 2018". New York Liberty. February 8, 2018.
- "New York Liberty Announce Barclays Center as Home Venue Beginning in 2020". OurSports Central. October 17, 2019.
- "Norling: IFW – What in the Streets is going on in the NAL!?". Last Word on Sports. April 23, 2019.
- https://www.lohud.com/story/news/coronavirus/2020/03/23/westchester-county-center-coronavirus-army-corps-engineers/2897278001/
