Scotiabank Centre

Scotiabank Centre (formerly known as Halifax Metro Centre) is the largest multi-purpose facility in Atlantic Canada, located in the heart of downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The main entrances to the building are located on Brunswick Street, at the corners of Duke Street and Carmichael Street, at the foot of Citadel Hill. The building's box office entrance is located on Carmichael Street.

Not to be confused with Scotiabank Arena in Toronto or Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary.
For the venue in Ottawa (formerly known as the Scotiabank Place), see Canadian Tire Centre.

Scotiabank Centre
Former namesHalifax Metro Centre (1978–2014)
Address1800 Argyle Street
LocationHalifax, Nova Scotia
Coordinates44°38′54″N 63°34′36″W
OwnerHalifax Regional Municipality
CapacityHockey: 10,595
Basketball: 11,093
Concerts: up to 13,000
Construction
Broke groundJuly 1976
Opened17 February 1978
Tenants
Nova Scotia Voyageurs (AHL) (1978–1984)
Nova Scotia Oilers (AHL) (1984–1988)
Halifax Citadels (AHL) (1988–1993)
Halifax Windjammers (WBL/NBL) (1991–1994)
Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) (1994–present)
Halifax Rainmen (ABA/PBL/NBL Canada) (2007–2015)
Halifax Hurricanes (NBL Canada) (2015–present)
Halifax Thunderbirds (NLL) (2019–present)

History

The arena was opened on February 17, 1978 as the Halifax Metro Centre, and was built into the ground to compensate for the steep elevation of the land it occupies. Spectators can see cars at street level, outside, while watching an event.

In December 2007, an Ozzy Osbourne concert sold out in nine minutes, setting a box office ticket record for the Halifax Metro Centre. In July 2008, the Halifax Metro Centre also set a record sell-out (25,000 tickets sold in 40 minutes), for two back-to-back Elton John concerts held in late September 2008. In April 2012, the Halifax Mooseheads sold out game 6 of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League semifinals in 20 minutes. On May 9, 2013, QMJHL Presidents Cup final Game 5 sold-out in record time 11 minutes, setting another attendance mark for the Scotiabank Centre.

The facility is owned by the municipality but operated by Events East.

On June 25, 2014, it was announced that Scotiabank had won the naming rights to the facility and that the Metro Centre would be renamed the Scotiabank Centre.[1] The facility officially opened its doors as the rebranded Scotiabank Centre on September 19, 2014.[2]

Arena information
Halifax Metro Centre (now Scotiabank Centre) in 2006.

The Scotiabank Centre originally featured a full ring of bright orange seats around the playing surface, which is known as the "lower bowl". It also has an incomplete "upper bowl" on each side of the arena facing rink-side (court-side) with seats of the same colour. In the mid to late 1990s, there were numerous renovations to the arena, including the addition of 43 SkyBoxes and 11 "Executive Suites". The addition of the SkyBoxes has since partially obscured views for people sitting high up in the upper bowl. Views of some or all of the ice surface from the uppermost rows of seating is either partially or fully blocked by the boxes. To help mitigate this issue, video projection equipment was installed that projects onto the exterior rear walls of the boxes: If a video recording is being produced for an event, then a live feed of the video may be projected for the benefit of people in the obstructed parts of the upper bowl. Before the 2002–03 ice hockey season, in preparation for the World Junior Ice Hockey Championship, a new scoreboard and "SilverVision" LED screens were added. The arena concourses feature photographs of the various events that have taken place at the Scotiabank Centre, with one side featuring entertainment events and the other featuring sporting events. It currently has a seating capacity of 10,595 for ice hockey. The building is connected to the Downtown Halifax Link system.

When the rebranded Scotiabank Centre was unveiled in September 2014, plans to use funding received from the naming rights partnership for capital reinvestment in the facility were also announced. Started from January 2015 to September 2015 the Scotiabank Centre renovated the concessions adding Taste 902, Asian, Links, Donairs, etc. The bathrooms were also renovated, and the original orange seats were replaced with new navy blue ones. The original roof was replaced with a thermoplastic membrane through 2016 to 2017. In the summer of 2018, the original ice-level concrete floor and cooling system was replaced.

Notable events

The Scotiabank Centre prior to a Mooseheads game against Lewiston on December 27, 2005

References
  1. Scotiabank wins naming rights for Halifax Metro Centre The Chronicle Herald
  2. "Rebranded Scotiabank Centre Opens". Scotiabank-centre.com. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  3. "Van Morrison: Irish Soul Brother#1@Halifax Metro Centre — Whatsgoinon.ca". Whatsgoinon.ca. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  4. "Free Fallin' at the Metro Centre". Thechronicleherald.ca. April 14, 2014. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  5. "In pictures: Just You 'N' Me as Chicago wows soldout crowd at Halifax Metro Centre - Metro Halifax". Metronews.ca. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
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