Mellon Arena Final Year
When it first opened in 1961, the Mellon Arena was known as the Civic Arena. Then in December of 1999, the resident Pittsburgh Penguins signed an $18-million, 10-year agreement to rename the Civic Arena the Mellon Arena, after the Pittsburgh-based bank.
The Mellon Arena has exemplified every trait of a world class entertainment facility. Originally built to house the Civic Light Opera, the Mellon Arena is home to a variety of family shows and has hosted such music legends as Frank Sinatra, The Rolling Stones, six sold-out nights of Garth Brooks and The Grateful Dead
The Mellon Arena hosted its first show, the Ice Capades, on September 19, 1961. Other notable performance highlights include: The Beatles on September 14, 1964, Elvis Presley on June 25, 1973 and the Page/Plant concert on March 25, 1995, which registered the highest attendance ever in the Arena (17,764) until January 30, 1999 when 18,150 fans packed the arena for a WWF house show.
The Mellon Arena is famous for its revolutionary architectural design which features the largest retractable, stainless steel dome roof in the world--170,000 total square feet and 2,950 tons of Pittsburgh steel. The roof, which has no interior supports, is divided radially into eight leaves and is supported by a huge cantilever arm that arches 260 feet. The Mellon Arena, which was featured in the 1995 film "Sudden Death" starring Jean Claude Van Damme, boasts a dome that is designed to open or close in just two minutes.
The size of the Mellon Arena floor is 200 feet x 85 feet (17,000 square feet) for hockey, and can be expanded to 250 feet x 120 feet (30,000 square feet) by pushing back the A-level seats.
In the Fall of 1967, the Mellon Arena became the home of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens have since earned two Stanley Cup Championships--1991 & 1992. Other notable sporting events hosted at the Arena have been the Larry Holmes vs. Renaldo Snipes heavyweight boxing match in 1981, the 1983 World Figure Skating Championships, and the NCAA Division One Men's Basketball Championship Tournament first and second rounds in 1997
As of 2009, Mellon Arena is the oldest and lowest capacity arena in the NHL by official capacity. In later years, the arena's staff was forced to use space for mutiple purposes never intended in the building's original design. The Penguins franchise agreed to a deal with city and state officials to fund a new home arena for the franchise in March 2007. The Consol Energy Center will be located across the street from the site of Mellon Arena and will have a higher seating capacity. It is expected to open for the 2010–11 NHL season, at which point the Mellon Arena is scheduled for demolition.
any ideas how to close this place down in style?
The Mellon Arena has exemplified every trait of a world class entertainment facility. Originally built to house the Civic Light Opera, the Mellon Arena is home to a variety of family shows and has hosted such music legends as Frank Sinatra, The Rolling Stones, six sold-out nights of Garth Brooks and The Grateful Dead
The Mellon Arena hosted its first show, the Ice Capades, on September 19, 1961. Other notable performance highlights include: The Beatles on September 14, 1964, Elvis Presley on June 25, 1973 and the Page/Plant concert on March 25, 1995, which registered the highest attendance ever in the Arena (17,764) until January 30, 1999 when 18,150 fans packed the arena for a WWF house show.
The Mellon Arena is famous for its revolutionary architectural design which features the largest retractable, stainless steel dome roof in the world--170,000 total square feet and 2,950 tons of Pittsburgh steel. The roof, which has no interior supports, is divided radially into eight leaves and is supported by a huge cantilever arm that arches 260 feet. The Mellon Arena, which was featured in the 1995 film "Sudden Death" starring Jean Claude Van Damme, boasts a dome that is designed to open or close in just two minutes.
The size of the Mellon Arena floor is 200 feet x 85 feet (17,000 square feet) for hockey, and can be expanded to 250 feet x 120 feet (30,000 square feet) by pushing back the A-level seats.
In the Fall of 1967, the Mellon Arena became the home of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens have since earned two Stanley Cup Championships--1991 & 1992. Other notable sporting events hosted at the Arena have been the Larry Holmes vs. Renaldo Snipes heavyweight boxing match in 1981, the 1983 World Figure Skating Championships, and the NCAA Division One Men's Basketball Championship Tournament first and second rounds in 1997
As of 2009, Mellon Arena is the oldest and lowest capacity arena in the NHL by official capacity. In later years, the arena's staff was forced to use space for mutiple purposes never intended in the building's original design. The Penguins franchise agreed to a deal with city and state officials to fund a new home arena for the franchise in March 2007. The Consol Energy Center will be located across the street from the site of Mellon Arena and will have a higher seating capacity. It is expected to open for the 2010–11 NHL season, at which point the Mellon Arena is scheduled for demolition.
any ideas how to close this place down in style?
Had my eyes peeled both wide open, and I got a glimpse
Of my innocence... got back my inner sense...
Of my innocence... got back my inner sense...
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
Guess it's a matter of perspective because I couldn't care less about the Spectrum but have many great memories of the Civic Arena.
Relax, it was just a post hoping to get PJ to Pittsburgh, not saying Melon is better than the Spectrum.
"What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal." Albert Pine.
2000 was at Starlake.
But yah, PJ puts on a helluva show when they visit George Webb's old home town.
"This is a mellon, let's sing in the choir!"
Heh.
This is a true statement. The Spectrum is a much more widely-known building than the Igloo. It has a bigger presence and a more folklore-ish history, I'd say. I personally could give a shit about the Spectrum, and have a soft spot for the Igloo, being a transplanted Pittsburgher after all, but I must admit the Spectrum is a bigger deal... especially to a band full of basketball fans.
Exactly- if they were football fans, everyone knows they would be playing Pittsburgh instead
6 > 0
You can tell the band are fans of the city, and the city is fans of the band.
We are the city of champions, afterall.
2003: Pittsburgh
2004: Toledo
2005: Pittsburgh
2006: Cleveland, Pittsburgh
2008: D.C.
2009: Toronto, Philly IV
2010: Cleveland
2011: East Troy I & II
2013: Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Baltimore
2014: Austin I
2016: Fort Lauderdale, Hampton, Philly II, Chicago II
and the my two hands tag after daughter, WOW!
i'd like to see pj play mellon one more time
but, didn't ed say "don't hate us, but pittsburg is not our favorite place" after man of the hour? ( or something like that)
There's a Lew
AlCindor original rookie card from a 13 yr old waiting for them if they play here this next tour.:-D
"What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal." Albert Pine.
Maybe they'll come play during the banner raising ceremony at the Consol Energy Center.
I cringe at the thought
They could play it right after the back to back superbowl parade then.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gJQ-jX6DQM
"Ok. If I smoke a joint, Pittsburgh will soon be my favorite place on the planet... someone throw a lighter."
i spend many nights imagining pearl jam (and/or phish, seperate occasions of course) coming back to see off the old mellon. and if not at least i do have memories of seeing both my fave bands in tha igloo that mario built
and if they dont come say "bye" then they would have the perfect opportunity to open consol!!!
come on boys!!!
and fuck me if you only hear what you wanna hear
fuck me...if I care...but im not leavin here