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<tr><td>Broke ground</td><td>1978</td></tr>

Hartford Civic Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum <tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">The Mall</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">Image:HartCivCentlogo.gif </td></tr>
Location	One Civic Center Plaza Hartford, Connecticut 06103
Opened	January 17, 1980
Owner	City of Hartford<ref>The Connecticut Development Authority- Opportunities for The Hartford Civic Center, p36</ref> <tr><td>Operator</td><td>Madison Square Garden Connecticut</td></tr>
Tenants
UConn Huskies NCAA 1980-Present Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 1997-Present Hartford Whalers NHL 1980-1997 New England Blizzard ABL 1996-1998 Connecticut Coyotes Arena Football League 1995-1996 New England Sea Wolves AFL 1999-2000 Boston Celtics NBA 1975-1995 New England Whalers WHA 1975-1978
Seats
Basketball 16,294 Hockey 15,635

The Hartford Civic Center is a sports and convention complex located in Hartford, Connecticut, owned by the City of Hartford and operated by Madison Square Garden Connecticut under contract with the Connecticut Development Authority. The arena is ranked the 27th largest among college basketball arenas. Originally located adjacent to a shopping mall (Civic Center Mall, which was demolished in 2004), it was originally built in 1975 and consists of two facilities: the Veterans Memorial Coliseum and the Exhibition Center.

Contents 1 The Veterans Memorial Coliseum 1.1 Retired Numbers 2 Exhibition Center 3 References 4 External links

[edit] The Veterans Memorial Coliseum

The Coliseum is the full-time home of the Hartford Wolf Pack AHL hockey team and part-time home of the University of Connecticut men's and women's basketball teams. It was the home of the New England Sea Wolves of the Arena Football League. It was also the home of the Hartford Whalers of the NHL from 1979-1997 and the New England Blizzard of the ABL from 1996-1998, and hosted occasional Boston Celtics home games from 1975-1995. The arena seats 15,635 for ice hockey and 16,294 for basketball, 16,606 for center-stage concerts, 16,282 for end-stage concerts, and 8,239 for 3/4-end stage concerts, and contains 46 luxury suites and a 310-seat Coliseum Club, plus 25,000 square feet of arena floor space, enabling it to be used for trade shows and conventions in addition to concerts, circuses, ice shows, sporting events and other events.

The first arena on the site was completed in 1975, and was home to the New England Whalers of the WHA for three years. The roof collapsed during a heavy snowstorm in the early morning of January 18, 1978, causing serious damage to the seating bowl area. The building was heavily renovated and re-opened January 17, 1980. In recent years, the arena has been upgraded with a new center-hung scoreboard with four Sony Jumbotrons and a state-of-the-art sound system. WrestleMania XI was held here, as were Survivor Series 1990, WWE No Way Out 2000 and WWE Vengeance 2004. The 1982 Big East Conference and 1988-1990 America East Conference men's basketball tournaments were also here. The Big East Conference women's basketball tournament is contracted to the coliseum through 2009, and it has hosted multiple NCAA women's basketball sub-regionals and regionals.

[edit] Retired Numbers

Though the Hartford Whalers moved to North Carolina in 1997 to become the Carolina Hurricanes, the Coliseum still honors the numbers of six former Whalers with jersey retirement banners, as well as one member of the current tenant Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL.

• 2 Rick Ley, D, 1972-81
• 5 Ulf Samuelsson, D, 1984-91
• 9 Gordie Howe, RW, 1977-80
• 10 Ron Francis, C, 1981-91
• 11 Kevin Dineen, LW, 1984-91, 1995-97
• 12 Ken Gernander, C (Hartford Wolf Pack), 1997-2005
• 19 John McKenzie, RW, 1977-79

The Whalers franchise retired the numbers of Ley, Howe and McKenzie before its move; Samuelsson, Francis and Dineen's numbers were raised in a 6 January 2006 ceremony before a Hartford Wolf Pack game. None of the Whalers number retirements are honored by the Wolf Pack; they only honor their own Ken Gernander's number 12, raised on 8 October 2005 to commemorate the club's only captain since its move to Hartford.

[edit] Exhibition Center

The Exhibition Center consists of a 68,855-square-foot exhibit hall, a 16,080-square foot assembly hall that can divide into two meeting rooms, plus seven meeting rooms totaling 7,390 square feet and two lobbies totaling 6,100 square feet. It is used for trade shows, conventions, banquets, meetings and other events.

The surrounding shopping mall was torn down in 2004 and is being replaced by street-level retail shops and a 36 story residential tower set to open in 2006.

[edit] References

<References/>

[edit] External links

• Hartford Civic Center
• Description of roof construction and causes of collapse

Preceded by: Boston Garden 1972–1974

Home of the New England Whalers 1974–1978

Succeeded by: Springfield Civic Center 1978–1980

Preceded by: Springfield Civic Center 1978–1980

Home of the Hartford Whalers 1980–1997

Succeeded by: Greensboro Coliseum 1997–1999

Preceded by: Boston Garden 1946–1995

Home of the Boston Celtics 1975–1995

Succeeded by: Fleet Center 1995–present

Current arenas in the American Hockey League
Eastern Conference		Western Conference
Arena at Harbor Yard | Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena | Cumberland County Civic Center | DCU Center | Dunkin' Donuts Center | GIANT Center | Hartford Civic Center | MassMutual Center | Norfolk Scope | Pepsi Arena | Tsongas Arena | Verizon Wireless Arena | Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza | Wachovia Spectrum		Allstate Arena | AT&T Center | Blue Cross Arena | Bradley Center | Carver Arena | Copps Coliseum | MTS Centre | Omaha Civic Auditorium | Ricoh Coliseum | Toyota Center | Van Andel Arena | War Memorial at Oncenter | Wells Fargo Arena

Current Basketball Arenas in the Big East

Allstate Arena (DePaul men) • Bradley Center (Marquette men) • Carnesecca Arena (St. John's) • Carrier Dome (Syracuse) • Continental Airlines Arena (Seton Hall men) • DePaul Athletic Center (DePaul women) • Dunkin' Donuts Center (Providence) • Fifth Third Arena (Cincinnati) • Freedom Hall (Louisville) • Gampel Pavilion (Connecticut) • Hartford Civic Center (Connecticut) • Joyce Center (Notre Dame) • Louis Brown Athletic Center (Rutgers) • Madison Square Garden (St. John's men) • McDonough Gymnasium (Georgetown women) • McGuire Center (Marquette women) • The Pavilion (Villanova) • Petersen Events Center (University of Pittsburgh) • USF Sun Dome (South Florida) • Verizon Center (Georgetown men) • Wachovia Center (Villanova) • Walsh Gymnasium (Seton Hall women) • WVU Coliseum (West Virginia)