Sullivan Arena
| The Sully | |
 | |
  Sullivan Arena | |
| Full name | George M. Sullivan Arena |
|---|---|
| Location |
1600 Gambell Street Anchorage, AK 99501 |
| Owner | Municipality of Anchorage |
| Operator | SMG |
| Capacity |
Ice Hockey: 6,290 (seated), 6,490 (with standing room) Basketball: 7,987 Concert: up to 8,751 Boxing/Wrestling: 8,935 |
| Surface | 200' x 100' (ice hockey) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | August 1981 |
| Opened | February 8, 1983[1] |
| Renovated | 2015 |
| Construction cost |
$25 million[2] ($59.5 million in 2016 dollars[3]) $9.1 million (2015 renovations) |
| Architect |
The Luckman Partnership Inc.[4] Harold Wirum & Associates[2] |
| Project manager | Hanscomb Heery, Inc.[2] |
| Services engineer | Skogland, Inc.[2] |
| General contractor | Kissee Contractors[2] |
| Tenants | |
|
Alaska Aces (ECHL) (1989–present) Alaska Fighting Championship (2004–present) Alaska School Activities Association Alaska Wild (IFL) (2007–2010) Alaska Anchorage Seawolves (NCAA) (1983–present) American Wrestling Association (1985) World Eskimo Indian Olympics (2007) | |
The George M. Sullivan Arena (commonly shortened to the "Sullivan Arena" and often referred to colloquially as "The Sully") is a 6,290 seat arena in Anchorage, Alaska, United States.[5] It is home to the professional ice hockey team, the Alaska Aces of the ECHL and the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves hockey team of the WCHA. It is the former home of the Great Alaska Shootout basketball tournament which has relocated to the Alaska Airlines Center as of 2014,[6] and is the current home of the Alaska Fighting Championship mixed martial arts events. In 2007 it briefly became home to the Alaska Wild of the Indoor Football League which is now a defunct team. The arena opened in 1983 and sits just east of Mulcahy Stadium as part of the Chester Creek Sports Complex.[7] Sullivan Arena hosted the 1989 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships along with the Harry J. McDonald Memorial Center in Eagle River.
The arena is named after former Anchorage mayor George M. Sullivan. It is owned by the Municipality of Anchorage and operated by SMG, a nationwide property management company.
For hockey, the Sullivan Arena offers 6,251 seats with a standing room capacity of 6,451. If areas designated for wheel chairs are included, the arena can seat 6,290, plus standing room, during hockey games. The arena is known for its international-specification (Olympic-sized) ice rink (61 m × 30 m / 200 ft × 98.5 ft) instead of the more traditional NHL specifications (200 ft × 85 ft / 61 m × 25.9 m). The main arena floor contains 32,000 square feet of space.
In 2014, a new center-hung scoreboard, with four 8-by-8-foot video screens and a wraparound LED display system was installed to replace the 80s style scoreboard which had a black-and-white dot matrix display. The new scoreboard was previously installed at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California where it was used by the ECHL affiliate of the San Jose Sharks, the San Francisco Bulls. The Bulls purchased the scoreboard for their first season in 2012 but the team folded less than two years later. The scoreboard is made by Colosseo, a European company specializing in stadium and arena LED and entertainment technology.[8]
There are currently plans, projected for 2015, for the neighboring Mulcahy Stadium to be demolished and rebuilt to its west in order to create 400 new parking spaces for the Arena.[9] In addition, all seats and telescopic risers inside Sullivan Arena were replaced, the arena floor was rebuilt, and its ice-making equipment was upgraded for the 2015-16 hockey season.
Coordinates: 61°12′20″N 149°52′21″W / 61.20556°N 149.87250°W
References
- ↑ Stabler, David (February 8, 1983). "70 More Tickets Available for Show". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved September 23, 2011.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Lindback, John (June 30, 1981). "Interest in Bids for Sports Arena May Grow". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved September 23, 2011.
- ↑ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Community Development Project. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
- ↑ "Luckman Firm Named for Anchorage Project". Los Angeles Times. January 11, 1981. Retrieved September 23, 2011.
- ↑ https://admin.xosn.com/pdf9/2766508.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=13400&
- ↑ http://www.goseawolves.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPID=6647
- ↑ http://anchorageparkfoundation.org/
- ↑ http://www.adn.com/article/20140308/new-scoreboard-will-bring-sullivan-arena-video-age
- ↑ http://www.adn.com/article/20131225/city-boosters-eye-moving-mulcahy-ballpark-new-sullivan-arena-parking