WFCU Centre

WFCU Centre
Full name Windsor Family Credit Union Centre
Location 8787 McHugh Street
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
N8S 0A1
Coordinates 42°19′07″N 82°55′40″W / 42.3186°N 82.9279°W / 42.3186; -82.9279
Owner City of Windsor
Operator City of Windsor / Spectra by Comcast Spectacor
Capacity
  • 6,450 ice hockey
  • 6,500 end stage concert
  • 4,500 hybrid concert
  • 3,000 theatre concert
  • 670 premium club seats
  • 31 luxury private suites
  • 2 party/group suites
Field size 302,000 square feet
Scoreboard 8 sided, 24 feet in diameter
Construction
Broke ground January 22, 2007[1]
Built 2007–2008
Opened December 11, 2008
Construction cost C$71 million[1]
($78.9 million in 2016 dollars[2])
Architect BBB Architects, Ltd.
Structural engineer HGS Consulting Engineers Ltd.[3]
Services engineer Vollmer & Associates[4]
General contractor PCR Contractors
Tenants
Windsor Spitfires (OHL) (2008–Present)
Windsor Express (NBLC) (2012–Present)

The WFCU Centre is a sports-entertainment centre in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It opened on December 11, 2008, and it is named after the Windsor Family Credit Union, a local financial institution. It is located in the east end of the city, northeast of the intersection of Tecumseh and Lauzon Roads.

The WFCU Centre was built, in part, to be the new home of the city's Ontario Hockey League team, the Windsor Spitfires, replacing the 84-year-old Windsor Arena.

Ownership and management

The WFCU Centre is owned by the City of Windsor. City council approved the project on October 4, 2006, and the groundbreaking ceremony took place on January 22, 2007. The WFCU Centre is managed by Ed Snider's Comcast Spectacor, a Philadelphia-based company, which also operates more than 120 other arenas, stadiums and convention centres including the Wells Fargo Centre in Philadelphia.

Seating and ticketing

Approximate capacities:

In addition to the standard end stage configuration for large concerts, the arena can be set up to accommodate touring Broadway shows or smaller concerts in its theatre mode. The theatre mode features a small, intimate atmosphere.

The centre features 35 luxury suites and more than 690 club seats.

The WFCU Centre complies with the Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

The WFCU Centre uses an in-house ticketing system, provided by Paciolan.

History

The WFCU Centre was built at a cost of approximately $71 million by the Windsor, Ontario-based construction company, PCR Contractors. The land was purchased from London, Ontario developer Farhi Holdings Corporation. The construction of this sports-entertainment centre was decided upon as a part of the city government’s overall effort to add excitement to the economy. As part of that effort, Windsor city council committed to building the centre, and agreed to fund most of the cost.

During the initial stages of planning, several other committees and companies proposed building arenas and venues in the area, including a privately owned skating arena, as well as proposed a relocation of the Windsor Raceway Slots to Tecumseh, Ontario, owned by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.

In August, 2013 Windsor City Council approved a $6.5 million addition to the WFCU Centre, adding a 25-metre pool in advance of the City hosting the 2016 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) which will be held inside the WFCU Centre.

Sports

The exterior of the WFCU Centre

The WFCU Centre is home to both the Ontario Hockey League OHL's Windsor Spitfires and the National Basketball League of Canada NBL's Windsor Express.

The Windsor Spitfires won both the 2009 and 2010 OHL Eastern League Championships on home ice, and the Windsor Express won the 2014 League Championships on home court.

The WFCU Centre has play host to a variety of large scale events in hockey including the 2012 World U-17 Hockey Challenge and the OHL All Star Game and the NHL Top Prospects Game. The WFCU Centre also hosted both the Skate Canada Synchronized Skating Championships and the Skate Canada International in 2012, the latter being broadcast internationally. The WFCU Centre also played host to the Grey Power World Cup of Curling in 2010, and has also hosted international sporting events like Stars on Ice, TNA Wrestling and WWE Live!.

Touring History

Some of the WFCU Centre's higher profile events include:

References

  1. 1 2 "Arena Kickoff Ends 30 Years of Waiting". Windsor Star. January 22, 2007. Retrieved January 26, 2007.
  2. ↑ Canadian inflation numbers based on Statistics Canada. "Consumer Price Index, historical summary". CANSIM, table (for fee) 326-0021 and Catalogue nos. 62-001-X, 62-010-X and 62-557-X. And Consumer Price Index, by province (monthly) (Canada) Last modified 2016-01-22. Retrieved March 2, 2016
  3. ↑ "Windsor Family Credit Centre". HGS Consulting Engineers Ltd. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Commercial". Vollmer & Associates. Retrieved October 17, 2013.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/19/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.