Meridian Centre
 | |
| Location |
1 IceDogs Way St. Catharines, Ontario L2R 0B3 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | Coordinates: 43°09′20.94″N 79°14′39.20″W / 43.1558167°N 79.2442222°W |
| Owner | City of St. Catharines |
| Operator | SMG Canada ULC |
| Capacity |
5,300 - Hockey 5,580 - Standing Room 6,000 - Concerts |
| Field size | 200' X 85' |
| Construction | |
| Opened | September 2014 |
| Construction cost |
$50 million ($50.6 million in 2016 dollars[1]) |
| Architect | PBK Architects |
| General contractor | Ball-Rankin |
| Tenants | |
|
Niagara IceDogs (OHL) (2014–present) Niagara Lock Monsters (CLax) (2015–present) Niagara River Lions (NBL Canada) (2015–present) | |
The Meridian Centre is a 5,300 seat arena in downtown St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, located at 1 IceDogs Way. The arena is the home of the Niagara IceDogs of the Ontario Hockey League as well as the Niagara River Lions of the National Basketball League of Canada and the Niagara Lock Monsters of the Canadian Lacrosse League.
Meridian Credit Union was given the naming rights of the facility in recognition of its $5.23 million contribution to the project. The name of the arena was announced in September 2013. [2]
The Niagara IceDogs won their first game at the Meridian Centre on October 16, 2014 against the Belleville Bulls by a score of 7-4 in front of a sellout crowd of 5,300, the largest attendance in franchise history. This record was later broken when standing room tickets were sold during the 2015-16 OHL playoffs with a new attendance of 5,580.
On October 21 2014, St. Catharines' native band City and Colour, featuring Dallas Green of Alexisonfire fame, performed as the headline act for the Centre's grand opening.[3][4]
The Meridian Centre hosted the 2016 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship in January 2016. The final, a 3-2 overtime victory for the United States over Canada, resulted in the largest hockey crowd in arena history at 5,516. Overall, the total tournament attendance of 34,523 surpassed the previous record of 16,855.[5]
The Meridian Centre is also set to host a pre-season exhibition game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Buffalo Sabres on September 29, 2016 and the 2017 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the annual Canadian women's curling championship.
Gallery
Meridian Centre during the day
References
- ↑ 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
- ↑ http://www.meridiancu.ca/meridian/MeridianCentre/Pages/default.aspx
- ↑ Jocsak, Julie (22 October 2014). "Dallas Green's historic homecoming". Retrieved 13 December 2014.
- ↑ Fraser, Don (6 October 2014). "Meridian Centre offers sneak peek of $50M facility". Retrieved 13 December 2014.
- ↑ http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2016/01/15/ot-heartbreak-for-canada