SNHU Arena

SNHU Arena

"SNHU Arena"
Former names	Civic Arena (during construction) Verizon Wireless Arena (2001–2016)
Location	555 Elm Street Manchester, New Hampshire 03101
Coordinates	42°59′11″N 71°27′44″W / 42.98639°N 71.46222°W / 42.98639; -71.46222Coordinates: 42°59′11″N 71°27′44″W / 42.98639°N 71.46222°W / 42.98639; -71.46222
Owner	City of Manchester
Operator	SMG
Capacity	9,852 (hockey)[1] 11,140 (basketball) 10,050 (end stage) 11,770 (centerstage concerts)
Surface	Multi-surface
Construction
Broke ground	April 13, 2000[2]
Opened	November 15, 2001
Construction cost	$68,000,000 ($91 million in 2016 dollars[3])
Architect	Populous Lavallee Brensinger Architects[4]
Project manager	ScheerGame Sports Development, LLC.[5]
Structural engineer	LeMessurier Consultants[6]
General contractor	Gilbane[7]/Harvey[8]
Tenants
Manchester Monarchs (AHL) (2001–2015) Manchester Wolves (af2) (2004–2009) Manchester Monarchs (ECHL) (2015–present) New England Liberty (LFL) (2016–present)

The SNHU Arena (Southern New Hampshire University Arena) is an indoor events arena in Manchester, New Hampshire, and seats 9,852 for ice hockey, 11,140 for basketball and up to 11,770 for concerts.^[9]

The facility was originally known during construction as Civic Arena, and this name still appears on most of the directional signs around town. Its naming rights were sold prior to opening in 2001 and was called Verizon Wireless Arena. On February 2, 2016, it was announced that Southern New Hampshire University had partnered with SMG for the naming rights to the arena, which began on September 1, 2016, for a period of at least ten years.^[10]

The arena contains 542 club seats, 34 luxury suites, and five party suites.^[9]

Design

The SNHU Arena is located on Elm Street (U.S. Route 3) at the corner of Lake and Granite streets, the latter of which leads directly to Interstate 293 across the Merrimack River. The arena was built on the site of a former Zayre's department store and is located on an irregular block, surrounded by Elm Street (west), Lake Street (north), Chestnut Street (east) and Auburn Street (south), with Cedar (north) and Willow (east) streets taking a corner off the southwestern corner of the block. Before and after events, Lake and Elm Streets will typically be blocked off for pedestrian access.

The arena's exterior includes its notable curved blue roof, which helps heavy New Hampshire snowfall to slide off. The top half of the arena's facade is a steel oval, the western side of which is lit during events and is visible from the west side of the city and from Interstate 293. The lower half of the building is red brick, except the main entrance on the western side of the arena, which is entirely glass, providing views of the entry plaza, mills, and the West Side. There is also a large window on the main concourse's north side providing views of the Manchester skyline. There are multiple entrance doors on the front side of the arena, and two sets of doors on the eastern side. A large abstract sculpture adorns the southwest lawn of the arena near the corner of Cedar and Elm streets, and the arena's outdoor LED marquee board is located at the corner of Lake and Elm. Drive-in access for larger shows is located on the southeastern corner of the arena, accessible by a gate on Willow Street.

The arena's main concourse wraps around the entire arena, with two separate concourses for the upper levels on the north and south sidelines. The main entrance is at a lower level, with the Monarchs Pro Shop, offices and ticket offices located here. The entry level also provides a direct access to a club lounge deck above section 101, which is often used for in-event performances and promotions. The club lounge is located directly above the deck, in lieu of luxury suites. The arena has several luxury boxes, with a second level of boxes on the east and west sides of the interior. The arena has two levels, with the upper deck being curved along the top. The second level of luxury suites on the sidelines raise the upper decks on either side above the level of the end zone upper decks, and as such the four quadrants of the upper deck are essentially separate. The wall above the upper deck is painted tan, with the seats being either tan or red. The arena has a standard four-sided scoreboard, with four video boards and a combination of dot matrix and seven-segment displays. There are also several video ribbons, both in dot-matrix and LED, located along the facades of the end zone upper decks, which serve as alternate scoreboards and occasionally display out-of-town scores. The arena floor level is expandable for larger events by movable seats, and events using an end zone staging area typically use the eastern end zone for the stage.

Sporting events

The arena is home to the Manchester Monarchs of the ECHL and the former home of the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League and the Manchester Wolves of the now disbanded af2. The University of New Hampshire men's hockey team also plays some of their home games there, annually against Dartmouth College in the Battle for the Riverstone Cup, and against the University of Maine Black Bears in the Border War. The arena has hosted the 2005 AHL All-Star Game, WWE Backlash in 2005, and the NCAA Men's Frozen Four Northeast Regional tournament in 2004, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015. State high school basketball and hockey championships have been held in the arena. Both the Boston Celtics of the NBA and the Boston Bruins of the NHL sometimes play preseason games at the arena. As of 2016, the New England Liberty (Legend Football League) will play their home games at the arena.

Other events

The arena has hosted dozens of concerts by major artists, many of whom have visited the Manchester venue on multiple occasions.

Hillary Clinton appeared at the arena in June 2007, to speak at the Manchester Central High School graduation.

In December 2007, then-Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) and TV icon Oprah Winfrey appeared at a campaign rally at the arena, drawing over 8,000 people. Obama also appeared at the arena in May 2007 to speak at the Southern New Hampshire University commencement.

Adam Sandler, a Manchester native, gave a speech at the 2008 Manchester Memorial High School graduation, and both 2003 and 2010 Manchester Central High School graduations.

2012 Republican presidential nominee Gov. Mitt Romney delivered his final speech before election day at the arena on November 5, 2012. The event drew nearly 18,000 people and was the largest political event in New Hampshire's history. Overflow supporters were forced to watch the speech on large outdoor televisions because the arena ran out of space. The event included a concert performed by Kid Rock in support of Gov. Romney.

The FIRST Robotics Competition holds its regional competition, the BAE Systems Granite State Regional, in the arena every year.

Photo gallery

• 
  USHRA Thunder Nationals pre-show "pit party" in the arena
• 
  Pregame warmup at a Manchester Monarchs AHL game versus the Hartford Wolf Pack
• 
  End zone view of the ice surface at the arena
• 
  A stitched panoramic image of the inside of the arena before a Manchester Monarchs AHL game versus the Providence Bruins

References

External links

• Official website