The Alaska Airlines Center is a 5,000-seat multi-purpose

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

Anchorage Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. It is located on the campus of the

University of Alaska Anchorage The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) is a public university in Anchorage, Alaska. UAA also administers four community campuses spread across Southcentral Alaska: Kenai Peninsula College, Kodiak College, Matanuska–Susitna College, and Prin ...

(UAA) and adjacent to

Providence Alaska Medical Center Providence Alaska Medical Center is Alaska's largest hospital by revenue and number of beds. It has 401 beds, 1190 nurses and more than 850 physicians on staff. It is often ranked the largest private employer in Alaska. It is located at 3200 Provi ...

(PAMC).

History

The arena went through several preliminary names, such as the UAA Community Arena, Seawolf Arena and Seawolf Sports Arena, before a

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

and sponsorship deal was announced between UAA and

Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines is a major American airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is the sixth largest airline in North America when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and the numb ...

on March 21, 2013. The arena held its grand opening on September 5, 2014. The arena replaces the

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

Sports Complex as the home of UAA's athletic department and programs, including UAA Seawolves

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

teams. The Sports Complex was built in 1978, at a time when Anchorage Community College predominated the campus; UAA had come into existence only a few years prior during a

system A system is a group of Interaction, interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment (systems), environment, is described by its boundaries, ...

reorganization, replacing Anchorage Senior College. Athletic officials at UAA had long complained of the inadequacies of the facility. After making preliminary plans, they set about serious lobbying efforts to secure funds to replace the structure starting in 2007. Then-

Alaska governor The governor of Alaska (Iñupiaq language, Iñupiaq: ''Alaaskam kavanaa'') is the head of government of Alaska. The governor is the chief executive of the state and is the holder of the highest office in the executive branch of the government as ...

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...

vetoed $1 million for planning of the structure from the

fiscal year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...

(FY) 2008

capital budget Capital budgeting in corporate finance is the planning process used to determine whether an organization's long term capital investments such as new machinery, replacement of machinery, new plants, new products, and research development project ...

. Shortly thereafter,

Fran Ulmer Frances Ann "Fran" Ulmer (born February 1, 1947) is an American administrator and Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Alaska. She served as the seventh lieutenant governor of Alaska from 1994 to 2002 under Governor Tony Knowles, becomin ...

was appointed chancellor of UAA, and began to intensively champion the arena. Financing came together as a result of the efforts led by Ulmer and other UAA officials, legislators Kevin Meyer and

Bill Stoltze Donald William Stoltze (born July 30, 1961) is an American politician. A Republican, he was a member of the Alaska Senate representing District F. He was elected in 2014 after serving since 2003 as a member of the Alaska House of Representative ...

, and Anchorage businessmen Don Winchester and Steve Nerland. In 2008, a

Title IX Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...

lawsuit was filed against UAA over inequitable facilities for the women's athletic teams at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex, which heightened efforts to replace that structure. In 2009, the University of Alaska Board of Regents approved a smaller, $80 million arena, before approving the current arena at their meeting in

Fairbanks Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...

on June 3, 2011. $15 million was allocated in the FY 2009 capital budget, with an additional $60 million coming from the approval of bonds by Alaska voters in 2010. The remaining $34 million came from the FY 2012 capital budget signed by governor

Sean Parnell Sean Randall Parnell (born November 19, 1962) is an American attorney and politician. He succeeded Sarah Palin in July 2009 to become the tenth governor of Alaska and served until 2014.Great Alaska Shootout The ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout is an annual women's college basketball tournament in Anchorage, Alaska that features host University of Alaska Anchorage and three visiting NCAA Div. I teams. The four-team tournament is resuming i ...

. Design of the arena commenced in 2011, shortly after the regents' vote. Groundwork and construction occurred throughout 2012. The arena and PAMC share parking, as parking on the UAA campus north of Providence Drive is limited. The school's

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team continues to play at the Sullivan Arena, as plans for this arena did not include an ice rink. The Wells Fargo Sports Complex will continue to house the Seawolves' practice rink, along with expanded hockey offices. UAA officials are considering the future construction of a separate ice hockey arena. The arena is also expected to attract non-UAA tenants, some of whom currently rent the Sullivan to hold their events.

2018 earthquake

On November 30, 2018, the center suffered minor damage caused by the 7.0 earthquake that day. The gymnasium flooded due to broken fire sprinklers, and several trophy cases had broken glass panels. There were no injuries at the facility.

References

{{Authority control 2014 establishments in Alaska Alaska Air Group Alaska Anchorage Seawolves Alaska Anchorage Seawolves basketball Basketball venues in Alaska College basketball venues in the United States College gymnastics venues in the United States College volleyball venues in the United States Indoor arenas in Alaska Sports venues completed in 2014 Sports venues in Anchorage, Alaska University of Alaska Anchorage Volleyball venues in Alaska

History

2018 earthquake

See also

References