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Blue Cross Arena, also known as the War Memorial, is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in
Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located i ...
. For hockey and lacrosse, its
seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile th ...
is 10,662. The arena opened on October 18, 1955, as the Rochester Community War Memorial. It was renovated in the mid-1990s and reopened as The Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial, on September 18, 1998. It is home to the
Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League; the team is an owned and operated affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home games in Rochester, New York, ...
of the
American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...
and the Rochester Knighthawks of the
National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United States and five in Canada. The N ...
.


History

The arena was built on a downtown site as a replacement for Edgerton Park Arena, bounded by Exchange Boulevard on the west, East Broad Street on the north, the
Genesee River The Genesee River is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York in the United States. The river provided the original power for the Rochester area's 19th century mills and still provides ...
on the east and Court Street on the south. The property was formerly the home of the Kimball Tobacco Co. and other retail buildings. Originally named the Rochester Community War Memorial, the arena opened on October 18, 1955. The building included a full stage on the south end and an exhibition hall located on the basement level. One of the members of the construction team was a young Robert Marella, who later achieved fame as professional wrestler
Gorilla Monsoon Robert James Marella (June 4, 1937 – October 6, 1999), better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play commentator, and booker. Monsoon is famous for his run as a villainous super-heavyw ...
. The arena's first tenant was the Rochester Royals NBA basketball team, who played their final two seasons in Rochester at this arena. They were joined by the Americans the next year, who have played in the arena for 63 consecutive seasons. On March 13, 1996, renovations to expand the arena took place, eliminating the permanent stage at the south end of the building. On July 24, 1998,
Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBS, BCBSA) is a federation, or supraorganization, of, in 2022, 34 independent and locally operated BCBSA companies that provide health insurance in the United States to more than 106 million people. It was ...
and City officials announced that the name of the renovated arena would be Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. On September 18, 1998, the arena reopened to the public during a formal ribbon cutting/rededication ceremony
DeWolff Partnership Architects
completed the project as Architects of Record with
Rossetti Architects ROSSETTI is an architectural design and planning firm headquartered in Detroit, Michigan.Contact
" ROSSETTI. Retrieved on November 16, 2009. ...
in a consultant relationship. C.E. DeWolff, Senior Partner of DeWolff Partnership, Geno Rossetti of Rossetti Architects, were Design Associates who collaborated on features of the design. In 2018, the city terminated the arena management contract with long term operator SMG who had been running the arena since 2000. In July 2018, the city reached an agreement with
Pegula Sports and Entertainment Pegula Sports & Entertainment (PSE) is an American sports and entertainment company based in Buffalo, New York. The company was established after multi-billionaire Terry Pegula and his family combined their sports, property and entertainment ass ...
, owners of the Americans,
Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conf ...
and
Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...
and operators of
KeyBank Center KeyBank Center is a multipurpose indoor arena located in Buffalo, New York. Originally known as Marine Midland Arena, the venue has since been named HSBC Arena and First Niagara Center. Home to the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey Lea ...
in Buffalo to operate the arena beginning on August 1, 2018. Shortly after the Pegula takeover the arena received updates of a new center scoreboard, a new ribbon board at the stage end of the arena and enhancements to the audio and video equipment. There are plans for expansion along the Exchange Boulevard side of the arena that will make room for additional office space and improved locker room facilities as well as planned upgrades to the bathrooms, new concessions and a restaurant. Blue Cross Arena's portable stage, which measures 80 feet deep by 80 feet wide, is said to be deeper than, and is nearly the same size as, the proscenium stage at
Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and theater at 1260 Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplace of the Nation", it is the headquarters for th ...
across the state in New York City.


Notable events

The first event at the facility was a public trade show held in the exhibition hall and featured such famous Rochester-based companies as
Eastman Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
, Haloid (now
Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (having moved from St ...
),
Bausch & Lomb Bausch + Lomb is an eye health products company based in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the world's largest suppliers of contact lenses, lens care products, pharmaceuticals, intraocular lenses, and other eye surgery products. The compan ...
,
General Railway Signal General Railway Signal Company (GRS) was an American manufacturing company located in the Rochester, New York area. GRS was focused on railway signaling equipment, systems and services. The company was established in 1904 and became part of Alstom ...
and Rochester Products. It hosted the
1956 NBA All-Star Game The 1956 NBA All Star Game was the sixth NBA All-Star Game. Roster Western Conference Head Coach: Charley Eckman, Fort Wayne Pistons Eastern Conference Head Coach: George Senesky, Philadelphia Warriors References

* * {{NBA ...
, the two-month finals of the American Bowling Congress tournament in both 1956 and 1966. A semifinal game and the final game of the ECAC Upstate-Southern Region tournament, an
NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...
men's
college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
tournament organized by the
Eastern College Athletic Conference The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 15 sports (13 men's and 13 women's). It has 220 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location fro ...
(ECAC), took place at the War Memorial in
1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 – ...
; the tournament champion received an automatic bid to the
1978 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1978 NCAA Division I basketball tournament involved 32 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1978, and ended with the championship ga ...
.
World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and va ...
has run many shows at the arena, most notably several television tapings 1997's In Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker Pay Per View event. In 1990 at a television taping, Mr. Perfect won the Intercontinental title from The Texas Tornado and in 1994, Diesel (Kevin Nash) beat Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental title. On July 28, 2007, the CIFL Championship Game was held in the arena. It was the first arena football game played in the venue since the Rochester Brigade folded in 2003. Local high school basketball games are played here, most notably the New York State Public High School Section V (5) Championships at the end of each season. Additionally, the arena is the home of high school cheerleading championships each year. The arena also hosts college basketball, and Section V hockey and
wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...
. On Saturday and Sunday, March 8–9, 2008, the Blue Cross Arena played host to the 46th NYSPHSAA Wrestling Championships, just the second time the annual interscholastic event has been held in the Rochester area. The arena attendance record of 11,650 was set December 3, 2003 when Syracuse University defeated St. Bonaventure University in men's basketball. St. Bonaventure has hosted one of its home games in Rochester every year since 2002. In 2016, the arena hosted the Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions. On May 18, 2019, the arena held their first MMA event UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Lee. In addition to sporting events, the arena hosts a wide variety of entertainment events, including live concerts, ice shows and the circus. On November 1, 1965,
The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
played here in a concert that lasted only 7 minutes, when several thousand fans rushed the stage causing police to cancel the show. On August 9, 1971, The Who played at the War Memorial just five days before releasing their classic album "
Who's Next ''Who's Next'' is the fifth studio album by English rock band the Who. It developed from the aborted '' Lifehouse'' project, a multi-media rock opera conceived by the group's guitarist Pete Townshend as a follow-up to the band's 1969 album '' ...
".
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are c ...
played to a standing room audience concert on September 11, 1971. The
Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...
's performance, on November 5, 1977, was recorded and later released as a live album, entitled ''
Dick's Picks Volume 34 ''Dick's Picks Volume 34'' is the 34th installment of the ''Dick's Pick's'' series of Grateful Dead concert recordings. It is a three CD set that contains the complete show recorded on November 5, 1977, at the Community War Memorial in Roche ...
''. Part of the Grateful Dead's performance on September 2, 1980 is included as bonus tracks on ''
Dick's Picks Volume 21 ''Dick's Picks Volume 21'' is a three-CD live album by the rock group the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert that was recorded on November 1, 1985, at Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia. It also includes several bonus tracks re ...
''. The band performed at the arena ten times between 1973 and 1985. Footage from
Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended Jam session#Rock, jams, blending of Music genre, genres, and a dedicated Fandom, fan base. The band consists of guitari ...
's documentary ''Bittersweet Motel'', was filmed here on December 11, 1997.


Ice hockey

Aside from the
Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League; the team is an owned and operated affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home games in Rochester, New York, ...
, who play their home games in the arena, the Blue Cross Arena has played host to several notable
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...
events and games. On November 12, 2003, the
Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conf ...
and the defending Stanley Cup champion
New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The club was founded as the Kans ...
played the first
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...
regular season game in the venue. The game was made possible by then Sabres owner
Tom Golisano Blase Thomas Golisano (born November 14, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder of Paychex, which offers payroll and human resources services to businesses. Golisano owned Greenlight Networks, a fiber ...
, who hails from Rochester, and featured two Rochester natives:
Brian Gionta Brian Joseph Gionta (born January 18, 1979) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). Gionta began his NHL career in 2001 with the New Jersey Devils and has served as capta ...
of the Devils and Rory Fitzpatrick of the Sabres. It ended in a 2–2 tie. A second regular season game was held at the arena on October 26, 2005, with the Sabres falling to the
Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...
, 3–2 with 8,552 in attendance. On March 23, 2006,
Atlantic Hockey The Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) is an NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey conference which operates primarily in the northeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference. Unlike several other ...
, an
NCAA Division I Men's ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the ...
league, announced that its league tournaments in 2007, 2008, and 2009 would be held at the Blue Cross Arena. 2007 was the first time the tournament was held at a neutral site. The league continued to hold their tournament there each year through 2018 when it then moved to Buffalo's
LECOM Harborcenter LECOM Harborcenter is an American mixed-use development in Buffalo, New York developed by Pegula Sports and Entertainment. The building occupies a full 1.7 acre city block formerly known as the Webster Block, directly across from and connected ...
. Additionally, the 2007 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey East Regional was held at the Blue Cross Arena. Attendance was low due to high ticket prices and distance from large Division I programs. The
Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in the town of Henrietta, New York, Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree ...
men's hockey team has played periodic regular-season games at Blue Cross Arena instead of at their smaller on-campus rink, due to the large capacity. The RIT women's hockey team hosted an exhibition game at the arena on October 16, 2021 after the Gene Polisseni Center was temporarily shut down for an ammonia leak. Every year, the Blue Cross Arena hosts regular season Section V high school hockey games and the Section V Basketball championship.


See also

* Edgerton Park Arena


References


External links

* {{Authority control 1955 establishments in New York (state) American Basketball Association (2000–present) venues Arena football venues Atlantic Hockey Tournament Basketball venues in New York (state) College ice hockey venues in the United States Continental Basketball Association venues Former National Basketball Association venues Gymnastics venues in New York (state) Indoor arenas in New York (state) Indoor ice hockey venues in New York (state) Indoor lacrosse venues in the United States Indoor soccer venues in New York (state) Mixed martial arts venues in New York (state) Pegula Sports and Entertainment Rochester Americans Rochester Knighthawks Rochester Royals St. Bonaventure Bonnies basketball Sports venues in Rochester, New York Sports venues completed in 1955 The Basketball League venues Wrestling venues in New York (state)