The Eastlink Centre (formerly known as the Charlottetown Civic Centre) is a combined hockey/

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 ...

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 ...

and trade and convention facility located in

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

, Canada.

History

The facility's original name was the Charlottetown Civic Centre (1989–2013). It was built in 1989–1990 and opened in the fall of 1990 as the principal venue for the 1991

Canada Winter Games Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by total ...

which Prince Edward Island hosted in February 1991. The facility's location was the subject of significant controversy during its planning stages as various sites were being considered within the City of Charlottetown and surrounding communities; Charlottetown having argued that as host city for the games, the facility should be located on land within its boundaries. It was eventually decided by the games organizing committee and the federal and provincial governments to build the arena as part of a larger redevelopment of the Provincial Exhibition grounds in the neighbouring town of Parkdale (which amalgamated into Charlottetown in 1996). The 3,200 seat capacity arena was to be built on the southern side of the

Charlottetown Driving Park The Charlottetown Driving Park (CDP), located in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada is a harness racing track for racing standardbred horses. History The CDP opened on October 2, 1889, at a site along the west bank of the Hillsborough Ri ...

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australi ...

track) and adjoining Kennedy Coliseum (an agricultural show facility), which would be renovated into a multi-use exhibition hall. Following construction there were many complaints from patrons and tenants of the arena, citing wasted space and the lack of seating down to the boards. Following the 1991 Canada Winter Games, the Charlottetown Civic Centre and its arena became the responsibility of the City of Charlottetown (despite being located outside city limits until municipal amalgamation in 1996). In 2003, following extended complaints from patrons and tenants, the arena's seating was redesigned and expanded with additional seating placed down to the glass in several locations, as well as "luxury boxes" or sky boxes. The current capacity of the arena is 3,718 (3,690 seated). On September 13, 2013,

Charlottetown City Council The Charlottetown City Council is the governing body for the city of Charlottetown, the county seat of Queen's County, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The most recent civic election took place in November 5, 2018. City council meets at Charlotteto ...

announced that the facility was being renamed the Eastlink Centre after selling the

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 ...

for an undetermined period of time to the telecommunications company Eastlink.

Tenants

The facility has been the home rink of the Charlottetown Islanders, formerly the PEI Rocket, of the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The l ...

since the team relocated from

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in 2003. Since 2013, the Eastlink Centre has been the home of the Island Storm of the National Basketball League of Canada. From 1993 to 1996, the facility was the home 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 Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

's Prince Edward Island Senators. From 1990 to 2003, the facility was also home to the Charlottetown Abbies of the Maritime Junior A Hockey League, as well as the

University of Prince Edward Island The University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) is a public university in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, and the only university in the province. Founded in 1969, the enabling legislation is the ''University Act, R.S.P.E.I 2000.'' H ...

"Panthers" men's hockey team of the Atlantic Universities Athletic Association (now Atlantic University Sport). Both of these teams were former tenants of the Charlottetown Forum, a facility which was closed following the civic centre's opening in 1990. Both teams moved in the fall of 2003 to the newly built MacLauchlan Arena on the

campus. Until the 2008 opening of the

Consolidated Credit Union Place Consolidated Credit Union Place (formerly known as the ''Summerside Wellness Centre'') is a multi purpose facility that opened in two stages in April 2006 in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada. It contains an aquatics centre, meeting and ...

located in Summerside, the facility was the largest indoor public sports facility in the province. It has also hosted a number of concerts, trade shows, wrestling shows and tournaments such as the

1999 Scott Tournament of Hearts The 1999 Scott Tournament of Hearts Canadian women's national curling championship, was played February 20 to 28 at the Charlottetown Civic Centre in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. In the final, Colleen Jones and her Nova Scotia team would w ...

2003 Royal Bank Cup The 2003 Royal Bank Cup was the 33rd Junior "A" 2003 ice hockey National Championship for the Canadian Junior A Hockey League. The Royal Bank Cup was competed for by the winners of the Doyle Cup, Anavet Cup, Dudley Hewitt Cup, the Fred Page Cup a ...

, and

2006 Telus Cup The 2006 Telus Cup was Canada's 28th annual national midget 'AAA' hockey championship, played April 24–30, 2006 at the Charlottetown Civic Centre in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. The Prince Albert Mintos went undefeated throughout the to ...

. The facility also hosted the 2006

draft. In 2011, the facility hosted the

2011 Scotties Tournament of Hearts The 2011 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's national curling championship, was held from February 19 to February 27 at the Charlottetown Civic Centre in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. It was the 30th anniversary of Kruger Pr ...

from February 19 to 27.

Concerts

The facility has hosted numerous concerts over the years, including

The Tragically Hip The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as the Hip, were a Canadian rock band formed in Kingston, Ontario in 1984, consisting of vocalist Gord Downie, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker (known as Bobby Baker until 1994), bassi ...

, Bryan Adams, The Guess Who,

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

, The White Stripes, George Jones, and

Girlicious Girlicious was an American girl group originally formed by Robin Antin, creator of the Pussycat Dolls, from The CW reality TV show ''Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious''. The group was originally signed to Geffen Records and composed of members ...

on their first tour. On November 3, 2009,

magician Magician or The Magician may refer to: Performers * A practitioner of magic (supernatural) * A practitioner of magic (illusion) * Magician (fantasy), a character in a fictional fantasy context Entertainment Books * ''The Magician'', an 18th-ce ...

David Copperfield performed there.

Stompin' Tom Connors Charles Thomas "Stompin' Tom" Connors, OC (February 9, 1936 – March 6, 2013) was a Canadian country and folk singer-songwriter. Focusing his career exclusively on his native Canada, he is credited with writing more than 300 songs and has rele ...

was the first to play there.

External links

* {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Charlottetown Sports venues completed in 1990 Sports venues in Prince Edward Island Sport in Charlottetown Indoor arenas in Prince Edward Island Indoor ice hockey venues in Canada Quebec Major Junior Hockey League arenas Music venues in Prince Edward Island 1990 establishments in Prince Edward Island