Whittemore Center Arena, known colloquially as The Whitt, is a 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 ...

Durham, New Hampshire Durham is a town in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 15,490 at the 2020 census, up from 14,638 at the 2010 census.United States Census BureauU.S. Census website 2010 Census figures. Retrieved March 23, 2011. D ...

, United States, on the campus of the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...

. It was built for $30 million and opened in November 1995. It was dedicated to Frederick B. Whittemore and his family on May 5, 1996. It is adjacent to its predecessor, Snively Arena, which is still standing and is used as a recreation facility. It is also adjacent to Durham's

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

station, and it is across the street from

Wildcat Stadium Wildcat Stadium may refer to one of the following sports stadiums in the United States: :''Entries are listed alphabetically by state'' * Wildcat Stadium (Fort Valley, Georgia), home football field of Fort Valley State University * Wildcat Stadium ...

. The arena is home to the

University of New Hampshire Wildcats The New Hampshire Wildcats, or 'Cats, are the American intercollegiate athletic teams representing the University of New Hampshire (UNH), located in Durham. The wildcat is the school's official mascot, the colors are UNH Blue and white. The Uni ...

men's and women'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 ...

teams. The hockey rink originally had a full Olympic-sized sheet of ice, but the rink was reduced slightly to "NHL size" during a 2022 renovation. In 2002, 2005 and 2016, UNH and the Whittemore Center hosted the NCAA

Women's Frozen Four The annual NCAA women's ice hockey tournament—officially known as the National Collegiate Women's Ice Hockey Championship—is a college ice hockey tournament held in the United States by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to determin ...

. The arena can seat 6,501 for hockey and

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 ...

games, and 7,200 for concerts and similar events. The lobby is decorated with heroic portraits of past men's and women's

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n hockey players. Through the end of the 2006–2007 academic year, the arena was managed by Global Spectrum, but UNH Campus Recreation took over management before the 2007 academic year. The

teams (which currently draw roughly 1,000 fans per game on average) normally play across the street at Lundholm Gymnasium, which is attached to Cowell Stadium. A few home basketball games have been held at the Whittemore Center. The arena is also a venue for many concerts, trade shows, and events. The arena was New Hampshire's largest until the

Verizon Wireless Arena 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. The facility was originally known during cons ...

(now the

SNHU Arena 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. The facility was originally known during con ...

) opened in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in 2001. The consecration of Bishop

Gene Robinson Vicky Gene Robinson (born May 29, 1947) is a former bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. Robinson was elected bishop coadjutor in 2003 and succeeded as bishop diocesan in March 2004. Before becoming bishop, he served as Canon to th ...

occurred in this arena on 2 November 2003. Robinson is known for being the first openly gay bishop within the Episcopal Church. In September 2015 a new high definition center-hung scoreboard was unveiled. The main screens on each side of the board are . During the summer of 2017, the arena replaced its former HID fixture lighting system with a new

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...

lighting system which led to much more even lighting in the arena and no more loud hum produced by the former system. In June and September 2020, the

New Hampshire House of Representatives The New Hampshire House of Representatives is the lower house in the New Hampshire General Court, the bicameral legislature of the state of New Hampshire. The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 204 legislative district ...

met in the arena due to

social distancing In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious disea ...

requirements as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In December 2020, both the House and

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

met outside the arena. The House convened on the field hockey pitch in front of the arena. The Senate convened on a nearby parking lot, before joining the House for a joint convention on the field hockey pitch to certify the results of the 2020 general election and to elect the secretary of state and the

state treasurer In the state governments of the United States, 48 of the 50 states have the executive position of treasurer. New York abolished the position in 1926; duties were transferred to New York State Comptroller. Texas abolished the position of Texas ...

. In April 2022, $6 million UNH spent on renovations, that included a ice size reduction to 200 x 90 foot. The renovations also include installing new glass, a more forgiving NHL-style boards and a new sound system.

References

External links

Whittemore Center Arena official website
Indoor arenas in New Hampshire Basketball venues in New Hampshire College basketball venues in the United States College ice hockey venues in the United States Indoor ice hockey venues in the United States Sports venues in New Hampshire University of New Hampshire buildings New Hampshire Wildcats men's basketball Buildings and structures in Strafford County, New Hampshire University and college buildings completed in 1995 1995 establishments in New Hampshire Sports venues completed in 1995 {{NewHampshire-stadium-stub