The Westchester County 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 ...

White Plains, New York (Always Faithful) , image_seal = WhitePlainsSeal.png , seal_link = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = U.S. state, State , su ...

. It hosts various local concerts and sporting events for the area. The County Center was conceived by the Westchester Recreation Commission in 1924 as a multi-purpose indoor recreational facility to host community programs and income-producing commercial events. It was designed by the architectural firm of Walker & Gillette, and built and decorated in the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style. The construction project cost approximately $785,000; a $16-million rehabilitation was completed in 1988. For over 90 years the County Center has been Westchester's premier setting for thousands of concerts, trade shows, sports events, meetings, seminars, theatrical presentations, conventions and civic and community events. On the weekend of May 22, 1930, the Westchester County Center Grand opening gala was held, attracting thousands from all over Westchester to hear such notable musicians as the pianist Percy Grainger, Metropolitan Opera Company tenor Edward Johnson, organist Palmer Christian and more than 1,500 local choral group performers. In the ensuing years, generations of County Center audiences have been treated to performances by such greats as Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Joan Sutherland, James Brown, Kenny Rogers, Janis Joplin and John Sebastian, Jimi Hendrix, The Who along with the Harlem Globetrotters, World Wrestling Entertainment, and the Royal Hanneford Circus, one of the longest running events at the Center to date.

Notable events

* Grand opening was held May 22, 1930 features pianist

Percy Grainger Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; 8 July 188220 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who lived in the United States from 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long an ...

, Metropolitan Opera Company tenor Edward Johnson, organist Palmer Christian * First Westchester Music Festival is held in July, 1930 in the newly opened center * Governor Herbert H. Lehman winds up his campaign with an address at a rally of the American Labor party in 1936 *

Joe Baksi Joe Baksi (January 14, 1922 – August 6, 1977) was a top heavyweight contender who defeated fighters such as Tami Mauriello, Lee Savold, Lou Nova, and Freddie Mills, while losing decisions to Jersey Joe Walcott and Ezzard Charles. Background J ...

, future heavyweight contender, beat future movie actor

Jack Palance Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk ( uk, Володимир Палагню́к); February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American actor known for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, all fo ...

(who fought under the name of Jack Brazzo) on December 17, 1940. * The boxrec database lists nearly 500 cards held at Westchester over the years dating back to 1934, with televised Tuesday night bouts a staple in the early 1950s. * The Who played a show including their rock opera Tommy on November 3, 1969. *The New York Guard, a team in the short-lived

All-American Basketball Alliance The All-American Basketball Alliance was formed in 1977, with the intention of competing with the established Continental Basketball Association as the premier basketball minor league in the United States. Eight teams competed in the only season ...

, played here in 1978. * The

Westchester Golden Apples The Westchester Golden Apples was a professional basketball team based in the United States Basketball League (USBL). The team was a charter member of the USBL in 1985. The team was originally owned by former New York Knicks player Dick Barnett a ...

, a charter franchise of the minor league, summertime

United States Basketball League The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

, played at the County Center in 1985. A second USBL team, the Westchester Kings, played at the Center in 1997. * The New York Liberties volleyball team used the Center as their home venue in 1988. * Since the fall of 2014, it has been the home of the

Westchester Knicks The Westchester Knicks are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in White Plains, New York, and are affiliated with the New York Knicks. The Knicks typically play their home games at Westchester County Center in Whit ...

, the New York Knicks' farm team in the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

. * In 2018, it became the primary home of the New York Liberty of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

. The Liberty were purchased in 2019 by the owner of the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The ...

and will be moved to the Barclays Center in 2020. * In 2019, the arena was the home venue for the expansion

New York Streets The New York Streets were a professional Indoor American football, indoor football team based in the New York metropolitan area. They were owned by Corey Galloway and were members of the National Arena League (NAL) for the 2019 season. They playe ...

of the

National Arena League The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. It consists of teams based on the East Coast of the United States. Teams' typical payroll budget is $600,000 per season, while players are paid $ ...

. As the arena was too small to fit a regulation indoor football field of 50 yards plus end zones, the team played on a field that was marked as 50-yard field but was actually about 38 yards. The Streets folded after one season. * During March 2020, it was announced that the Westchester County Center would be used to hold non-COVID-19 patients during 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 identi ...

. During a March 30, 2020 press conference in the

White House Rose Garden The White House Rose Garden is a garden bordering the Oval Office and the West Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C., United States. The garden is approximately 125 feet long and 60 feet wide ( by , or about 684m²). It balances the Jacqu ...

President Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

discussed the conversion of the Westchester County Center to a makeshift hospital, although he referred to it as the "Westchester Community Center."

References

External links