Berglund Center (originally called the Roanoke Civic Center) is a 10,500-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 spectator ...

located in the Williamson Road neighborhood of Roanoke, Virginia. It was built in 1971. It was the former home to the

Roanoke Dazzle The Roanoke Dazzle were an NBA Development League team based in Roanoke, Virginia, U.S.. In operation from the inaugural D-League season of 2001–02 through the 2005–06 season, the Dazzle marked the return of professional basketball to Roanoke ...

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 ...

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to inf ...

, as well as the Roanoke Express and Roanoke Valley Vipers

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 ...

teams. Currently, it is the home of the

Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs The Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs are a professional ice hockey team and a member of the Southern Professional Hockey League. Based in Roanoke, Virginia, the Rail Yard Dawgs play their home games at Berglund Center. History The Rail Yard Dawgs are t ...

of the

Southern Professional Hockey League The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) is a professional ice hockey independent minor league based in Huntersville, North Carolina, with teams located primarily in the southeastern United States as well as Illinois and Indiana in the midw ...

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

Radford University Radford University is a public university in Radford, Virginia. It is one of the state's eight doctorate-granting public universities. Founded in 1910, Radford offers curricula for undergraduates in more than 100 fields, graduate programs incl ...

and Roanoke College men's

teams. The arena is also the home of the annual boys basketball games between Roanoke's two city high schools, Patrick Henry High School and

William Fleming High School William Fleming High School is a public school, one of the only two public high schools in the Roanoke City area school division, the other being the Patrick Henry High School. The edifice itself is located at 3649 Ferncliff Ave. Roanoke, Virgin ...

History

Opened in October 1971, the Roanoke Civic Center was also the former home of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, leading to four A ...

(1967-1976) professional basketball franchise

Virginia Squires The Virginia Squires were a basketball team based in Norfolk, Virginia, and playing in several other Virginia cities. They were members of the American Basketball Association from 1970 to 1976. The team originated in 1967 as the Oakland Oaks, ...

. The Squires played there (in addition to the Norfolk Scope, Richmond Coliseum and

Hampton Coliseum Hampton Coliseum is a multi-purpose arena in Hampton, Virginia. Construction began on May 24, 1968. The venue held its first event on December 1, 1969, with the nearby College of William & Mary playing North Carolina State University in a coll ...

; all within the state of Virginia) from 1971 to 1972. The Virginia Squires used the Civic Center for only one season due to low attendance, before folding in 1976.

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

performed there in 1972, 1974, 1976, and was due to return in 1977, about a week after his death. It hosted 251

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

events between 1975 and 2013. WCW held

Fall Brawl (1994) Fall Brawl '94: War Games was the second Fall Brawl professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It took place on September 18, 1994 from the Roanoke Civic Center in Roanoke, Virginia. As of 201 ...

there and ''

Monday Nitro ''WCW Monday Nitro'', also known as ''WCW Nitro'' or simply ''Nitro'', is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast weekly every Monday night on TNT in the United ...

'' on March 31, 1997. WWE brought ''

Monday Night Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show ...

'' on December 1, 1997, May 6, 2013, and November 17, 2014. The 1977-1981 Southern Conference men's basketball tournaments were held there as well. From 2001 to 2006, professional basketball was active again at the Roanoke Civic Center, with the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

D-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 Dev ...

franchise, the Roanoke Dazzle. College basketball was also recently contested there, in the form of the

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non- football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). ...

men's basketball tournaments in 2001 and 2002. The Metro Conference men's basketball tournament was held here in 1991. The Southern Conference basketball tournament took place at the arena between 1977-1981. When both the Dazzle and Vipers folded after the 2005-06 season, the Roanoke Civic Center was left with 60 open dates to fill for the upcoming fall and winter. Eventually, nearly two-thirds of these open dates were awarded to the Virginia Tech, Radford University and Roanoke College hockey clubs, the arena's primary tenants until 2016, when the Mississippi Surge relocated to Roanoke, becoming the Rail Yard Dawgs.

Overview

Built at the same time as the Scope and Richmond Coliseum, the Roanoke Civic Center is the area's premier sports and entertainment venue. There are eight restrooms and six concession stands at the arena, which has a ceiling height and 10 spotlights as well as a portable stage that is no larger than 60-by-40 feet. There are 8,372 permanent seats at the arena; the arena floor measures over . The Eclipse forms the Coliseum's half-house configuration. The arena recently began a $6.2 million renovation project expected to last until 2016. The arena's heating system has been replaced, and plans call for upgrades to the arena's electrical system and to all arena entrances, as well as for all seats to be replaced. Adjacent are a exhibit hall with of column-free space, and a 2,440-seat theatre that can be used for concerts, Broadway shows, the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra and other special events. The theatre features a -by-105-foot stage; 1,625 seats in the theatre are in the orchestra level, 295 in the loge and 520 in the balcony. After recent renovations, the facility became known as the Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre. A special events center was added to the Civic Center in 2007; it is used for trade shows, meetings, conventions and other special events. It can hold up to 3,066 seated, 5,850 standing. The ceiling height is 32 feet.

Professional sports teams

(1971–1976) * Roanoke Express, East Coast Hockey League (1993–2004) *

Roanoke Steam The Roanoke Steam was an arena football team that began as a charter member franchise of af2, the developmental league for the Arena Football League. They played their home games at the Roanoke Civic Center in Roanoke, Virginia. The Steam were ...

, AF2 (2000–2002) *

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 D ...

(2001–2006) * Roanoke Valley Vipers,

United Hockey League The United Hockey League (UHL), originally known as the Colonial Hockey League from 1991 to 1997 and last known as the International Hockey League from 2007 to 2010, was a low-level minor professional ice hockey league, with teams in the Uni ...

(2005–2006) *

(2016–present)

References

External links

* {{Coord, 37.280171, -79.935669, type:landmark, display=title 1971 establishments in Virginia American Basketball Association venues Basketball venues in Virginia Buildings and structures in Roanoke, Virginia College basketball venues in the United States Convention centers in Virginia Indoor ice hockey venues in the United States Defunct NBA G League venues Roanoke Dazzle Sports in Roanoke, Virginia Virginia Squires Tourist attractions in Roanoke, Virginia Sports venues completed in 1971 Arena football venues College ice hockey venues in the United States Indoor arenas in Virginia