The Tucson Convention Center (previously named the Tucson Community Center) is a large multi-purpose

convention center A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...

located in downtown Tucson, Arizona. Built in 1971, the location includes an 8,962-seat indoor arena, two

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...

venues, and of meeting space. The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

Performance venues

*The Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, with 2,289 seats, is used for concert performances, including opera. Known originally as the Tucson Music Hall, it was renamed in honor of Tucson native Linda Ronstadt in 2022. *Leo Rich Theater, with 511 seats, is used for small scale and more intimate performances. *Tucson Arena, with maximum capacity of 8,962. In the 200 seating series, total capacity is 4,988, 100 series total capacity is 2,724 and the floor capacity is 1,250. Standard hockey capacity is 6,791.

University of Arizona Hockey

The University of Arizona Wildcats club hockey team currently plays at Tucson Arena. Although associated with the college, the team receives no funding directly from the school. The hockey team is a Division 1 member of the

American Collegiate Hockey Association The American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) is a college ice hockey association. The ACHA's purpose is to be an organization of collegiate affiliated non-varsity programs, which provides structure, regulates operations, and promotes qualit ...

. Leo Golembiewski had been the head coach for the last 27 years, leading the team to 21 straight national tournaments with eight semi-final appearances and one national championship. The current coach is Chad Berman, in his first year with the team.

Tucson Roadrunners

Beginning from the fall of 2016, the arena has been home to the Tucson Roadrunners in the American Hockey League.

Tucson Sugar Skulls

On August 23, 2018, the Indoor Football League announced the addition of the expansion

Tucson Sugar Skulls The Tucson Sugar Skulls are a professional indoor American football team based in Tucson, Arizona. They are members of the Indoor Football League (IFL) since the 2019 season as an expansion team. They play home games at Tucson Convention Center's ...

to begin play in 2019.

Other events

The Tucson Convention Center has been host to many other events including the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show, Jehovah's Witnesses Regional Conventions, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, concerts, monster truck shows as well as many live WWE television broadcasts featuring

Raw Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...

, SmackDown &

ECW ECW may refer to: Professional wrestling * Extreme Championship Wrestling (originally Eastern Championship Wrestling), a professional wrestling promotion that operated from 1992 to 2001 * The Alliance (professional wrestling) (originally the WCW/E ...

. In 1999, the arena hosted an Empty Arena match between The Rock and Mankind for the WWF Championship, which aired during halftime of Super Bowl XXXIII. While

McKale Center McKale Memorial Center is an athletic arena in the Southwestern United States, southwest United States, located on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. As the home of the university's Arizona Wildcats men's basketball, Wi ...

was being built at the University of Arizona, the Wildcats briefly considered playing some of its 1971-72 men's basketball games at Tucson Arena, but eventually decided against doing so, opting to remain in Bear Down Gymnasium until McKale Center was ready. The arena also hosted a concert played by Elvis Presley on November 9, 1972. He would return again on June 1, 1976. Ventriloquist and comedian

Jeff Dunham Jeffrey Douglas Dunham (born April 18, 1962) is an American ventriloquist, stand-up comedian and actor who has also appeared on numerous television shows, including ''Late Show with David Letterman'', ''Comedy Central Presents'', ''The Tonigh ...

hosted a show at the arena as part of his "Seriously!?" tour on October 3, 2021.

Past minor league teams

Tucson Mavericks The Tucson Mavericks were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was ...

, Central Hockey League (1975–76) * Tucson Icemen, Southwest Hockey League (1976–77) *

Tucson Rustlers The Tucson Rustlers are a defunct professional ice hockey team which played in the Pacific Hockey League during the 1978–79 season. Based in Tucson, Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwe ...

, Pacific Hockey League (1978–79) *

Tucson Gunners The Tucson Gunners are a defunct minor professional basketball team based in Tucson, Arizona. They played in the Western Basketball Association and won the league's first and only championship Notable players included Al Smith (basketball), Al ...

, Western Basketball Association (1978–79) * Tucson Gila Monsters, West Coast Hockey League (1997–99)

Renovation

Throughout 2014, the Tucson Convention Center was renovated at a cost of $22 million, via funding by the Rio Nuevo downtown redevelopment and revitalization district and the

City of Tucson , "(at the) base of the black

ill ILL may refer to: * ''I Love Lucy'', a landmark American television sitcom * Illorsuit Heliport (location identifier: ILL), a heliport in Illorsuit, Greenland * Institut Laue–Langevin, an internationally financed scientific facility * Interlibrar ...

, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive ...

, including new bathrooms, lighting, seats, a revamped sound system, a new kitchen and a video scoreboard. Mike Love's Beach Boys headlined a January 4, 2015 concert at the venue, debuting the remodeled arena. Management of the convention center is now handled by ASM Global.

References

External links

Tucson ArenaTucson Music HallLeo Rich TheaterUniversity of Arizona Wildcats Hockey Website
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Tucson, Arizona College ice hockey venues in the United States Economy of Tucson, Arizona Indoor arenas in Arizona Indoor ice hockey venues in the United States Sports in Tucson, Arizona Sports venues in Tucson, Arizona Tourist attractions in Tucson, Arizona Music venues in Arizona Convention centers in Arizona 1971 establishments in Arizona Event venues on the National Register of Historic Places in Arizona Sports venues on the National Register of Historic Places in Arizona Tucson Roadrunners Sports venues completed in 1971