The Silvio O. Conte Forum, commonly known as Conte Forum, Kelley Rink (for ice hockey games), or simply Conte, is an 8,606-seat multi-purpose

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

which opened in 1988 in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

on the campus of

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood. Conte Forum is home to the

Boston College Eagles The Boston College Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Boston College, located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level ( Football Bowl Subdivis ...

men's and women's basketball and ice hockey teams as well as the Boston College Marching Band.

History

Conte Forum is named for former United States

congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

Silvio O. Conte, an

alumnus Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

and

Boston College Law School Boston College Law School (BC Law) is the law school of Boston College, a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. It is situated on a campus in Newton, Massachusetts, about from the university's main campus in Chestn ...

. The ice rink is named in honor of long-time BC hockey coach

John "Snooks" Kelley John Andrew "Snooks" Kelley (July 11, 1907 – April 10, 1986) was an American ice hockey coach. Kelley was coach of the Boston College Eagles ice hockey team for 36 years. Kelley won the 1949 NCAA ice hockey title and was the first coach t ...

. The entire arena is traditionally called "Kelley Rink" during hockey games. Before the arena opened in 1988, the BC basketball teams played their home games in Roberts Center to the immediate southwest of Alumni Stadium, on the site of the present-day Merkert Chemistry Center. Games expected to draw more than its 4,400 capacity were moved off-campus to

Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (later ...

. The Eagles hockey teams played at

McHugh Forum The Boston College Eagles are an NCAA Division I college ice hockey program that represents Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The team has competed in Hockey East since 1984, having previously played in the ECAC Hockey, ECAC. The E ...

which was positioned parallel to Alumni Stadium. Conte Forum was built on the site of McHugh Forum, and is situated perpendicular to the football stadium. The arena is directly adjacent to Alumni, with some luxury boxes overlooking both the football field and arena floors. Conte Forum seats 8,606 spectators in its basketball configuration and 7,884 when set up for hockey. The facility also houses 950-seat Power Gym which is used for BC volleyball games and as an auxiliary basketball court. As the largest indoor venue on the BC campus, Conte Forum hosts larger university-related events including conferences and debates. It is the site of the annual "Pops-on-the-Heights" during the annual Parents' Weekend in the fall, a gala concert featuring the

Boston Pops Orchestra The Boston Pops is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Symphony Orc ...

which raises over $1.5 million for BC's academic scholarship fund. In the event of inclement weather, Conte Forum also hosts the university's commencement exercises. Since 2008, Conte Forum has also hosted the Boston College AHANA Leadership Council Showdown in the spring, an increasingly popular dance competition between BC's various dance and cultural organizations. Conte has also hosted numerous concerts, including in recent years

Akon Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon (), is a Senegalese-United States, American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, businessman, and philanthropist. An influ ...

Third Eye Blind Third Eye Blind is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1993. After years of lineup changes in the early and mid-1990s, the songwriting duo of Stephan Jenkins and Kevin Cadogan signed the band's first major-label reco ...

hellogoodbye Hellogoodbye (sometimes styled as hellogoodbye) is an American pop rock band that was formed in Huntington Beach, California in 2001 by singer Forrest Kline. They were signed to Drive-Thru Records and released their first full-length album '' ...

The Roots The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

, and The Academy Is, as well as Will Ferrell's Funny or Die Comedy Tour. On January 5, 2014, the Conte Forum was the venue for Boston mayor

Marty Walsh Martin Joseph Walsh (born April 10, 1967) is an American politician and trade union official who served as the 58th mayor of Boston from 2014 to 2021 and as the 29th United States Secretary of Labor from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Democr ...

's inauguration.https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/01/05/walsh-choice-inaugural-venue-break-with-more-than-century-tradition In Boston's proposed bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics, Conte Forum was selected as a potential venue for various events, such as

Wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

and

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

. However, the city eventually withdrew the bid.

Gallery

File:Conte Forum Hoops.jpg, Conte Forum during a BC vs. West Virginia basketball game. File:BC vs. Duke 2010.jpg, BC vs. Duke men's basketball game. File:Conte Forum basketball.jpg, Conte Forum before a BC basketball game. File:Kelley Rink BC vs. Merrimack 2010.jpg, Kelley Rink before a BC hockey game. File:1949-2001-2008 BC Championship Banners.jpg, BC hockey's 1949, 2001, and 2008 national championship banners in the Conte Forum rafters.

References

External links

* {{Massachusetts NCAA Division I college basketball venue navbox Boston College Eagles basketball venues Boston College Eagles ice hockey College basketball venues in Massachusetts College ice hockey venues in the United States Ice hockey venues in Boston Sports venues completed in 1988 1988 in Boston 1988 establishments in Massachusetts

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links