Peoria Civic Center is an entertainment complex located in downtown

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

. Designed by

Pritzker Prize The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international architecture award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produ ...

winning architect

Philip Johnson Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect best known for his works of modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the pos ...

and

John Burgee __NOTOC__ John Burgee (born August 28, 1933) is an American architect noted for his contributions to Postmodern architecture. He was a partner of Philip Johnson from 1967 to 1991, creating together the partnership firm Johnson/Burgee Architects. ...

, it has an arena, theater, exhibit hall and meeting rooms. It opened in 1982 and completed an expansion to its lobby and meeting facilities in 2007. On the grounds of the Peoria Civic Center sits the massive "Sonar Tide," the last and largest sculpture of the pioneer of abstract minimalism

Ronald Bladen Ronald Bladen (July 13, 1918 – February 3, 1988) was a Canadian-born American painter and sculptor. He is particularly known for his large-scale sculptures. His artistic stance, was influenced by European Constructivism, American Hard-Edge ...

History

The site of the Civic Center includes the spot at Liberty Street and Jefferson Street, where Moses and Lucy Pettengill lived from 1836 to 1862; that house was part of the

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and Moses was also an Underground Railroad "conductor". In 1862, the Pettingills moved out of downtown and to Moss Avenue, where the present Pettengill–Morron House was built in 1868. The downtown home was demolished in 1910 to make way for the Jefferson Hotel. The hotel, in turn, was imploded in 1978 to make way for the Civic Center. The first event at the Civic Center was a home and garden show in the Exhibit Hall in February 1982.

Facilities

Carver Arena

Carver Arena has been hosts to acts such as

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, Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live,

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, and basketball exhibition games for the

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. , seating capacity was 9,919 for hockey and indoor football, 11,433 for basketball and up to 12,036 for

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

set the record for the highest-grossing concert in venue history on January 22, 2019. The previous record was held by an

concert in 2011. Reba McEntire set a record for top-selling country concert in venue history on March 18, 2022. Previous record holder was

. Carver Arena hosted the Illinois High School Association boys' basketball state finals for two weeks every March from 1996 until 2019. The interactive March Madness Experience took place in the adjacent exhibition hall during the tournaments.

Theater

Steve Martin and Martin Short's Now You See Them, Soon You Won't event on April 20, 2019, set the record for top comedy show in Peoria Civic Center Theater's History. Harry Connick Jr. set a new box office record for a concert in the theater with his December 3, 2022 performance. Pollstar ranked the Peoria Civic Center Theater as the 96th top selling theater in the world and 3rd in state of Illinois behind Chicago based venues - Chicago Theatre and Rosemont Theatre.

Tenants

* Peoria Symphony Orchestra * Peoria Ballet * Bradley Braves men's basketball, Bradley Men's Basketball * Peoria Rivermen (SPHL)

External links

Official Site

Carver Arena
at BradleyBraves.com — short history of Bradley University basketball at Carver Arena

References

{{Authority control 1982 establishments in Illinois Basketball venues in Illinois Bradley Braves basketball Buildings and structures in Peoria, Illinois College basketball venues in the United States Concert halls in Illinois Convention centers in Illinois Event venues established in 1982 Indoor arenas in Illinois Indoor ice hockey venues in Illinois Music venues in Illinois Peoria Rivermen Sports venues completed in 1982 Sports venues in Peoria, Illinois Theatres in Illinois Tourist attractions in Peoria, Illinois