DCU Center

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DCU Center
Location	Worcester, Massachusetts
Broke ground	1981
Opened	September, 1982
Owner	City of Worcester, MA
Operator	City of Worcester, MA, SMG
Former names
Worcester Centrum (1982-1997) Worcester's Centrum Centre (1997-2004)
Tenants
Worcester Sharks (AHL) (2006-present) New England Surge (CIFL) (2007-present) New England Blazers (NLL) (1989-1991) Massachusetts Marauders (AFL) (1994) Worcester IceCats (AHL) (1994-2005)
Capacity
14,800

The DCU Center, formerly known as the Worcester Centrum and Worcester's Centrum Centre, is an indoor arena and convention center complex located in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts. The facility hosts a variety of events including concerts, sporting events, family shows, conventions, trade-shows and meetings.

Contents 1 History 2 Events 3 Sports 4 External link

[edit] History

The arena was built by Chris Chartier, and opened to the public in 1982. Owned by Chris Chartier, it was built to provide an arena in central Massachusetts similar to the Boston Garden, which was in nearby Boston at the time. The debut opening featured a concert by Frank Sinatra, and the facility quickly became successful due to its continued booking of popular concerts and family shows, consistently reaching Billboard Magazine's top 5 list in terms of profitability compared to venues of its size.

In 1997, the building's name changed to the Centrum Centre following the addition of a 50,000 square foot convention center, allowing for national conventions and shows to be held at the center.

In 2004, the building's naming rights were bought by Digital Federal Credit Union for $5 million.

Today, the complex features 100,310 square feet of exhibit space, plus 11 meeting rooms totalling 23,636 square feet of space, plus a 12,144 square-foot ballroom.

In 2006 the state of Massachusetts has just recently approved the DCU center to renovate the arena during the spring and summer of 2007. They plan on adding luxury boxes completely around the arena and renovating the concourse area.

[edit] Events

Starting with the debut concert by Frank Sinatra, the DCU Center has been home to many events.

• The DCU Center is often the destination for many concert tours, both by classic bands and musicians like Billy Joel, Queen, and The Grateful Dead, as well as modern acts such as Radiohead, Oasis, Foo Fighters, and Dave Matthews Band. Many artists, such as Neil Diamond, Bruce Springsteen, and Hilary Duff, have chosen to start national and worldwide tours at the Center, as opposed to other nearby, larger venues like the TD Banknorth Garden. The American Idol concert tours have come to the DCU Center every time they have occurred.

• Various live events often come to the center as well, including Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Circus as well as the Harlem Globetrotters, monster trucks, and the WWE, including in 1999 the first Smackdown! broadcast and 2003 Pay-Per-View event WWE Backlash. It also hosted a rare northern WCW pay-per-view, Slamboree, in 1998. It is also home to many touring family shows, such as Disney on Ice, Sesame Street Live, The Wiggles, Dora, and Barney.

• With construction of the convention center, larger local high schools (i.e. St Peter Marian) and colleges have been able to hold graduation ceremonies at the complex due to its large capacity in the city.

[edit] Sports

The facility has been used for a number of sporting events:

• In 1994, the Arena Football League had a franchise who called the Worcester Centrum their home. The Massachusetts Marauders played for one season in the AFL before disbanding. However, it has been widely leaked that the New England Surge of the Continental Indoor Football League will play there for the 2007 season.

• The facility was the home of the Worcester IceCats, an AHL franchise associated with the St. Louis Blues, until 2004, and currently serves as the home of the Worcester Sharks, a San Jose Sharks minor league associate, beginning in the AHL's 2006-2007 season.

• The facility was home to the New England Blazers, a team in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League from 1989 to 1991 before moving to the Boston Garden and being rechristened the Boston Blazers.

• The facility has also hosted various rounds of both men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments, as well as NCAA hockey tournament games.

• The facility hosted the Northeast Regional in the NCAA Hockey Tournament. Boston University of Hockey East, Boston College, also of Hockey East, the Miami RedHawks of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA), and the University of Nebraska, Omaha, also of the CCHA, all participated in the Northeast Region. Boston College ended up going to the Frozen Four and eventually to the National Championship Game.

• One of the more memorable moments from the 2005 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament occurred in the DCU Center. In the first-round game between the 4th-seeded Syracuse Orange and the 13th-seeded Vermont Catamounts, the Cats pulled off a stunning overtime win sealed by T.J. Sorrentine's three-pointer "from the parking lot" (as described by CBS Sports' Gus Johnson) late in the extra session. [1]

• The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association's Division 1, 2, and 3 basketball state finals are held at the DCU Center.

[edit] External link

• DCU Center website

Current arenas in the American Hockey League
Eastern Conference		Western Conference
Arena at Harbor Yard | Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena | Cumberland County Civic Center | DCU Center | Dunkin' Donuts Center | GIANT Center | Hartford Civic Center | MassMutual Center | Norfolk Scope | Times Union Center | Tsongas Arena | Verizon Wireless Arena | Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza | Wachovia Spectrum		Allstate Arena | AT&T Center | Blue Cross Arena | Bradley Center | Carver Arena | Copps Coliseum | MTS Centre | Omaha Civic Auditorium | Ricoh Coliseum | Toyota Center | Van Andel Arena | War Memorial at Oncenter | Wells Fargo Arena

Current arenas in the Continental Indoor Football League
Great Lakes Division		Atlantic Division
Hobart Arena | L.C. Walker Arena | McMorran Place | Prairie Capital Convention Center | Sears Centre | Summit County Fairgrounds Arena Complex | Veterans Memorial Coliseum | Wings Stadium		DCU Center | Main Street Armory | Mennen Arena | Show Place Arena | Stabler Arena | St. John Arena