Everything about The Air Canada Centre totally explained
The
Air Canada Centre is a multi-purpose arena located on
Bay Street in downtown
Toronto,
Ontario. It is the home of the
Toronto Raptors of the
National Basketball Association, the
Toronto Maple Leafs of the
National Hockey League, and the
Toronto Rock of the
National Lacrosse League. It was also home to the
Toronto Phantoms of the
Arena Football League during their brief existence. The arena is popularly known as "the ACC" or "the Hangar" (the latter nickname coming from its sponsorship by Canada's largest airline,
Air Canada).
From its initial design to completion it revolutionized many concepts now included in new arenas and stadiums such as luxury suites accessible on the ground floor, splitting the main scoreboard into several sections, rotating all sponsor signage in the bowl at once (to allow dominant messaging), and multiple restaurants in and out of the main arena bowl view.
The arena is owned by
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd., the same group that owns both the Leafs and Raptors, and is 665,000 square feet (62,000 m²) in size. Air Canada Centre is connected to
Union Station and the underground pedestrian PATH system, providing easy access to public transportation (
TTC's Union subway station and
GO Transit) for fans attending events. There are also 13,000 parking spaces within immediate walking distance.
Since opening, Air Canada Centre has been recognized with more than 25 industry awards that range from Canadian Major Facility of the Year (multiple times), the U.S. based Facilities & Event Management Magazine's Prime Site Award, the Wine Spectator, VQA Restaurant and the International (Diamond Wine Award) Awards of Excellence, and Tourism Toronto's Jeff Adams Access Award of Excellence for the facilities accessibility.
Air Canada Centre remains the only arena in North America to house three of its own exclusive award-winning restaurants -- The Platinum Club, Air Canada Club and Hot Stove Club. The restaurants, along with themed concessions stands and kiosks offer a diversity of food and beverages that capture Toronto's multicultural flavor. Two in-house bars, the Ice Box and Rickard's Brewhouse (which has its own micro-brewery) are favorite spots for fans before and during games.
Andy Frost is the
public address announcer at the ACC during
Toronto Maple Leafs home games, while
Herbie Kuhn does the job for the
Toronto Raptors, and Bruce Barker is the announcer for
Toronto Rock games.
History
The Air Canada Centre was started by the Toronto Raptors under its initial ownership group headed by Canadian businessman
John Bitove. The building was designed for both hockey and basketball, but basketball was its foremost purpose; indeed, sight lines were designed to be especially good for basketball's smaller court. While the building was under construction, the Maple Leafs were also looking at building their own new arena at a different location. Journalists such as the
Toronto Star's Dave Perkins encouraged both sides to pair up into one arena; two 20,000-seat arenas were seen as overkill for the city.
In purchasing the Raptors and the under-construction Air Canada Centre,
MLSE provided the Maple Leafs the venue to move out of the aging legendary
Maple Leaf Gardens. MLSE made some changes to the plans while the construction was underway, including turning upper level seats in the west end of the arena into private boxes. The Air Canada Centre's groundbreaking was performed in February of
1997.
The site was once occupied by the
Canada Post Delivery Building. The current building retained the striking
Art Deco facades of the east (along
Bay Street) and south (
Lake Shore Boulevard) walls of that structure, but the rest of the building (facing
Union Station) was removed to make room for the arena.
The 15-storey tower on Bay Street stands at 55 metres, and provides connections in the atrium to Union Station, Bay Street, and York Street (via Bremner Boulevard).
On February 26th, 2008, the
Spice Girls performed for the very last time to a sold out crowd. The concert was the last stop of their
The Return of the Spice Girls tour. All five girls reunited, after ten years, to celebrate their achievement by a world concert tour. Right before the very last song,
Geri Halliwell (
Ginger Spice), said to
Toronto, "Are you ready to see the
Spice Girls perform one last time!"
Games and concerts
The first Maple Leafs home game took place on
February 20,
1999 versus the
Montreal Canadiens, won by the Leafs 3-2 on an
overtime goal by
Steve Thomas. The first Raptors game took place the following night versus the
Vancouver Grizzlies. The facility hosted the
2000 NHL All-Star Game and the championship game of the
2004 World Cup of Hockey.
The Toronto Rock also moved to the ACC from Maple Leaf Gardens for the
2001 NLL season. The Rock's first game was a 17-7 win over the
Ottawa Rebel on
December 21,
2000.
The ACC has held numerous concerts to prominent stars such as
The Cure,
Shania Twain,
Sammi Cheng,
Barbra Streisand,
Tina Turner,
Shakira,
Van Halen,
Evanescence,
Celine Dion,
Kiss,
Aerosmith,
Queen + Paul Rodgers,
My Chemical Romance,
Justin Timberlake,
Bon Jovi,
Guns N' Roses,
Depeche Mode,
The Who,
David Bowie,
Gwen Stefani,
Coldplay,
Nine Inch Nails,
Tool,
U2,
Paul McCartney,
Radiohead,
Madonna,
The Rolling Stones,
Simple Plan,
Elton John,
Oasis,
Metallica,
Megadeth, Heaven and Hell 2007 (
Black Sabbath/
Dio),
Iron Maiden,
Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Billy Talent,
Christina Aguilera,
Mariah Carey,
Nelly Furtado,
Janet Jackson,
Pearl Jam,
Hilary Duff,
Avril Lavigne,
Beyonce Knowles,
John Mayer,
Spice Girls,
Rush,
Roger Waters,
Jennifer Lopez and
Marc Anthony,
Hannah Montana/
Miley Cyrus,
Green Day,
Britney Spears,
Ozzy Osbourne,
Zakk Wylde,
System Of A Down,
Slipknot and
Stevie Wonder.
Best Buy Theatre
Located within the Air Canada Centre is the 5,200-seat
Best Buy Theatre, used for theatre concerts, Broadway and family shows, and other events. It was formerly called the
Sears Theatre and is also known as the
Theatre at ACC.
Future developments
In late
2005, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment announced that they'd be renovating the western side of the Air Canada Centre during the 2008 off-season, to connect it with the future
Maple Leaf Square development. Maple Leaf Square is jointly owned by MLSE, Cadillac Fairview and Lantera Developments. The $500 million development will include two restaurants, Hotel Le Germain at Maple Leaf Square boutique hotel, extensive retail shopping including a 9,000 square foot Leafs, Raptors, and
Toronto FC store, two 54-storey condominiums, a
Longo's supermarket, a High-Definition broadcast studio, and a public square. It is slated for completion in 2009-10.
During the 2007 off-season summer MLSE installed a $4 million dollar dehumidifier to help create better ice conditions for the hockey players.
Security at the ACC
Security Services at Air Canada Centre are divided into two departments, Event Security and Facility Security. The facility security team is 24-hour security service. The building is monitored 24 hours a day by foot patrols, and CCTV cameras. The event security team works the events only. They are responsible for enforcing the
Liquor Licence Act and the Trespass to Property Act. Event and Facility security officers have the full authority to arrest and physically remove patrons off the property. Facility security officers back up the Event Security team in the event of violent individuals. The entire security team is trained with the Use of Force model used by the police. At each event, there are
Toronto Police officers on site. When coming to an event, outside food or drink are prohibited from entering in the building.
Gallery
Image:Air Canada Centre from CN Tower.jpg|View from CN Tower
Image:Air_Canada_Centre_Leafs_game.jpg|During a Leafs game
Image:Air Canada Center interior.jpg|Another view of the ACC from the inside
Image:ThePolice_ACC.jpg|The Police performing on their world tour, November 2007
Image:Raptors 0607.JPG|During a Raptors game
Further Information
Get more info on 'Air Canada Centre'.
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