Onondaga County War
Memorial
Syracuse, NY ~ December 7, 2012
The Onondaga County War Memorial
in Syracuse is currently home to the Crunch, the AHL affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Historically the city has hosted the Stars (a name still used by the local youth hockey organization), and mythically, the Bulldogs of Slapshot fame.
The scene in Slapshot where the Hanson Brothers stormed the crowd was
filmed at the War Memorial.
Edgarton and Edgarton Architects and Engineers' Associates designed the arena which was built between 1949 and 1951. Its handsome limestone veneer is topped by a barrel-vaulted roof. Inscribed into the outer walls about six feet above ground-level are the names of places where American servicemen fought in the 20th century. It is a handsome example of mid-20th century multi-purpose entertainment venue. Unlike major arenas today built with public funding but owned by private corporations or individuals, arenas like the War Memorial were and/or are civic institutions used by the community at large in addition to hosting professional events.
I had been here once before when my dad and I attended a game in the mid-late 1990s during one of his trips to visit me at school. We may have been to a couple games, I don't really recall for sure, and anyway it was long before I ever thought of going around to visit old arenas and to document them.
The weather at the time of my arrival in Syracuse was a light but steady rain,
but not enough to deter me from taking some exterior photographs as there was
very little daylight left in the afternoon. As the rain persisted I
went inside and procured a ticket for the night's matchup with the Hamilton
Bulldogs. I didn't see any rope barriers so I started to wander the halls
encircling the arena. Actually a bunch of kids with hockey bags were coming in
right about now so I guess the local youth league was scheduled for afternoon
ice-time. I spent most of my time in the actual war memorial and saved the rink
for later.
After some shots of the awesome stainless swirly stair rails I went back outside to get more shots while there was still daylight. The rain was still coming down a bit but I persevered nonetheless. I circled the rink and then went to my car for a snack and a phone call. It soon became magic hour so I got back out for a few more shots of the arena
exterior.
I really liked the way the lights played with the block letters and created abstract shadows.
The lettering on the exterior walls looked really interesting at night
too if hard to read. This segment states:
ALGIERS
BASTOGNE
More
photographs - Onondaga County War Memorial - Page 2
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