Pittsburgh Civic Arena
Pittsburgh, PA ~
January 18, 2009
Affectionately known as the Igloo, the
Pittsburgh Civic Arena is one of my favorite sporting venues. Simply, it looks
like nothing else and has tons of character. It was
built between 1957 and 1961 to be the home of the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera.
The Pittsburgh Penguins moved in to play hockey in 1967 (the minor league
Hornets played here since 1961), and will move out at the conclusion of the
2009-2010 season. The Penguins will bring their three Stanley Cup banners to a
new arena currently under construction across the street.
The main attraction of the Igloo was that its roof could be opened for
performances under the stars. Now that the outdoor Winter Classic game has
become a hit for the NHL, they're losing their only rink where a game could have
been played outdoors without any special set-up. I'm told the roof was last
opened for a movie filmed in the early-mid 1990s. What originally took minutes
to close the roof took about 4 days, I have been told, due to lack of use of the
operating machinery. A new hanging scoreboard makes it difficult if not
impossible to open the roof at all anymore. This
great photo (offsite link) shows the building with the roof open and
with its original seating arrangement. (More early history of the arena and
photos can be found here.)
Originally the arena only had seating in one level, but now end zone decks hang
over the lower bowl. The two recent times I've been here I've sat along
the sides at the top of the lower bowl, and in the last row of the upper deck
behind the goal. Both seats had great views of the ice. Being way up top was
actually pretty cool, and offered a great vantage point for watching plays
develop. The seats were a bit cramped, which made for stowing my camera bag and handling
my food a bit difficult, but I'd put up with that to see a game in this rink anyway.
Most fans don't care for the history, architecture and quirks of the Civic Arena
and can't wait for the new rink to open. I've been to many of the new rinks and
they are all boring and all look the same, inside and out. I'll miss the Igloo.
As I was walking around snapping photos of every inch of the building, a
friendly usher noticed and invited me up to the luxury box level for the
real birds eye view. At least I know that someone else appreciates the Igloo.
Some preservationists consider the arena a great piece of modernist architecture
and propose plans to save the building. The Penguins would rather it be
demolished so that the land can be turned into a parking lot for the new rink
and make space for commercial/residential development.
The movable roof panels were designed to be
retracted around the building
to sit under the panel under these steel beams.
Here we can see the top-center of the dome and how
there is space
for the panels to slide above/below each other.
More Pittsburgh
Civic Arena photos - page 2
This page copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Yasinsac.
Reproduction of text and/or photographs without the permission of Robert J. Yasinsac is
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