Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center

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Long Beach Convention Center showing a portion of the Wyland Whaling Wall.
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Long Beach Convention Center showing a portion of the Wyland Whaling Wall.

The Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center is a convention center located in Long Beach, California. It was built on the site of the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium beginning in 1962. The primary venues of the complex include:

Contents

[edit] Long Beach Arena

The Long Beach Arena was the first building to be completed in the complex. Capacities are as follows: 11,200 for hockey, 13,609 for basketball, and either 4,550, 9,200 or 13,500 for concerts depending on the setup.

It is home to the Long Beach Ice Dogs team, which plays professional ice hockey in the ECHL.

The Arena has hosted various entertainment and professional and college sporting events, most notably the volleyball events of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games. It is also noted as a top venue for hip-hop music concerts, although entertainers such as Frank Sinatra, Slayer, and Led Zeppelin have also headlined here.

For trade shows, the arena features 46,000 square feet (4300 m²) of space, with an additional 19,000 square feet (1800 m²) of space in the lobby and 29,000 square feet (2700 m²) in the concourse. Hanging from the arena's 75 foot (23 m) high ceiling is a center-hung scoreboard with four 11 by 15 foot (3 by 5 m) Saco SmartVision video screens. In the lobby is a large scale model of the guided missile cruiser USS Long Beach.

Along the exterior wall of the drum-shaped Arena is “Planet Ocean”, one of environmental artist Wyland's Whaling Walls, which was dedicated on July 9, 1992. At 116,000 square feet (11,000 m²), it is the world's largest mural (according to the Guinness Book of Records). The mural depicts migratory gray whales and other aquatic life that can be found in the waters off Long Beach.

Long Beach Arena was the site of the first National Hockey League game involving an expansion team, as the Los Angeles Kings and the Philadelphia Flyers, both expansion teams, played on October 14, 1967. The Kings won, 4-2. The arena was also the site of the Big West Conference men's basketball tournament from 1989 to 1993.

[edit] Exhibition Halls

Three exhibition halls feature a total 224,000 square feet (21,000 m²) of space. Separately or combined, the exhibition halls can seat up to 14,899 for events.

[edit] Theaters

There are two theaters: the 3,051 seat Terrace Theater and the adjoining 825 seat Center Theater

[edit] Meeting Rooms

There are two ballrooms: the 20,456 square foot (1900 m²) Grand Ballroom (seating up to 2,100) and the 13,200 square foot (1300 m²) Promenade Ballroom (seating up to 1,400) plus 34 meeting rooms totalling 82,823 square feet (7695 m²).

[edit] Live concert albums and videos

The Long Beach Arena has been used to record part or all of several live concert albums and videos, including:

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit] External link


Preceded by:
first arena		 Home of the
Los Angeles Kings
1967		 Succeeded by:
The Forum
1967–1999
Current arenas in the ECHL
American Conference National Conference
Arena at Gwinnett Center | Cambria County War Memorial Arena | Carolina Coliseum | St. Lawrence Homes Home Ice | Ford Arena | Germain Arena | James Brown Arena | North Charleston Coliseum | Nutter Center | Pensacola Civic Center | Sovereign Bank Arena | Sovereign Center | Toledo Sports Arena | U.S. Bank Arena | WesBanco Arena E Center | Long Beach Sports Arena | Orleans Arena | Qwest Arena | Rabobank Arena | Save Mart Center | Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre| Stockton Arena | Sullivan Arena | US Airways Center
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