General Motors Place
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| General Motors Place | |
|---|---|
| GM Place, The Garage | |
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| Location | 800 Griffiths Way Vancouver, British Columbia K2V 1A5 |
| Opened | 1995 |
| Owner | Francesco Aquilini |
| Operator | Francesco Aquilini |
| Construction cost | C$160 million |
| Architect | Brisbin, Brook and Beynon |
| Tenants | |
| Vancouver Canucks (NHL) (1996-present) Vancouver Grizzlies (NBA) (1995-2001) Vancouver Ravens (NLL) (2001-2004) Vancouver Voodoo (RHI) (1996) |
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| Capacity | |
| Hockey: 18,630 Basketball: 19,193 |
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General Motors Place, sponsored by General Motors Canada, is an indoor arena at 800 Griffiths Way in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Completed in 1995 at a cost of C$160 million in private financing, the arena is home to the Vancouver Canucks of the NHL, and was formerly home to the Vancouver Ravens of the NLL and the Vancouver Grizzlies of the NBA. The Grizzlies have since moved to Memphis and the Ravens organization has folded. The arena seats 18,630 for ice hockey and 19,193 for basketball. It has 88 luxury suites, 12 hospitality suites, and 2,195 club seats. The arena replaced the Pacific Coliseum as the main venue for events in Vancouver.
The arena is served by the Skytrain's Stadium-Chinatown Station.
On November 8, 2006, Francesco Aquilini, became the sole owner of the of the Vancouver Canucks and General Motors Place. The transaction is pending approval by the NHL.
Contents |
[edit] Entertainment upgrades
In mid-2006 GM Place was upgraded with a ProAd LED ribbon board encircling the upper bowl and shortly thereafter with a $5 million ProStar LED scoreboard. The original Mitsubishi Mark IV displays needed to be removed since the worldwide supply of replacement parts was not large enough to keep them operating throughout the 2006-2007 hockey season.
The new LED scoreboard is built around four of the largest video displays in the NHL. Measuring 13.5 feet by 24 feet they are capable of displaying widescreen images in 4.4 trillion colours. Their size combined with their 10 mm pixel spacing gives them an image that is unrivaled in any NHL arena. The corners hold 5.5 foot by 13.5 foot displays with two ring displays each capping the top and bottom. The entire scoreboard weighs 49,000 lbs, 2% less than the one it replaced. [1][2]
The normally three-week assembly period was completed in only one week and as a result there were some minor technical difficulties during the first home game.
[edit] Past major events
- The first event held there was a Bryan Adams concert.
- The ninth WWF In Your House pay-per-view in 1996 and WWF Rock Bottom in 1998.
- Venue for the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.
- Venue for the 1998 National Hockey League All-Star Game.
- Venue for the 1998 NBA Draft.
- Host venue for the 2001 World Figure Skating Championships.
- Riot when Axl Rose failed to show for Guns N' Roses 2002 Chinese Democracy Tour show.
- U2 2005 Vertigo Tour, rehearsals and "City of Blinding Lights" music video shoot.
- Host venue for the 2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.
- Venue for the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.
[edit] Future major events
- GM Place will host the ice hockey events in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. These will be the first Olympic games to use NHL sized ice. This decision was made in order to maximize the potential crowds and revenue, instead of building a smaller, temporary venue with the international-size ice surface, as has been done for most other Winter Games.
[edit] Gallery
 A view of GM Place with players on the ice for a pre-game warmup. Note the old scoreboard. |
 Vancouver Canucks street banners outside GM Place. |
 GM Place before a game, before the arena upgrades. |
 Construction of the new ProStar LED scoreboard. |
[edit] References
- ^ Canucks Insider. Canucks.com. Retrieved on 31 October 2006.
- ^ [http://canucks.com/theinsider/default.asp?sectionID=5&id=1705 accessdate=31 October Canucks Insider]. Canucks.com.
[edit] External link
| Preceded by first arena |
Home of the Vancouver Grizzlies 1995–2001 |
Succeeded by Pyramid Arena 2001–2004 |
| Preceded by Pacific Coliseum 1970–1995 |
Home of the Vancouver Canucks 1995–present |
Succeeded by current |
Categories: Indoor arenas in Canada | 1995 establishments | Indoor ice hockey venues in Canada | Indoor lacrosse venues in Canada | Music venues in Canada | Vancouver Canucks | National Hockey League venues | 2010 Winter Olympics venues | Basketball venues in Canada | Tourism in Vancouver | Sports venues in Vancouver
