Westchester County Center

Westchester County Center is a 5,000-seat multi-purpose arena in White Plains, New York. It hosts various local concerts and sporting events for the area.

The County Center was conceived by the Westchester Recreation Commission in 1924 as a multi-purpose indoor recreational facility to host community programs and income-producing commercial events. It was designed by the architectural firm of Walker & Gillette, and built and decorated in the Art Deco style. The construction project cost of approximately $785,000. A $16-million rehabilitation was completed in 1988.

Notable events

• Grand opening was held May 22, 1930 features pianist Percy Grainger, Metropolitan Opera Company tenor Edward Johnson, organist Palmer Christian ^[1]

• First Westchester Music Festival is held in July, 1930 in the newly opened center ^[2]

• Governor Herbert H. Lehman winds up his campaign with an address at a rally of the American Labor party in 1936 ^[3]

• Joe Baksi, future heavyweight contender, beat future movie actor Jack Palance (who fought under the name of Jack Brazzo) on December 17, 1940.^[4]

• In the 1950s or 60s, New York Impresario Joseph H. Conlin hired Conductor Howard Barlow, a resident of Westchester and the conductor of the popular television series of the time, The Voice of Firestone, and created a summer series of classical concerts. Details of this series would be appreciated.

• List of over 400 boxing shows held at the center from the boxrec database [1]

Footnotes

1. ^ countycenter website
2. ^ "TO BEGIN ORGAN RECITALS; Westchester's Summer Program Will Open Today in County Centre", NY Times, July 6, 1930, p 28.
3. ^ "LEHMAN WIND-UP MONDAY; Ends Campaign With Talk at Labor Party Rally in White Plains" October 29, 1936, NY Times
4. ^ Boxrec Jack Brazzo aka Jack Palance