Bon Secours Wellness Arena

Bon Secours Wellness Arena
Construction
Location	650 North Academy Street Greenville, SC 29601
Coordinates	34°51′10″N 82°23′29″W / 34.852789°N 82.391458°W / 34.852789; -82.391458Coordinates: 34°51′10″N 82°23′29″W / 34.852789°N 82.391458°W / 34.852789; -82.391458
Owner	Greenville Arena District
Operator	Greenville Arena District
Capacity	Hockey: 13,707 Basketball: 14,897 Concert (Center Stage): 15,951 Concert (End Stage): 11,000-14,000
Broke ground	March 7, 1996^[1]
Opened	September 3, 1998^[2]
Construction cost	$63 million ($91.5 million in 2016 dollars^[3])
Architect	Odell Associates AMI Associates
Project manager	International Facilities Group, LLC.^[4]
Structural engineer	Geiger Engineers PC
General contractor	Fluor Daniel^[4]
Tenants
Greenville Road Warriors/Swamp Rabbits (ECHL) (2010–present) Greenville Force (SIFL) (2009–2010) Greenville Grrrowl (ECHL) (1998–2006) Carolina Rhinos (AF2) (2000–2002) Greenville Groove (NBDL) (2001–2003) Clemson Tigers men's basketball (NCAA) (2015–2016)

The Bon Secours Wellness Arena (formerly the Bi-Lo Center) is an arena located in downtown Greenville, South Carolina that is used for concerts, football, and hockey. The arena is currently used by the Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the ECHL and the Clemson University men's basketball team. Due to the length of the official name, the arena is popularly known as "The Well".

History

The Bon Secours Wellness Arena was built in 1998 at a cost of US$63 million, under its former name of Bi-Lo Center, to replace Greenville's outdated and under-repaired Greenville Memorial Auditorium, which was imploded on September 20, 1997 on a site located across the street from the new arena.^[5] The arena naming rights were purchased by Dutch grocer Ahold, then-owner of BI-LO, which had been founded in nearby Mauldin and was still based there at the time. When it was built, it passed Columbia's Carolina Coliseum as the largest arena in the state of South Carolina, a distinction it held until 2002, when the Colonial Center was built in Columbia.

Its second sporting event took place on September 26, 1998 between the Boston Bruins and the Florida Panthers.

As a concert venue, the Bon Secours Wellness Arena can seat between 11,000 and 15,951 spectators, depending on the positioning of the stage. The arena features 30 luxury suites and 840 club seats.

The arena floor measures 113 feet (34 m) wide by 229 feet (70 m) long. There are 7,472 seats in the upper bowl and 4,809 permanent seats and 1,290 retractable seats in the lower bowl.

The Bon Secours Wellness Arena hosted the Southern Conference men's basketball tournament in 2000 and 2001, as well as first and second round games during the 2002 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. However, the NCAA then implemented a policy to not hold tournament games in either South Carolina or Mississippi, following a recommendation from the NAACP that was intended to call attention to the Confederate flag on display next to a monument on the grounds of the South Carolina State House. As a result, the Bon Secours Wellness Arena has not hosted an NCAA Tournament game since 2002. College basketball made its return to Greenville in 2005, when the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament was played at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena, due to an emergency situation. The Philips Arena in Atlanta was the scheduled site for the tournament, but it backed out in the summer of 2004 because of logistics, following plans for the 54th NHL All-Star Game which was to be held just six weeks before the 2005 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament. Once the plans were announced, the SEC had moved that tournament to Greenville, again garnering considerable protest from the NAACP. Even with the 2004–05 NHL lockout, the SEC kept the tournament in Greenville, which is 140 miles (230 km) northeast of Atlanta.

The arena has also served as the home for the Greenville Groove (2001–2003), one of the original members of the NBA Development League, as well as the Carolina Rhinos football team (2000–2002), one of the inaugural members of AF2, the Arena Football League's minor league. It has also hosted both versions of Greenville's team in the ECHL: the first, the Grrrowl (1998–2006), hosted the 2002 Kelly Cup finals, and the second, the Greenville Road Warriors/Swamp Rabbits.

The PBR's Built Ford Tough Series made a tour stop at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in 2005; this event was noted for being the first career BFTS win for 2008 PBR World Champion Guilherme Marchi.

Currently, the Bon Secours Wellness Arena also regularly hosts a wide variety of events such as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, professional wrestling, monster truck rallies, motocross racing, professional ice skating, such as the Champions on Ice, ice dancing shows and competitions, dog shows, and concerts spanning many different musical genres.

Normally, the South Carolina High School League Upper State basketball finals would be held in the arena, but it was moved to Littlejohn Coliseum at Clemson University because of the 2008 Bassmaster Classic weigh-in ceremonies, and therefore was held at the former Bi-Lo Center.

The arena hosted Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's pay-per-view Against All Odds on February 10, 2008. On April 21, 2008 it hosted the King of the Ring edition of WWE Raw. On December 8, 2014 it hosted the 2014 WWE Slammy Awards.

On February 14, 2010, Johnstown Chiefs, of the ECHL, announced that the team would be moving to Greenville, SC, from Johnstown, PA for the 2010-2011 season, and had signed a five-year deal to play at the Bi-Lo Center. This ended a five-year hockey drought in Greenville, after the Grrowl of the ECHL folded. Greenville has a rich minor league hockey history, with the Grrowl having won the Kelley Cup in 2002.^[6]

On January 20, 2012, Jason Aldean set an attendance record for the venue with his My Kinda Party Tour, with 15,194 in attendance.^[7]

On September 18, 2013, the Bi-Lo Center was officially renamed the Bon Secours Wellness Arena after the Bon Secours Health System, owner of St. Francis Health System in Greenville, had bought the naming rights.

On October 10, 2014, BSWA held an NBA preseason game between the Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets in the arena.

Due to the significant renovation planned for Clemson University's Littlejohn Coliseum, the Clemson Tigers men's and women's basketball teams will play their home games for the 2015–2016 season at BSWA.^[8]

In 2015, as a result of the removal of the Confederate flag from the South Carolina State Capitol, Bon Secours Wellness Arena is now eligible to host NCAA postseason events. For basketball, the earliest this could occur would be 2019, since NCAA Tournament dates have already been determined through 2018.^[9]

Incidents

In February 2011, a woman attending a circus performance at the Bi-Lo Center abandoned a baby she delivered herself in an arena toilet.^[10] Jessica Blackham was arrested and charged with two counts of felony child abuse and one count of child neglect. The infant was given a positive prognosis.^[11]

References

↑ "Bi-Lo Center Breaking Ground Today in Downtown Greenville". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. March 7, 1996. Retrieved September 23, 2011.
↑ Findlay, Prentiss (September 3, 1998). "On the Town". The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC). Retrieved September 23, 2011.
↑ Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
1 2 "Bi-Lo Center". International Facilities Group. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
↑ Associated Press (September 21, 1997). "Greenville Memorial Auditorium Is History". The State (Greenville, SC). Retrieved April 5, 2008.
↑ "Chiefs Seeking Relocation for 2010-11". Johnstown Chiefs. February 14, 2010. Archived from the original on January 27, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2010.
↑ Byrum, John (January 25, 2012). "Jason Aldean's Bi-Lo Center Gig Sets Record". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
↑ Robinson, Mandrallius (April 17, 2015). "The Well gives Clemson a home away from home". The Greenville News. Archived from the original on July 12, 2015. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
↑ http://www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/article/2015-07-10/ncaa-lifts-ban-holding-championships-south-carolina
↑ Associated Press (February 10, 2011). "Mom: Woman Who Left Baby In Toilet Can't Remember". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
↑ Shackleford, Lynne P. (February 8, 2011). "Condition of Newborn Found in Toilet at Bi-Lo Center Improves". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. Retrieved February 12, 2013.

External links

Official website

Preceded by TNA Impact! Zone	Host of Against All Odds 2008	Succeeded by TNA Impact! Zone

Current arenas in the ECHL

Eastern Conference	Amway Center (Orlando, FL) Bon Secours Wellness Arena (Greenville, SC) First Arena (Elmira, NY) Germain Arena (Estero, FL) Glens Falls Civic Center (Glens Falls, NY) Huntington Center (Toledo, OH) Infinite Energy Arena (Duluth, GA) Norfolk Scope (Norfolk, VA) North Charleston Coliseum (North Charleston, SC) Powerade Centre (Brampton, ON) Santander Arena (Reading, PA) Verizon Wireless Arena (Manchester, NH) WesBanco Arena (Wheeling, WV) Wings Event Center (Kalamazoo, MI)

Western Conference	Allen County War Memorial Coliseum (Fort Wayne, IN) Allen Event Center (Allen, TX) BOK Center (Tulsa, OK) Budweiser Events Center (Loveland, CO) CenturyLink Arena Boise (Boise, ID) Ford Center (Evansville, IN) Indiana Farmers Coliseum (Indianapolis, IN) Intrust Bank Arena (Wichita, KS) iWireless Center (Moline, IL) Maverik Center (West Valley City, UT) Rushmore Plaza Civic Center (Rapid City, SD) Silverstein Eye Centers Arena (Independence, MO) Sullivan Arena (Anchorage, AK) U.S. Bank Arena (Cincinnati, OH)

Clemson Tigers men's basketball

Venues	YMCA Building (1916–1922) Riggs Field House (1922–1930) Fike Field House (1930–1968) Littlejohn Coliseum (1968–present) Civic Center of Anderson (alternate; 2002) Bon Secours Wellness Arena (alternate; 2015–16)

Rivalries	South Carolina

Culture & lore	The Tiger "Tiger Rag" Clemson University Tiger Band

People	Head coaches

Seasons	1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

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