Alfond Sports Arena

Harold Alfond Sports Arena
"The Alfond"
Location	College Ave; Orono, Maine 04473
Owner	University of Maine
Operator	University of Maine
Capacity	5,712 (basketball); 5,125 (hockey)
Surface	200 x 85 ft (hockey)
Construction
Broke ground	1976
Opened	February 5, 1977
Expanded	1991, 1998, 2011
Construction cost	$1.6 million; ($8.04 million in 2023 dollars)
Architect	Daniel Tulley Associates
Tenants
	Maine Black Bears men's and women's ice hockey

Last updated January 14, 2025

Harold Alfond Sports Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Orono, Maine, United States. The arena opened in 1977. It is home to the University of Maine Black Bears ice hockey teams. It is recognizable for its distinctive hyperbolic paraboloid architecture. The multi-angular roof design can also be found at Finneran Pavilion at Villanova University, the Brown University Smith Swim Center and the Flynn Recreation Complex at Boston College. It is named for Harold Alfond, a longtime Maine booster, whose name also adorns Alfond Sports Stadium, the school's main outdoor stadium.

It was expanded in 1992 from its original capacity of 3,800 in order to accommodate more spectators and bring the basketball team back from its temporary home at the Bangor Auditorium. More skyboxes have been added since then, so the arena's capacity has been reduced. As of the 2022-2023 season, the capacity was 5,125 for hockey.^[4] The arena includes the Bear Necessities Fan Shop and the Maine Hockey Hall of Fame.

The Grateful Dead played in The Alfond on April 19, 1983. Scott Hamilton's Stars on Ice opened in Alfond Sports Arena in 1986. Hillary Clinton appeared at the arena in 1994. It takes two hours to make the transition from basketball to hockey, and about 2½ from hockey to basketball. New, energy-efficient lighting was installed in late 2006 because of previous power outages and too much electricity consumption. A new scoreboard was installed during the summer of 2008. A new basketball floor was purchased in late 2009 to replace the original floor first used in 1992. A $4.8 million renovation project began in May 2011. The renovation included a new ice system along with dehumidifier equipment, new dasher boards and glass, and new lower-level seating.^[5]

The Dalhousie Memorial Arena (1982–2012) at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada was inspired by the Alfond Sports Arena, which university president Henry Hicks reportedly admired.^[6]

Related Research Articles

Williams Arena is an indoor arena located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the home arena for the University of Minnesota's men's and women's basketball teams. It also housed the men's hockey team until 1993, when it moved into its own building, 3M Arena at Mariucci. The building is popularly known as The Barn, and its student section is known as "The Barnyard".

The St. Paul Civic Center was an indoor arena located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The arena opened in 1973 and was closed and demolished in 1998. It once sat near the Ordway Music Theater and the Roy Wilkins Auditorium. The Xcel Energy Center was built on the former site of the arena.

The Colonial Life Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Columbia, South Carolina, primarily home to the University of South Carolina men's and women's basketball teams. Opened as a replacement for the Carolina Coliseum with the name Carolina Center in 2002, the 18,000-seat arena is also host to various events, including conferences, concerts, and graduation ceremonies. It is the largest arena in the state of South Carolina and the eighth largest campus college arena.

The BMO Center is a multi-purpose arena located in downtown Rockford, Illinois, United States. It is currently home to the AHL's Rockford IceHogs hockey team. The arena formerly served as the home of several defunct minor league sports teams, including the Rockford Lightning basketball team, the Rock River Raptors indoor football team, the Rockford Rampage indoor soccer team and the Chicago Rush arena football team.

Cross Insurance Arena is a multi-purpose arena located in Portland, Maine. Built in 1977, at a cost of US$8 million, it is the home arena for the Maine Mariners of the ECHL. There are 6,206 permanent seats in the arena, and it seats up to 9,500 for concerts.

Columbus Civic Center is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Columbus, Georgia, built in 1996.

Berglund Center is a 10,500-seat multi-purpose arena located in the Williamson Road neighborhood of Roanoke, Virginia. It was built in 1971 and is currently the home of the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs of the SPHL. The arena also hosts Virginia Tech, Radford University and Roanoke College men's ice hockey games, as well as regular concerts and other large indoor events. The arena is also the home of the annual boys basketball games between Roanoke's two city high schools, Patrick Henry High School and William Fleming High School.

Sioux Falls Arena is a 7,500-seat multi-purpose arena located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The facility was built in 1961. It seats 6,113 for basketball games and 4,760 for indoor football and hockey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conte Forum</span> Multi-purpose arena in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts

The Silvio O. Conte Forum, commonly known as Conte Forum, Kelley Rink, or simply Conte, is an 8,606-seat multi-purpose arena which opened in 1988 in Boston, Massachusetts on the campus of Boston College in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood. Conte Forum is home to the Boston College Eagles men's and women's basketball and ice hockey teams as well as the Boston College Marching Band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Selland Arena</span> Multi-purpose arena in Fresno, California

Selland Arena is a multi-purpose arena built in 1966 that makes up part of a four-venue complex of the Fresno Convention and Entertainment Center in Fresno, California. It is named after former Fresno mayor Arthur L. Selland and has had over 10 million people walk through its doors in its over 50-year history. The arena originally had a 6,582 seating capacity, but a US$10 million expansion project in 1981 increased the seating to its current capacity of 10,132. Before the 1997-1998 Fresno State basketball season, capacity was increased to 10,220. The Selland Arena underwent an additional $15 million renovation in November 2006, that included the installation of new seats, a new video replay scoreboard, message boards and a new ice-cooling system for hockey games.

The Viaero Center, previously known as the Kearney Event Center and Firstier Event Center, is a 5,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Kearney, Nebraska. It opened in November 2000 as the Tri-City Arena. It is home to the 2016 USHL Clark Cup Champions Tri-City Storm ice hockey, and former teams, the Nebraska Cranes basketball and Tri-City Diesel arena football. Seating capacity for hockey, basketball and arena football is 4,047.

The Betty Engelstad Sioux Center is an indoor arena located in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It is adjacent to the larger $100 million Ralph Engelstad Arena in the University Village development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex G. Spanos Center</span> Indoor stadium

Alex G. Spanos Center is a 6,150-seat, indoor multi-purpose stadium on the campus of the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grossinger Motors Arena</span> Arena in Bloomington, Illinois

Grossinger Motors Arena is an arena in downtown Bloomington, Illinois. It is on the southwest corner of Madison Street (US-51) and Front Street. The arena opened to the public on April 1, 2006.

The Merrimack Athletics Complex is the home of the Merrimack College Warriors athletics teams. It has a basketball court and hockey arena. Hammel Court, located in the Volpe Athletic Center, is the home of the men's and women's basketball teams, as well as the volleyball team. Lawler Rink is the home of the Division I Merrimack Warriors men's ice hockey team, which had won the 1978 Division II national title before transitioning to Division I and joining the Hockey East Conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M&T Bank Arena</span> Indoor multipurpose arena

M&T Bank Arena, previously known as TD Bank Sports Center and People's United Center, is a multi-purpose arena in Hamden, Connecticut. Its design is unusual in that it consists of two separate playing and seating areas, one intended for basketball and one intended for ice hockey, joined together within a common facility. It seats 3,570 for basketball and 3,386 for hockey. Officially, the hockey side is known as the Frank Perrotti, Jr. Arena at the People's United Center.

The Cadet Field House is an indoor sports complex in the western United States, located at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, near Colorado Springs. The multi-purpose facility was built 57 years ago in 1968, and is at an approximate elevation of 7,080 feet (2,160 m) above sea level.

The 1971–72 Buffalo Sabres season was the Buffalo Sabres second season of operation in the National Hockey League (NHL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfond Sports Stadium</span> Football stadium in Orono, Maine

Harold Alfond Sports Stadium is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose stadium in Orono, Maine. The stadium hosts Morse Field, and the Beckett Family Track and Field Complex. It is the home of the University of Maine Black Bears football team.

The Cross Insurance Center is a 5,800-seat multi-purpose arena in Bangor, Maine, United States. The arena holds up to 8,500 people for concerts, and features an attached 2,000-person convention center. It was built at an estimated cost of $65 million. Part of the city's Bass Park complex, it is located across from Hollywood Casino Bangor. It is the home of the basketball teams of the Maine Black Bears.

References

↑ "Crowd Views Dedication". Bangor Daily News. November 18, 1977. Retrieved January 21, 2012.
↑ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved February 29, 2024.
↑ "Dedicate New Arena". Lewiston Evening Journal. November 15, 1977. Retrieved January 21, 2012.
↑ "2022-23 MIH Media Guide (PDF)" (PDF). University of Maine Athletics. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
↑ Construction Progressing At Alfond Arena Archived 2011-08-18 at the Wayback Machine GoBlackBears.com, July 13, 2011
↑ "Dalhousie Memorial Arena". Dalhousie University Archives. Archived from the original on 26 January 2010.

External links

44°54′16.34″N68°40′25.02″W / 44.9045389°N 68.6736167°W / 44.9045389; -68.6736167

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Crowd Views Dedication". Bangor Daily News. November 18, 1977. Retrieved January 21, 2012.

[inflation-US-2] 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved February 29, 2024.

[3] "Dedicate New Arena". Lewiston Evening Journal. November 15, 1977. Retrieved January 21, 2012.

[4] "2022-23 MIH Media Guide (PDF)" (PDF). University of Maine Athletics. Retrieved 2023-01-08.

[5] Construction Progressing At Alfond Arena Archived 2011-08-18 at the Wayback Machine GoBlackBears.com, July 13, 2011

[6] "Dalhousie Memorial Arena". Dalhousie University Archives. Archived from the original on 26 January 2010.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t e Maine Black Bears men's basketball
Venues	The Pit (1935–1989; 2011–present) Bangor Auditorium (1989–1992) Alfond Arena (1992–2013) Cross Insurance Center (2013–2023)
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–35 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 1999–2000 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 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

v t e Maine Black Bears women's basketball
Venues	The Pit at Memorial Gymnasium (1935–1989; alternate, 2011–present) Bangor Auditorium (1989–1992) Alfond Arena (1992–2013) Cross Insurance Center (2013–2022)
People	Head coaches
Seasons	List of seasons 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–75 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 1999–2000 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 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

v t e Maine Black Bears men's ice hockey
Playing venues	Alumni Field Rink (1922–1924) Alfond Arena (1977–present)
Coaches	Cuddy Murphy (1922–1923) Stanley Wallace (1923–1924) Jack Semler (1977–1984) Shawn Walsh (1984–1995, 1996–2001) Greg Cronin (1995–1996) Tim Whitehead (2001–2013) Red Gendron (2013–2021) Ben Barr (2021–Present)
Seasons	1922–23 1923–24 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 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Conference affiliations	ECAC 2 (1977–1979) ECAC Hockey (1979–1984) Hockey East (1984–present)
Rivalries	New Hampshire Boston University
Culture & lore	Florida College Hockey Classic 42–1–2
All-time leaders	Jim Montgomery (301 Points) Jean-Yves Roy (108 Goals) Garth Snow/Scott King (66 Wins)
National championships	1993 1999
Frozen Four appearances	1988 1989 1991 1993 1995 1999 2000 2002 2004 2006 2007
NCAA Tournament appearances	1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1995 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2012 2024
Conference Tournament titles	Hockey East: 1989 1992 1993 2000 2004
Hobey Baker winners	Scott Pellerin (1992) Paul Kariya (1993)
University of Maine Orono, ME

v t e Hockey East
Men	Boston College Eagles (Silvio O. Conte Forum) Boston University Terriers (Agganis Arena) Maine Black Bears (Harold Alfond Arena) Merrimack Warriors (J. Thom Lawler Rink) New Hampshire Wildcats (Whittemore Center Arena) Northeastern Huskies (Matthews Arena) Providence Friars (Schneider Arena) UConn Huskies (Toscano Family Ice Forum) UMass Minutemen (William D. Mullins Memorial Center) UMass Lowell River Hawks (Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell) Vermont Catamounts (Gutterson Fieldhouse)
Men's Seasons	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 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Women	Boston College Eagles (Silvio O. Conte Forum) Boston University Terriers (Walter Brown Arena) Holy Cross Crusaders (Hart Center at the Luth Athletic Complex) Maine Black Bears (Harold Alfond Arena) Merrimack Warriors (J. Thom Lawler Rink) New Hampshire Wildcats (Whittemore Center) Northeastern Huskies (Matthews Arena) Providence Friars (Schneider Arena) UConn Huskies (Toscano Family Ice Forum) Vermont Catamounts (Gutterson Fieldhouse)
Related articles	Lamoriello Trophy List of champions: Men / Women Tournament sites: TD Garden

Alfond Sports Arena

Contents

See also

Related Research Articles

References

External links

Construction
"The Alfond"


Location	College Ave Orono, Maine 04473
Owner	University of Maine
Operator	University of Maine
Capacity	5,712 (basketball) 5,125 (hockey)
Surface	200 x 85 ft (hockey)
Broke ground	1976
Opened	February 5, 1977
Expanded	1991, 1998, 2011
Construction cost	$1.6 million^[1] ($8.04 million in 2023 dollars^[2])
Architect	Daniel Tulley Associates^[3]
Tenants
Maine Black Bears men's and women's ice hockey