Air Canada Centre

This article is about indoor sporting arena in Toronto. For the headquarters of Air Canada in Montreal, see Air Canada#Headquarters.

Air Canada Centre
The ACC, The Hangar
Location	40 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario M5J 2X2
Coordinates	43°38′36″N 79°22′45″W
Broke ground	March 12, 1997
Opened	February 19, 1999
Owner	Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment
Operator	Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment
Construction cost	C$265 million ($342 million in 2013 dollars)
Architect	Brisbin Brook Beynon Architects (Architect of Record) HOK Sport (Consulting Architects)
Project manager	Clarendon Projects Ltd.
Structural engineer	Yolles Partnership Inc.
Services engineer	The Mitchell Partnership, Inc.
General contractor	PCL Constructors Western, Inc.
Capacity	Basketball: 19,800, at least 20,511 with standing room Hockey: 18,819, at least 19,746 with standing room Lacrosse: 18,819 Concerts: 19,800 Theatre: 5,200
Tenants
Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL) (1999–present) Toronto Raptors (NBA) (1999–present) Toronto Rock (NLL) (2001–present) Toronto Phantoms (AFL) (2001–2002)

The Air Canada Centre (ACC) (French: Centre Air Canada) is a multi-purpose indoor sporting arena located on Bay Street in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The arena is popularly known as the ACC or the Hangar (the latter nickname came from its sponsorship by Air Canada).

It is the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL), the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the Toronto Rock of the National Lacrosse League (NLL).

It was also home to the Toronto Phantoms of the Arena Football League (AFL) during their brief existence.

In 2008, the ACC was the 5th busiest arena in the world and the busiest in Canada.

From its initial design to completion, it revolutionized many concepts^{[citation needed]} included in new arenas and stadiums since then, such as luxury suites accessible on the ground floor, splitting the main scoreboard into several sections, rotating all sponsor signage in the bowl at once (to allow dominant messaging), and multiple restaurants in and out of the main arena bowl view.

The arena is owned and operated by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd., the same group that owns both the Leafs and Raptors, and is 665,000 square feet (62,000 m²) in size. Air Canada Centre is connected to Union Station and the underground pedestrian PATH system, providing access to public transportation (TTC's Union subway station and GO Transit). There are also 13,000 parking spaces.

History

The Air Canada Centre was started by the Toronto Raptors under its initial ownership group headed by Canadian businessman John Bitove. The groundbreaking was performed in March 1997.

While construction was in progress, the Raptors and their partially completed arena were purchased by MLSE. Prior to this development, the Maple Leafs had been contemplating building their own arena to replace the aging Maple Leaf Gardens. MLSE subsequently ordered major modifications to the original design, which was basketball-specific, such that the arena become more suitable for hockey.

Air Canada purchased naming rights to the arena for $30 million dollars over 20 years.

The site was once occupied by Canada Post's Toronto Postal Delivery Building, which was briefly handed over to Department of National Defence for war storage purposes upon completion in 1941, but returned to Canada Post in 1946. The current building retains the striking Art Deco façades of the east (along Bay Street) and south (Lake Shore Boulevard) walls of that structure, but the rest of the building (facing Union Station) was removed to make room for the arena, through the process of facadism. The original building is protected under the Ontario Heritage Act.

The 15-storey tower on Bay Street stands at 55 metres (180 ft) and provides connections in the atrium to Union Station, Bay Street, and York Street (via Bremner Boulevard). The Air Canada Centre is connected to the PATH network.

Games and events

Sports

Preparing for the National Anthem at the Toronto Maple Leafs home opener against the Montreal Canadiens.

The first Maple Leafs home game took place on February 20, 1999, versus the Montreal Canadiens, won by the Leafs 3-2 on an overtime goal by Steve Thomas. The first Raptors game took place the following night versus the Vancouver Grizzlies (later moved to Memphis). The Raptors won 102-87 in front of a sell-out crowd. The facility hosted the 2000 NHL All-Star Game and the championship game of the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.

The Toronto Rock also moved to the ACC from Maple Leaf Gardens for the 2001 NLL season. The Rock's first game was a 17-7 win over the Ottawa Rebel on December 21, 2000.

On October 3, 2003, the ACC had a power outage during the third quarter of a Raptors pre-season game against the Greek club Panathinaikos. The game was called final, because the power was not restored in time, and Toronto already had a thirty-point lead.

The arena hosted UFC 140 on December 10, 2011 and UFC 152 on September 22, 2012.

Concerts

The Air Canada Centre has played host to a large number of musicians. Almost every musician who is publicly and financially successful will make a stop at the Air Canada Centre due to its large amount of seats and commercial success.

Neil Young, who was born in Toronto, has played at the Air Canada Centre 12 times.

American entertainer Madonna has performed at the arena 7 times: including her Re-Invention World Tour in 2004, her Sticky & Sweet Tour in 2008, and more recently, her MDNA Tour in 2012 where she performed in front of a sold out crowd of 32,557 people over two shows.

Bon Jovi holds the record for having played the most shows in the Air Canada Centre during one tour. On their 2007–2008 Lost Highway Tour, they played five shows in Toronto. They were breaking their own earlier four-night record at the ACC that tied with U2, The Spice Girls, The Police and Rush.

The Tragically Hip played the first ever concert at the arena on February 22, 1999 to a sold out crowd.

Pearl Jam played two shows at the arena on September 11 & 12, 2011, as part of the band's 20th anniversary celebrations. In the past, Pearl Jam have played the arena on October 5, 2000, September 19, 2005, and two shows on May 9 & 10, 2006 to kick off the Pearl Jam 2006 World Tour.

On April 7, 2008, Avril Lavigne played at the arena to a sold-out crowd as a part of her 2008 Best Damn Tour, the concert went onto video named The Best Damn Tour – Live in Toronto

On August 13 and 14, 2011, Britney Spears filmed two sold out shows on her Femme Fatale Tour for a DVD release, and was broadcast on EPIXHD in November of that year. Also that November, the concert was released to DVD titled Britney Spears: The Femme Fatale Tour.

American entertainer Lady Gaga has played at the arena six times, including four shows on her Monster Ball Tour in 2009, 10, and 11, as well as two shows in February 2013 on her Born This Way Ball.

In September 2010, Roger Waters brought his ground-breaking The Wall Live concert tour to the Air Canada Centre. The event was a sell out and served as the opening to the massively successful tour.

On March 18 and 19, 2013, Barbadian entertainer Rihanna played two sold out shows at the arena on her Diamonds World Tour. The two shows grossed $2,498,532, with an attendance of about 32,038 people.

On April 11th 2013, Green Day made a stop for their 99 Revolutions Tour playing a mixture of new and old, the band played to a sellout crowd of very high energy this was a welcome return for Billie Joe Armstrong to Canada after a stint in rehab.

Political conventions

In 2003, the Liberal Party of Canada held their leadership convention at the Air Canada Centre.

Late 2000s developments

A Raptors game with the previous logo and colours, as well as the old scoreboard, later relocated to Ricoh Coliseum

Gate 5 entrance off of Maple Leafs Square

In late 2005, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment announced that they would be renovating the western side of the Air Canada Centre during the 2008 off-season to connect it with the Maple Leaf Square development. Maple Leaf Square is jointly owned by MLSE, Cadillac Fairview and Lantera Developments. The $500 million development includes two restaurants, Hotel Le Germain at Maple Leaf Square boutique hotel, extensive retail shopping, including a 9,000-square-foot (840 m²) Leafs, Marlies, Raptors, and Toronto FC store, two 54-storey condominiums, a Longo's supermarket, a High-Definition broadcast studio, and a public square. It opened in 2010.

External links

• Official website
• Arena map
• Air Canada Centre's conversion from hockey to basketball on YouTube
• Toronto's Historical Plaques; Toronto Postal Delivery Building

Events and tenants
Preceded by SkyDome	Home of the Toronto Raptors 1999 – present	Succeeded by current
Preceded by Maple Leaf Gardens	Home of the Toronto Maple Leafs 1999 – present	Succeeded by current
Preceded by Maple Leaf Gardens	Home of the Toronto Rock 2000 – present	Succeeded by current
Preceded by Hartford Civic Center	Home of the Toronto Phantoms 2001 – 2002	Succeeded by last arena
Preceded by St. Pete Times Forum	Host of the NHL All-Star Game 2000	Succeeded by Pepsi Center
Preceded by Ford Center	Host of Unforgiven 2006	Succeeded by FedExForum