Tucson Convention Center
Encyclopedia
The Tucson Convention Center (TCC), previously named the Tucson Community Center, is a large multi-purpose convention center
Convention center
A convention center is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typically offer sufficient floor area to accommodate several thousand attendees...

 located in downtown
Downtown
Downtown is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's core or central business district ....

 Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...

. Built in 1971, the location includes a 9,275-seat indoor arena
Arena
An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...

, two performing arts
Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...

 venues
Theater (structure)
A theater or theatre is a structure where theatrical works or plays are performed or other performances such as musical concerts may be produced. While a theater is not required for performance , a theater serves to define the performance and audience spaces...

, and 205000 square feet (19,045.1 m²) of meeting space.

In 2009, ground was broken on a major renovation to construct a new convention center hotel and substantially expand the exhibition space.

Architectural firm DLR Group
DLR Group
DLR Group is an architectural design firm providing architecture, engineering, planning, and interior design to clients throughout the United States...

 designed the new Tucson Hotel and Convention Center. The project is under construction. The main tower is a 400 foot, 27-story Sheraton
Sheraton Hotels and Resorts
Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide's largest and second oldest brand . Starwood's headquarters are in White Plains, New York.-Sheraton history:...

 hotel featuring 525 guest rooms. Features include an open courtyard, outdoor pool, bar and lobby lounge, fitness center, café, rooftop pool deck, business center, and 50000 square feet (4,645.2 m²) of meeting space including a 19000 square feet (1,765.2 m²) ballroom.

The project includes an 118000 square feet (10,962.6 m²) expansion of the adjacent Tucson Convention Center. The renovation will add a new exhibit hall, two ballrooms, five large meeting rooms, a new main entry and 1,060-car parking garage.

The project is scheduled for completion in 2012. Cost is preliminarily estimated at $246 million.

Edit: Tucson has not started construction on an expansion of the convention center and a hotel.

Performance venues

  • Tucson Music Hall, with 2,289 seats, is used for concert performances, including opera
    Opera
    Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

    .
  • Leo Rich Theater, with 511 seats, is used for small scale and more intimate performances.
  • Tucson Arena, with 4,988 permanent seats, 2,724 bleacher seats, and floor capacity for 888.

Arizona Icecats ice hockey

The University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...

 Wildcats club hockey team currently plays at Tucson Arena and is the primary tenant
Leasehold estate
A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord....

 at this time. Although associated with the college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...

, the team receives no funding directly from the school. The hockey team is a Division 1 member of the American Collegiate Hockey Association
American Collegiate Hockey Association
The American Collegiate Hockey Association is the national governing body of non-varsity college ice hockey in the U.S. The organization provides structure, regulations, promotes the quality of play, sponsors National Awards and National Tournaments....

. Until recently, Leo Golembiewski had been the head coach for the last 27 years, leading the team to 21 straight national tournaments with eight Semi-final appearances and one national championship
Championship
Championship is a term used in sport to refer to various forms of competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.- Title match system :...

. The new coach, Sean Hogan hopes to take the team into a new direction and look in the coming seasons.

Other events

The Tucson Convention Center has been host to many other events including the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show
Tucson Gem & Mineral Show
The Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase is one of the premier gem and mineral shows in the world. The event takes place annually in late January and February at approximately 40 to 49 different locations across the city of Tucson, Arizona. Most of the shows are open to the public, except for...

, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...

s, monster truck
Monster truck
A monster truck is a pickup truck, typically styled after pickup trucks' bodies, modified or purposely built with extremely large wheels and suspension...

 shows as well as many live WWE television broadcasts featuring Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...

, SmackDown & ECW on Sci Fi.

Past minor league teams

  • Tucson Mavericks
    Tucson Mavericks
    The Tucson Mavericks were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the Central Hockey League from 1975 to 1976.The team was run by Head coach Adam Keller and General Manager Merle Miller.- Season results :-References:##...

    , Central Hockey League
    Central Hockey League
    The Central Hockey League is a mid-level professional hockey league, owned by Global Entertainment Corporation. Its current champions are the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, which defeated the Colorado Eagles four games to three in the 2011 playoffs....

     (1975-76)
  • Tucson Icemen, Southwest Hockey League
    Southwest Hockey League
    The Southwest Hockey League was a minor professional ice hockey league that operated in the Southwestern United States from 1975-1977.-External Links:* on hockeydb.com...

     (1976-77)
  • Tucson Rustlers, Professional Hockey League (1978-79)
  • Tucson Gila Monsters
    Tucson Gila Monsters
    The Tucson Gila Monsters were a short-lived American professional minor league ice hockey team based in Tucson, Arizona. The team played throughout the 1997-98 season, but folded after 21 games during the 1998-99 season....

    , West Coast Hockey League
    West Coast Hockey League
    The West Coast Hockey League was a professional minor ice hockey league active in the western United States from 1995 to 2003. The number of teams ranged from six to nine. The teams were located in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada and Washington...

     (1997-99)

Arena and convention

TCC's current arena is outdated and operates at a 3 million dollar
Dollar
The dollar is the name of the official currency of many countries, including Australia, Belize, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.-Etymology:...

 deficit every year. In 2005, a feasibility study
Feasibility study
Feasibility studies aim to objectively and rationally uncover the strengths and weaknesses of the existing business or proposed venture, opportunities and threats as presented by the environment, the resources required to carry through, and ultimately the prospects for success. In its simplest...

 was performed, revealing that a new arena in downtown Tucson is possible. April 4, 2007, Tucson city council approved funding of $130 million for a new 10,000-12,000 seat arena. Supporters claim that the new arena would add significantly to the ongoing Rio Nuevo downtown redevelopment project. Currently, most performances in Arizona are held in Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...

 because of the larger facilities. When attempting to bring larger names to the city, Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...

 and Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...

 both declined performances because the existing arena's ceiling is too low. Upon completion, the facility would contain a higher elevation as well as an expanded seating capacity
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...

. Over 4,000 parking space
Parking space
A parking space is a location that is designated for parking, either paved or unpaved.Parking spaces can be in a parking garage, in a parking lot or on a city street. It is usually designated by a white-paint-on-tar rectangle indicated by three lines at the top, left and right of the designated area...

s would also be added to the grounds around the TCC as well as ten new meeting rooms able to accommodate up to 1,000 people.

In February 2009, 360 Architecture
360 Architecture
360 Architecture is an American architectural practice focused on planning, design and execution. The firm provides services for a range of project types including corporate headquarters and commercial office buildings, sports arenas and ballparks, municipal facilities, single- and multi-family...

 was revealed as the new designer in negotiations with the city of Tucson, replacing HNTB
HNTB
HNTB Corporation is an architecture and engineering consulting firm headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri that has designed many bridges, roadways, airports and professional sports stadiums across the United States and around the world.The firm started in 1914 as Harrington, Howard & Ash...

. After numerous changes to its proposed location, the arena is currently 90% locked in for a site located on the southeast corner of Interstate 10
Interstate 10
Interstate 10 is the fourth-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90, I-80, and I-40. It is the southernmost east–west, coast-to-coast Interstate Highway, although I-4 and I-8 are further south. It stretches from the Pacific Ocean at State Route 1 in Santa Monica,...

 and West Congress Street in downtown Tucson. A previous arena design replicating a desert tortoise
Desert Tortoise
The desert tortoise is a species of tortoise native to the Mojave desert and Sonoran desert of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. They can be located in western Arizona, southeastern California, southern Nevada, and southwestern Utah. The species name agassizii is in honor of...

has also been changed and 360 plans to start a new design from scratch. Tucson-based Swaim Associates will be working with 360 Architecture, serving as the project coordinator.

External links

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