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Mellon Arena
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Mellon Arena
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| Championships | 1st 1991 |
2nd 1992 |
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The Mellon Arena
When one talks about the old barns of the game, storied sites such as Maple Leaf Gardens come to mind. Probably the last building that would come to mind is Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena (formerly called the Civic Arena), affectionately known by the locals as the "Igloo."
No kidding. Next to Toronto's ice palace, Pittsburgh has the second oldest facility that is still in use. It is not as old as the Depression Era projects such the former St. Louis Arena or Buffalo's Memorial Auditorium. It doesn't invoke hockey traditions like the Boston Garden, Montreal Forum or even the relatively younger Spectrum in Philadelphia. Yet as designs go, the Civic Arena is perhaps one of the NHL's most unique.
Back in 1947, however, hockey was not the city's motivation for planning an arena on the Lower Hill District. It seems that Pittsburgh's Civic Light Opera, which had been playing at the University of Pittsburgh Football Stadium, was tired of having its performances rained out. It would take 11 years for planners to work out the details. Groundbreaking was finally held on April 25, 1957.
The arena finally opened on September 17, 1961. What had been constructed was one of the most unique structures of its time, a giant dome that retracted. In initial construction of the roof cost $2 million. It consisted of eight sections cut at 45-degree angles, six of which are able to rotate on 3,000 feet of rails. The girders, 34 feet above the floor, slope at a 13-degree angle. With each section of the roof powered by five motors, the arena can open completely in about two and a half minutes.
Other dimensions of the dome were impressive for their time:
Weight: 3,653 tons
Diameter: 417 feet
Area: 166,000 feet of stainless steel sheeting
Height: 155 feet above the ice surfaceStrangely enough, the building did not have an official name at the time it was dedicated. The "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" began referring to it as the Civic Arena and the title stuck. The authority which managed the facility, wanted to call it the "Civic Auditorium," and even had its ushers wear buttons with that name. In the end, however, the authority relented to public opinion in October 1962 and formally adopted "Civic Arena."
The first hockey team in the Civic Arena was not the Penguins, but the Pittsburgh Hornets, an AHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings which had relocated from nearby Duquesne Gardens. In 1967, the Hornets captured the Calder Cup (league championship) in what was their final season.
Just prior to the Penguins moving in during the late summer of 1967, the rink had to be shortened lengthwise and widthwise by 5 feet each way in order to conform to the NHL's 200 feet by 85 feet dimensions.
During their formative years, the Penguins struggled both on the ice and on the balance sheet. At the end of the 1974-75 season (after blowing a 3-0 series lead to the New York Islanders) the team was on the verge of bankruptcy. With a debt of $6.5 million, the franchise went into receivership, and the IRS padlocked the doors of the team's offices at the Civic Arena. The Penguins also had to pay a fine before they could return.
Additional seating levels would be subsequently added in 1975 and 1993. Capacity gradually increased from 12,000 to just over 17,000. In 1995, a bigger scoreboard was added, but produced one major drawback: the dome could no longer be opened completely due to the extra weight.
In its first four decades of history, the Mellon Arena has hosted many tenants: the American Basketball League's Rens, the American Basketball Association's Pipers and Condors, World Team Tennis' Triangles, the Major Indoor Soccer League's Spirit, the Major Soccer League's Stingers, the Arena Football League's Gladiators, the Major Indoor Lacrosse League's Bulls, Roller Hockey International's Phantoms, and the Duquesne University basketball teams.
The Mellon Arena was originally intended to house Pittsburgh's leading theater company, but within seven years, the Civic Light Opera would relocate across town. The Pittsburgh Penguins would outlast all of its neighbors and provide drama of a different sort.
Source: In the Crease
Fans call the home of the Penguins the Igloo because it looks rather forbidding. Located halfway up "The Hill," Mellon Arena was originally designed for use by the Civic Light Opera. But when the retractable roof was opened, their sound blew out, so the CLO moved on and the Penguins moved in.
The roof isn't opened that often and never for hockey games, but it works well. Built in 1961 of 2,950 tons of Pittsburgh steel, the arena features the largest retractable stainless steel roof in the world. The roof has no interior supports -- which means there are few obstructed-view seats in the Arena. The roof is 170,000 square feet and is designed to open or close in 2.5 minutes. The Igloo seats 17,537 for hockey and 18,500 for concerts. There are 56 skyboxes and 1,696 in-arena luxury seats. The arena also features the Igloo Club which can accommodate over 400 people for banquet functions. Located in the heart of Pittsburgh, the Civic Arena serves 2.7 million people in the Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia areas.
Mellon Arena history
- First regular-season game: Oct. 11, 1967, 2-1 loss to the Canadiens
- First Stanley Cup finals game: May 15, 1991, 5-4 over the Minnesota North Stars
- April 25, 1989: Mario Lemieux ties an NHL playoff record for scoring five goals -- four in one period -- when Pittsburgh wins Game 5 of the division final against Philadelphia, 10-7.
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