Comcast Arena (Everett)

Comcast Arena
Former names	Everett Events Center (2003–2007)
Location	2000 Hewitt Avenue Suite 200 Everett, Washington 98201
Broke ground	April 2002
Opened	September 24, 2003[1]
Owner	City of Everett, Washington, Everett Public Facilities District
Operator	Global Spectrum
Construction cost	$71.5 million ($85.4 million in 2011 dollars[2])
Architect	LMN Architects[3]
General Contractor	PCL Construction Services, Inc.[4]
Capacity	Hockey: 8,513 Center stage concert: 10,000 End stage concert: 9,000
Tenants
Everett Silvertips (WHL) (2003–present) Washington Stealth (NLL) (2010–present) Everett Raptors (IFL) (2012-present) Everett Explosion (IBL) (2007) Everett Hawks (NIFL/AF2) (2005–2007)

Comcast Arena at Everett (originally Everett Events Center) is a $83.3 million dollar muti-purpose complex, in Everett, Washington, designed and developed by the City of Everett Public Facilities District. The arena opened in September 2003.

The 10,000-seat venue has hosted a variety of concerts and other types of performances. A few events that have showcased at Comcast Arena at Everett include Ringling Brothers Circus, moto cross, and family shows such as Disney on Ice, Harlem Globetrotters, Sesame Street Live and a myriad of others.

The venue served as the host for 2008 Skate America, a three-day ice-skating championship featuring world class skaters. The events were both nationally and internationally televised on NBC. It was the first event of six in the 2008-2009 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition. This was Skate America's largest attendance ever recorded in its history.

Hockey

Comcast Arena is the home of the Everett Silvertips, a Western Hockey League franchise. In their first season (2003–04) the Everett Silvertips were led by former NHL Head Coach Kevin Constantine, to win the WHL Western Conference Championship. Since then, the Everett Silvertips have gone on to set a record for the most wins and points for an expansion team. Throughout their six seasons in Everett, the Silvertips have welcomed well over 1.3 million fans into the arena while accumulating 201 wins as they have proven to be the exemplary threat in the Western Hockey League.

Indoor football

Starting in 2012, Comcast Arena will be home to the Everett Raptors of the Indoor Football League.

Lacrosse

In 2010, Comcast Arena became home to the Washington Stealth of the National Lacrosse League. The franchise was previously known as the San Jose Stealth, and before that the Albany Attack. [1]

Previous tenants

The arena was also home to the International Basketball League's Everett Explosion for one season in 2007 before they moved to Monroe and were renamed the Snohomish County Explosion, where they currently play as of 2008. Comcast Arena has also hosted arena football for three years (2005–07). The Everett Hawks being a primary football tenant in the arena played for the NIFL in their first season at Everett going undefeated at 14-0, but lost in the semifinal to the Tri-Cities Fever. The team switched to af2 in 2006 and became a minor-league team where they didn't find much success which lead to their folding in 2007.

Conference Center

The Edward D. Hansen Conference Center is a $12 million dollar center located in the same building as the arena. The conference center was designed by H2K Design and Botesh, Nash & Hall as a world class facility that includes state-of-the-art amenities with an unmatched versatility. This aesthetically innovative three story facility includes a 12,000-square-foot (1,100 m²) ballroom that is capable of accommodating 800 guests. In addition to the ballroom the conference center has three executive meeting rooms ranging from 700-900 square feet which makes for the ideal private meeting space. The Northwest’s premier conference center hosts over 200 hundred events annually ranging from meetings, tradeshows, banquets, galas, receptions and much more. The conference center is also home to the City of Everett’s collection of art masterpieces which includes artwork from the Pilchuck Glass Collection.

Ice Rink

The Comcast Community Ice Rink is a NHL regulation 200' x 85' ice rink that is located inside Comcast Arena at Everett. It is an enormous public ice skating rink, which is used for public skating, local hockey leagues, figure skating, instructional sessions and much more. Currently the rink is open year round, and has the versatility to transform into a 57,000-square-foot (5,300 m²) space that has the capability to host trade shows, expositions, consumer shows and special events.

Concerts and other events

• Lynyrd Skynyrd - February 6, 2004 and December 17, 2005
• Jagged Edge, Baby Bash, OutKast, Ying Yang Twins, Master P and Cassidy - March 27, 2004
• Rod Stewart - April 3, 2004
• American Idol Live! - July 17, 2004, August 23, 2005 and July 8, 2011
• The Cure - August 31, 2004
• Scorpions - October 21, 2004, with Tesla
• Green Day - November 16, 2004
• Bette Midler - December 7, 2004
• Dolly Parton - December 19, 2004, with The Grascals
• Cher - January 26, 2005
• Duran Duran - March 9, 2005 and September 23, 2011, with The Neon Trees
• The Taste of Chaos Tour - March 26, 2005, April 2, 2006 and February 15, 2007
• Velvet Revolver - April 22, 2005
• The Honda Civic Tour - April 30, 2005 and May 15, 2006
• Oasis - September 9, 2005, with Jet
• Santana - September 20, 2005
• Audioslave - September 28, 2005
• Bill Gaither - October 7, 2005
• Def Leppard - November 8, 2005, with Bryan Adams
• Steven Curtis Chapman - December 7, 2005
• Kanye West - December 10, 2005
• Martina McBride - July 16, 2006 and August 4, 2007, with Little Big Town
• Juan Gabriel - September 24, 2006
• James Blunt - November 6, 2006
• The Barenaked Ladies - November 26, 2006
• Dierks Bentley - December 1, 2006, with Miranda Lambert
• Panic! at the Disco - December 3, 2006 and October 14, 2008
• Guns N' Roses - December 10, 2006
• The Blue Man Group - February 2, 2007 and January 25, 2008
• The Panic Channel - February 18, 2007, with Rock Star Supernova
• The Newsboys - March 25, 2007, with Kutless and April 15, 2010
• Fergie, Lily Allen and Katharine McPhee - May 13, 2007
• Hilary Duff - August 6, 2007, with Lifehouse
• So You Think You Can Dance - November 28, 2007 and November 21, 2009
• Mannheim Steamroller - December 2, 2007
• Switchfoot and Relient K - December 3, 2007, with Ruth
• Tool - December 4, 2007
• Coheed and Cambria, The Kooks, Jimmy Eat World and Modest Mouse - December 6, 2007
• The Jonas Brothers - February 5, 2008
• Gary Valenciano - June 15, 2008
• America's Best Dance Crew - October 13, 2008
• Rock Band Live - October 14, 2008, with Plain White T's, Dashboard Confessional and Panic! at the Disco
• Neil Young - October 21, 2008, with Death Cab for Cutie
• Celtic Thunder - December 7, 2008 and October 30, 2010
• Sarah Brightman - December 14, 2008
• Disturbed - January 23, 2009, with Sevendust and Skindred
• Il Divo - June 2, 2009
• ZZ Top - November 23, 2009
• The Zac Brown Band - March 21, 2010
• Cats - March 31, 2010
• PBR Professional Bull Riding - May 21–22, 2010
• Carrie Underwood - May 29, 2010, with Sons of Sylvia and Craig Morgan
• Justin Bieber - July 13, 2010, with Sean Kingston
• Cirque du Soleil "Quidam" - March 16–20, 2010
• Charlie Sheen's "My Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat is Not An Option" Tour - May 3, 2011
• KISS - June 23, 2011
• Sugarland - July 18, 2011

References

1. ^ http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20030924&slug=center24n
2. ^ Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2008. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
3. ^ http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2003/11/20031124/Facilities/Washington-City-Opens-Home-For-Junior-Hockey-League-Team.aspx?hl=%22club%20seats%22&sc=0
4. ^ http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2003/11/20031124/Facilities/Washington-City-Opens-Home-For-Junior-Hockey-League-Team.aspx?hl=%22club%20seats%22&sc=0

External links

• Comcast Arena at Everett Website
• Everett Silvertips
• Washington Stealth
• Everett, WA.

Coordinates: 47°58′43″N 122°12′13″W / 47.978694°N 122.203536°W / 47.978694; -122.203536