- BI-LO Center
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BI-LO Center Location 650 North Academy Street
Greenville, SC 29601Coordinates 34°51′10″N 82°23′29″W / 34.852789°N 82.391458°WCoordinates: 34°51′10″N 82°23′29″W / 34.852789°N 82.391458°W Broke ground March 7, 1996[1] Opened September 3, 1998[2] Owner Greenville Arena District Operator Greenville Arena District Construction cost $63 million
($84.9 million in 2011 dollars[3])Architect Odell Associates
AMI AssociatesProject Manager International Facilities Group, LLC.[4] Structural engineer Geiger Engineers PC General Contractor Fluor Daniel[4] Capacity Hockey: 13,707
Basketball: 14,897
Concert (Center Stage): 15,951
Concert (End Stage): 11,000-14,000Tenants Greenville Road Warriors (ECHL) (2010–present)
Greenville Force (SIFL) (2009–present)
Greenville Grrrowl (ECHL) (1998–2006)
Carolina Rhinos (AF2) (2000–2002)
Greenville Groove (NBDL) (2001–2003)The BI-LO Center is an arena located in downtown Greenville, South Carolina, that is used for concerts, football, and hockey. The arena is currently used by the Greenville Force of the Southern Indoor Football League and the Greenville Road Warriors of the ECHL.
Contents
History
The BI-LO Center was built in 1998 at a cost of US$63 million to replace Greenville's outdated and under-repaired Greenville Memorial Auditorium, which was imploded on a site located across the street from the new arena on September 29, 1997.[5] The arena naming rights were purchased by Dutch grocer Ahold, which at the time had a regional office in Mauldin. When it was built, the BI-LO Center was the largest arena in the state of South Carolina, a distinction it held until 2002, when the Colonial Center was built in Columbia, South Carolina.
Its second sporting event took place on 26 September 1998 between the Boston Bruins and the Florida Panthers.
As a concert venue, the BI-LO Center can seat between 11,000 and 15,951 spectators, depending on the positioning of the stage. The arena features 30 luxury suites and 840 club seats.
The arena floor measures 113 feet (34 m) wide by 229 feet (70 m) long. There are 7,472 seats in the upper bowl and 4,809 permanent seats and 1,290 retractable seats in the lower bowl.
The BI-LO Center hosted the Southern Conference men's basketball tournaments in 2000 and 2001 as well first and second round games during the 2002 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. However, the NCAA has since implemented a policy to not hold tournament games in either South Carolina or Mississippi, following a recommendation from the NAACP that was intended to call attention to the Confederate flag on display next to a monument on the grounds of the South Carolina State House. As a result, the BI-LO Center has not hosted an NCAA Tournament game since 2002. College basketball made its return to Greenville in 2005, when the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament was played at the BI-LO Center, in an emergency situation which turned futile. The Philips Arena in Atlanta was the scheduled site for the tournament, but backed out in the summer of 2004 because of logistics following plans for the 54th NHL All-Star Game which was to be held just six weeks before the 2005 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament. Once the plans were announced, the SEC had moved that tournament to Greenville, with considerable protest from the NAACP. Even with the 2004–05 NHL lockout, the SEC kept the tournament in Greenville, which is 140 miles (230 km) east of Atlanta.
The arena has also served as the home for the Greenville Groove (2001–2003), one of the original members of the NBA Development League, as well as the Carolina Rhinos football team (2000–2002), one of the inaugural members of AF2, the Arena Football League's minor league, as well as both versions of Greenville's team in the ECHL, the first, the Grrrowl (1998–2006), hosting the 2002 Kelly Cup Finals, and the second, the Greenville Road Warriors, that starts in 2010. Starting in 2009, the BI-LO Center has a regular tenant again with the Greenville Force of the Southern Indoor Football League.
The PBR's Built Ford Tough Series made a tour stop at the BI-LO Center in 2005; this event was noted for being the first career BFTS win for 2008 PBR World Champion Guilherme Marchi.
Currently, the BI-LO Center also regularly hosts a wide variety of events such as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, professional wrestling, monster truck rallies, motocross racing, professional ice skating, such as the Champions on Ice, and ice dancing shows and competitions, dog shows and concerts spanning many different musical genres.
Normally, the South Carolina High School League Upper State basketball finals would be held in the arena, but it was moved to Littlejohn Coliseum because of the 2008 Bassmaster Classic weigh-in ceremonies, and therefore was held at the Bi-Lo Center.
The arena hosted TNA Wrestling's Pay-Per-View Against All Odds on February 10, 2008. On April 21, 2008 it hosted the King of the Ring edition of WWE Monday Night Raw.
On February 14, 2010, Johnstown Chiefs, of the ECHL, announced that the team would be moving to Greenville, SC, from Johnstown, PA, for the 2010-2011 season and had signed a 5 year deal with the BI-LO Center to play there. This ends a 5 year hockey drought in Greenville, after the Grrowl of the ECHL folded. Greenville has a rich minor league hockey history, with the Grrowl winning the Kelley Cup in 2002. http://www.johnstownchiefs.com/news/index.html?article_id=628
Incidents
In February 2011, a woman attending a circus performance at the BI-LO Center abandoned a baby she delivered herself in an arena toilet.[6] Jessica Blackham was arrested and charged with two counts of felony child abuse and one count of child neglect. The infant was given a positive prognosis.[7]
References
- ^ "Bi-Lo Center Breaking Ground Today in Downtown Greenville". Herald-Journal. March 7, 1996. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=z7YeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bs8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=3873,1421851&dq=en.
- ^ Findlay, Prentiss (September 3, 1998). "On the Town". The Post and Courier. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PZpIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PwoNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6091,717914&dq=en.
- ^ Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2008. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
- ^ a b http://www.ifgroup.cc/content/?section=506§ion2=508§ion3=514&page=514
- ^ via Associated Press. "GREENVILLE MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM IS HISTORY", The State (newspaper), September 21, 1997. Accessed April 5, 2008.
- ^ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=133592515
- ^ http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/02/08/general-us-infant-found-arena_8298822.html
External links
Current arenas in the ECHL Eastern
ConferenceAmway Center (Orlando, FL) (2012-13) · Arena at Gwinnett Center (Duluth, GA) · BI-LO Center (Greenville, SC) · Cambria County War Memorial Arena (Wheeling, WV (10 games in Johnstown, PA))· First Arena (Elmira) · Germain Arena (Fort Myers) · Huntington Center (Toledo)· North Charleston Coliseum (Charleston, SC)· Sears Centre (Hoffman Estates, IL) · Sovereign Center (Reading) · Sun National Bank Center (Trenton)· U.S. Bank Arena (Cincinnati) · WesBanco Arena (Wheeling, WV (26 games in Wheeling))· Wings Stadium (Kalamazoo)Western
ConferenceBudweiser Events Center (Loveland, CO) · CenturyLink Arena Boise (Boise) · Citizens Business Bank Arena (Ontario, CA) · Cow Palace (Daly City, CA) (2012-13) · Maverik Center (Salt Lake City)· Orleans Arena (Las Vegas) · Rabobank Arena (Bakersfield) · Stockton Arena (Stockton)· Sullivan Arena (Anchorage)Categories:- Sports venues in Greenville, South Carolina
- Arena football venues
- Indoor ice hockey venues in the United States
- Ice hockey venues in South Carolina
- Buildings and structures in Greenville, South Carolina
- NBA Development League arenas
- Greenville Groove
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