Saying Goodbye
October 5th 2009 16:30
When I was a child in Pittsburgh, you went to Pirates and Steeler games at Three Rivers Stadium, and went to Penguins games at the Civic Arena. As this is the last year that the (not) venerable old building will be used for hockey, it's time to start saying goodbye in the same way that we said goodbye to Three Rivers.
Unlike Three Rivers, which was a concrete cookie-cutter only notable for its ugliness, the Civic Arena has always had a bit of a uniqueness about it. No other hockey palace in the NHL could open its roof. The dome has long been a notable part of Pittsburgh's skyline. And like Three Rivers before it, the Arena has some championship ghosts in it.
Having been to the Arena many times, I can firmly say that I like the building. The E and F sections, high above the goal areas at either end of the ice, provide for a unique view. Like any field end seat, you can see the horizontal game open up beautifully, but the vertical game elements are lost when the action is at the opposite end. The seats were kind of cramped, but being jammed up tight against the roof provided for an interesting vantage point. I always liked being up there, whether for a hockey game, or a Pitt basketball game (back in the 80s when they played 4 or 5 games a year at the Arena) or a concert. It was always tremendously loud up there, and part of the acoustical signature of the place was created by that metal roof.
Alas, a building designed and built over 40 years ago has very little in common with today's stadiums. The seating in some areas is less than wonderful; there are partially blocked seats in the Arena, something that new stadiums strive to eliminate. It is very difficult to retrofit the building for the luxury boxes, again something that all new stadiums have in excess. It lacks a second tier of seating at center ice. It's seating capacity is below most newer buildings. And let's face it - a 40 year old building is simply old by today's standards.
It's surprising in a way that the old Igloo in Pittsburgh is the NHL's oldest building. When you think about some of the glorious stadiums that used to dot the landscape, knowing that this is now the oldest is a sign. Good or bad, I'll leave that opinion to you. Would I prefer to watch the Canadiens play in the old Forum, the Blackhawks play in old Chicago Stadium or the Bruins battle it out in the old Garden? That part of me that believes the history of sport is vitally important says yes. The part of me that understands the current economics of sports knows that the answer must be no. So it will fade away, to be replaced by a new building, the Consol Energy Center. It won't have a fancy name or an iconic nickname like the Igloo. It'll be just another stadium in a sport in which there's nothing dramatic or special from one stadium to another. It'll have a roof, two tiers of seating, the wrap-around video boards, the huge JumboTron and luxury boxes all over the place. The amenities will be better, hopefully to the point where for concerts the ladies attending the show won't feel it necessary to use the men's room because the line to the women's bathroom wraps around the corner and down two flights of stairs.
You always wonder, however, whether the old ghosts will come along with the team to the new building. You wonder what new ghosts will take up residence. You wonder whether the magic of the old building will be found once more in the new. You have to wonder these things, even as you sit and marvel at the engineering of the new. An old building has a character unique to it. It's oddities are uniquely it's own. The new buildings are now built to a different standard, and it's unlikely there will be anything vastly different between the new building and 29 other buildings in the NHL.
As the Pittsburgh Penguins embark on their 2009-2010 season, they will hit the ice surface in the Igloo for the last time. Each game will move the team one step closer to that final game. One hopes, of course, that the final game in the Igloo is a game 6 or 7 in the Stanley Cup Finals, and one really hopes that it's Sid Crosby and his mates that hoist the silver Cup over their heads for a ceremonial skate around the ice. You'd be quite correct in saying that such an event would blow the roof off of the place. Or maybe, just maybe, if that happened, the powers that be would open that roof one last time, just for old time's sake, just to take in the last moments of an aging building. It would be a fitting way to say goodbye to a familiar home.
Unlike Three Rivers, which was a concrete cookie-cutter only notable for its ugliness, the Civic Arena has always had a bit of a uniqueness about it. No other hockey palace in the NHL could open its roof. The dome has long been a notable part of Pittsburgh's skyline. And like Three Rivers before it, the Arena has some championship ghosts in it.
Having been to the Arena many times, I can firmly say that I like the building. The E and F sections, high above the goal areas at either end of the ice, provide for a unique view. Like any field end seat, you can see the horizontal game open up beautifully, but the vertical game elements are lost when the action is at the opposite end. The seats were kind of cramped, but being jammed up tight against the roof provided for an interesting vantage point. I always liked being up there, whether for a hockey game, or a Pitt basketball game (back in the 80s when they played 4 or 5 games a year at the Arena) or a concert. It was always tremendously loud up there, and part of the acoustical signature of the place was created by that metal roof.
Alas, a building designed and built over 40 years ago has very little in common with today's stadiums. The seating in some areas is less than wonderful; there are partially blocked seats in the Arena, something that new stadiums strive to eliminate. It is very difficult to retrofit the building for the luxury boxes, again something that all new stadiums have in excess. It lacks a second tier of seating at center ice. It's seating capacity is below most newer buildings. And let's face it - a 40 year old building is simply old by today's standards.
It's surprising in a way that the old Igloo in Pittsburgh is the NHL's oldest building. When you think about some of the glorious stadiums that used to dot the landscape, knowing that this is now the oldest is a sign. Good or bad, I'll leave that opinion to you. Would I prefer to watch the Canadiens play in the old Forum, the Blackhawks play in old Chicago Stadium or the Bruins battle it out in the old Garden? That part of me that believes the history of sport is vitally important says yes. The part of me that understands the current economics of sports knows that the answer must be no. So it will fade away, to be replaced by a new building, the Consol Energy Center. It won't have a fancy name or an iconic nickname like the Igloo. It'll be just another stadium in a sport in which there's nothing dramatic or special from one stadium to another. It'll have a roof, two tiers of seating, the wrap-around video boards, the huge JumboTron and luxury boxes all over the place. The amenities will be better, hopefully to the point where for concerts the ladies attending the show won't feel it necessary to use the men's room because the line to the women's bathroom wraps around the corner and down two flights of stairs.
You always wonder, however, whether the old ghosts will come along with the team to the new building. You wonder what new ghosts will take up residence. You wonder whether the magic of the old building will be found once more in the new. You have to wonder these things, even as you sit and marvel at the engineering of the new. An old building has a character unique to it. It's oddities are uniquely it's own. The new buildings are now built to a different standard, and it's unlikely there will be anything vastly different between the new building and 29 other buildings in the NHL.
As the Pittsburgh Penguins embark on their 2009-2010 season, they will hit the ice surface in the Igloo for the last time. Each game will move the team one step closer to that final game. One hopes, of course, that the final game in the Igloo is a game 6 or 7 in the Stanley Cup Finals, and one really hopes that it's Sid Crosby and his mates that hoist the silver Cup over their heads for a ceremonial skate around the ice. You'd be quite correct in saying that such an event would blow the roof off of the place. Or maybe, just maybe, if that happened, the powers that be would open that roof one last time, just for old time's sake, just to take in the last moments of an aging building. It would be a fitting way to say goodbye to a familiar home.
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