Bangor Auditorium
Encyclopedia
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...
located in downtown Bangor, Maine
Bangor, Maine
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
. It opened October 1, 1955 and is used for concerts (maximum capacity 6,800), sporting events, circus performances, political rallies, as well as trade shows with 16,000 square feet (1500 m²) of space. It shares the same complex as the Bangor Civic Center
Bangor Civic Center
The Bangor Civic Center is a convention center located in Bangor, Maine. It contains 22,000 square feet of exhibit and meeting space, enough for 9 meetings at the same time. In addition to meetings, it can also host trade shows, wedding receptions, and banquets.It can seat up to 1,200 in the main...
. For decades, it has hosted the Maine Principals' Association
Maine Principals' Association
The Maine Principals’ Association is the governing body for sports competitions among all public and some private high schools in the state of Maine. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations...
basketball tournament each February, as well as the graduation ceremonies for Bangor High School in June. It also served as the home of the University of Maine
University of Maine
The University of Maine is a public research university located in Orono, Maine, United States. The university was established in 1865 as a land grant college and is referred to as the flagship university of the University of Maine System...
Men's and Women's basketball teams for a few seasons until 1992. The V-shape style of the building gives it the look of giant wings and adds to the atmosphere. A statue of Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan is a lumberjack figure in North American folklore and tradition. One of the most famous and popular North American folklore heroes, he is usually described as a giant as well as a lumberjack of unusual skill, and is often accompanied in stories by his animal companion, Babe the Blue...
towers outside as a symbol of the city's prosperous history as a lumber port in the early-to-mid-19th century.
The auditorium and civic center share its campus with Bass Park, home of the Bangor State Fair as well as Bangor Raceway, one of the oldest harness racing
Harness racing
Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait . They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, although racing under saddle is also conducted in Europe.-Breeds:...
facilities in New England. Bangor Auditorium has hosted many major musical acts and has been a stop for World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
house shows for many years.
Over the past few years, the city has discussed significantly renovating or replacing the aging auditorium with a state-of-the-art venue. Poor ventilation and HVAC
HVAC
HVAC refers to technology of indoor or automotive environmental comfort. HVAC system design is a major subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer...
systems as well as substandard handicap accessibility have been cited as primary reasons for this.
As recently as August 22, 2009, the city has consulted with Sink Combs Dethlefs Architects and others to discuss the construction of a $51 million, 5,000 seat arena adjacent to the existing structure. The proposal suggests using the new 160000 square feet (14,864.5 m²) facility as the centerpiece of the complex, while renovating the existing auditorium and the Bangor Civic Center for smaller events at an additional cost of $18 million.
After a May 2011 public referendum in which Bangor voters supported building new facilities by a margin of 3 to 1 the plan now moves forward to build an entirely new set of primary buildings at Bass Park to replace the existing Bangor Auditorium and Civic Center with new structures while leaving the old buildings open almost until the new buildings will open in 2013. The current plan does not rehabilitate the old structures but removes them totally in 2013. The proposed cost of the new buildings is $65 million.
The new arena will have varying maximum seating depending on the configuration that is used. For events that use the main floor for performance there will be 5800 fixed seats. For events using an end stage of 60 feet by 40 feet the new arena will seat as many as 8,050 persons.
