Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex
Encyclopedia
The Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex is a multi-use municipally-owned facility in Kitchener
, Ontario
, Canada
. The complex is located on East Avenue, near the Ottawa Street interchange on the Conestoga Parkway
. The complex includes "The Kitchener Memorial Audiorium" with the Dom Cardillo Arena, two smaller community arenas the Kinsmen Arena and Kiwanis Arena, the Jack Couch Stadium baseball park, Centennial Stadium (track and field, soccer / football) and a skatepark outside the stadium.
The Kitchener Memorial Audiorium or The Aud for short, includes a main ice rink
(the Dom Cardillo Arena) with a seating capacity
of 6,268 and has a total capacity of 6,900 including standing room. It is home to the Kitchener Rangers
, of the Ontario Hockey League
.
The original arena was built in 1950 and has been expanded three times since then.
The Aud hosted the 2008 Memorial Cup
from May 16 to May 25, 2008, with 437 additional permanent seats being added. The Aud previously hosted 1962 Memorial Cup
, 1975 Memorial Cup
and 1984 Memorial Cup
games.
Other notable junior ice hockey
events include the 1995 and 2003 CHL Top Prospects Game
, the 1980, 1985, 1995 Ontario Hockey League All-star games, and the 1986 IIHF World U20 Championship. During the 1986 tournament, Canada defeated West Germany 18-2 at The Aud, setting a record for most goals for, and largest margin of victory by the Canada national junior hockey team
at the tournament.
The facility has also hosted major events including concerts by Led Zeppelin
, KISS
, Bob Dylan
, Elton John
, WCW Monday Nitro
, Backstreet Boys
, Michael Bublé
, Hilary Duff
; the Scott Tournament of Hearts, Four Nations Cup, Homesense Skate Canada International, the World Junior Figure Skating Championships
and more!
The stadium is additionally noteworthy for its location with easy highway access from Waterloo, Guelph, and Cambridge and its track and field facilities.
of the Intercounty Baseball League
. The stadium is outdoors with a grass field, and seating for 1,400 spectators.
More recently, Bienkowski presented the City of Kitchener council a report on expanding the Aud. The expansion would include another level of seating as well as an expanded concourse. The expansion would add 3,500 seats to the facility to make total seating capacity around 10,500. The estimated cost would be $44 million. This is the favoured route for the team, as a new arena with a larger seating capacity (about 10,000) would cost an estimated $150 million. City council has made it clear they would not finance such a large project unless private companies were adding money to it. Council has been very favourable at the idea of expanding the city owned building. The plan includes raising the roof on the building. This has been done before, with the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
back in the early 1970s.
Bienkowski and the city have come to an agreement, if approved, that would see the auditorium expanded by 1,000 seats. There would also be a concourse on the third level. The expected cost for this expansion would be roughly $9 million, with the Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club paying for it, via a loan from the City of Kitchener. Work would be expected to begin by February 2012 and be finished November 2012. Seating capacity would be 7,268 seats and 7,800 with standing room.
Kitchener, Ontario
The City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The complex is located on East Avenue, near the Ottawa Street interchange on the Conestoga Parkway
Conestoga Parkway
The Conestoga Parkway is a freeway in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, in the Canadian province of Ontario. It runs northeast/southwest through the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo, and is connected to Highway 401 via the Highway 8 Freeport Diversion and King Street East.- Route...
. The complex includes "The Kitchener Memorial Audiorium" with the Dom Cardillo Arena, two smaller community arenas the Kinsmen Arena and Kiwanis Arena, the Jack Couch Stadium baseball park, Centennial Stadium (track and field, soccer / football) and a skatepark outside the stadium.
Kitchener Memorial Auditorium
Ice rink
An ice rink is a frozen body of water and/or hardened chemicals where people can skate or play winter sports. Besides recreational ice skating, some of its uses include ice hockey, figure skating and curling as well as exhibitions, contests and ice shows...
(the Dom Cardillo Arena) with a seating capacity
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
of 6,268 and has a total capacity of 6,900 including standing room. It is home to the Kitchener Rangers
Kitchener Rangers
The Kitchener Rangers are a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League that have called Kitchener, Ontario, Canada their home since 1963. The Rangers are a publicly owned hockey team, governed by a 40-person Board of Directors made up of season ticket subscribers. The Rangers hosted...
, of the Ontario Hockey League
Ontario Hockey League
The Ontario Hockey League is one of the three Major Junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 15-20.The OHL also operates under the Ontario Hockey Federation of Hockey Canada....
.
The original arena was built in 1950 and has been expanded three times since then.
The Aud hosted the 2008 Memorial Cup
2008 Memorial Cup
-Semi-final:-Final:-Leading scorers:-Leading goaltenders:-Award winners:*Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy : Dustin Tokarski, Spokane*George Parsons Trophy : Matthew Halischuk, Kitchener...
from May 16 to May 25, 2008, with 437 additional permanent seats being added. The Aud previously hosted 1962 Memorial Cup
1962 Memorial Cup
The 1962 Memorial Cup final was the 44th junior ice hockey championship of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. The George Richardson Memorial Trophy champions Hamilton Red Wings of the Ontario Hockey Association in Eastern Canada competed against the Abbott Cup champions Edmonton Oil Kings of...
, 1975 Memorial Cup
1975 Memorial Cup
The 1975 Memorial Cup occurred May 3–11 at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex in Kitchener, Ontario. Participating teams were the winners of the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Western Hockey League which were the Toronto Marlboros, Sherbrooke...
and 1984 Memorial Cup
1984 Memorial Cup
The 1984 Memorial Cup occurred May 12-May 19 at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium in Kitchener, Ontario. Participating teams were the host team Kitchener Rangers, as well as the winners of the Ontario Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Western Hockey League which were the Ottawa...
games.
Other notable junior ice hockey
Junior ice hockey
Junior hockey is a catch-all term used to describe various levels of ice hockey competition for players generally between 16 and 20 years of age...
events include the 1995 and 2003 CHL Top Prospects Game
CHL Top Prospects Game
The CHL Top Prospects Game is an annual event in which forty of the top draft eligible prospects in the Canadian Hockey League play against each other, each hoping to boost their draft ranking with the National Hockey League scouts and general managers who attend.The players are typically coached...
, the 1980, 1985, 1995 Ontario Hockey League All-star games, and the 1986 IIHF World U20 Championship. During the 1986 tournament, Canada defeated West Germany 18-2 at The Aud, setting a record for most goals for, and largest margin of victory by the Canada national junior hockey team
Canada national junior hockey team
The Canadian men's national under 20 ice hockey team is the national under-20 ice hockey team in Canada. The team represents Canada at the International Ice Hockey Federation's World Junior Hockey Championship, held annually every December and January...
at the tournament.
The facility has also hosted major events including concerts by Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
, KISS
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, WCW Monday Nitro
WCW Monday Nitro
WCW Monday Nitro was a weekly professional wrestling telecast produced by World Championship Wrestling, created by Ted Turner and Eric Bischoff. The show aired Monday nights on TNT, going head-to-head with the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw from September 4, 1995 to March 26, 2001...
, Backstreet Boys
Backstreet Boys
The Backstreet Boys are an American vocal group, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993. The band originally consisted of A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter and Kevin Richardson. They rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys...
, Michael Bublé
Michael Bublé
Michael Steven Bublé is a Canadian singer. He has won several awards, including three Grammy Awards and multiple Juno Awards. His first album reached the top ten in Canada and the UK. He found worldwide commercial success with his 2005 album It's Time, and his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible was...
, Hilary Duff
Hilary Duff
Hilary Erhard Duff is an American actress, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, and author. After working in local theater plays and television commercials in her childhood, she achieved fame playing the title role in the Disney Channel television series Lizzie McGuire. She also reprised her role in...
; the Scott Tournament of Hearts, Four Nations Cup, Homesense Skate Canada International, the World Junior Figure Skating Championships
World Junior Figure Skating Championships
The World Junior Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which younger figure skaters compete for the title of World Junior Champion...
and more!
Centennial Stadium
Centennial Stadium is a lighted football/soccer stadium next to The Aud. The stadium seats 3200 spectators and is the largest football stadium in Kitchener.The stadium is additionally noteworthy for its location with easy highway access from Waterloo, Guelph, and Cambridge and its track and field facilities.
Jack Couch Stadium
Jack Couch Stadium is home to the Kitchener PanthersKitchener Panthers
The Kitchener Panthers are an independent, minor league baseball team of the semi-pro, Intercounty Baseball League based in Kitchener, Ontario. They play their home games at Jack Couch Baseball Park.-History:...
of the Intercounty Baseball League
Intercounty Baseball League
The Intercounty Baseball League is a semi-professional baseball organization located in the Canadian province of Ontario. The league was formed in 1919....
. The stadium is outdoors with a grass field, and seating for 1,400 spectators.
Possible replacement
Kitchener Rangers president Steve Bienkowski has stated that the Rangers have begun the process of researching a new arena. The Rangers have sold out almost every game for the past 3 years, and the waiting list for season tickets has been well over the cap of 4,750. The Rangers would like a building with at least 10,000 seats.More recently, Bienkowski presented the City of Kitchener council a report on expanding the Aud. The expansion would include another level of seating as well as an expanded concourse. The expansion would add 3,500 seats to the facility to make total seating capacity around 10,500. The estimated cost would be $44 million. This is the favoured route for the team, as a new arena with a larger seating capacity (about 10,000) would cost an estimated $150 million. City council has made it clear they would not finance such a large project unless private companies were adding money to it. Council has been very favourable at the idea of expanding the city owned building. The plan includes raising the roof on the building. This has been done before, with the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium was an indoor arena in downtown Buffalo, New York. It hosted the Buffalo Bisons of the AHL, the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL, the Buffalo Braves of the NBA, the Buffalo Stallions of MSL, the Buffalo Bandits of MILL, the Buffalo Blizzard of the second NPSL and the Buffalo...
back in the early 1970s.
Bienkowski and the city have come to an agreement, if approved, that would see the auditorium expanded by 1,000 seats. There would also be a concourse on the third level. The expected cost for this expansion would be roughly $9 million, with the Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club paying for it, via a loan from the City of Kitchener. Work would be expected to begin by February 2012 and be finished November 2012. Seating capacity would be 7,268 seats and 7,800 with standing room.
External links
- The Aud - Official website
- Kitchener Memorial Auditorium - The OHL Arena & Travel Guide