Opened in October 1971, the Roanoke Civic Center was also the former home of the American Basketball Associationprofessional basketball franchise Virginia Squires. The Squires played there from 1971 to 1972. The Virginia Squires used the Civic Center for only one season due to low attendance, before folding in 1976. Elvis Presley performed there in 1972, 1974, 1976, and was due to return in 1977, about a week after his death. It hosted 251 professional wrestling events between 1975 and 2013. WCW held Fall Brawl there and Monday Nitro on March 31, 1997. WWE brought Monday Night Raw on December 1, 1997, May 6, 2013, and November 17, 2014. The 1977-1981 Southern Conferencemen's basketball tournaments were held there as well. From 2001 to 2006, professional basketball was active again at the Roanoke Civic Center, with the National Basketball Association's D-League franchise, the Roanoke Dazzle. College basketball was also recently contested there, in the form of the Big South Conference men's basketball tournaments in 2001 and 2002. The Metro Conference men's basketball tournament was held here in 1991. When both the Dazzle and Vipers folded after the 2005-06 season, the Roanoke Civic Center was left with 60 open dates to fill for the upcoming fall and winter. Eventually, nearly two-thirds of these open dates were awarded to the Virginia Tech, Radford University and Roanoke College hockey clubs, the arena's primary tenants until 2016, when the Mississippi Surge relocated to Roanoke, becoming the Rail Yard Dawgs.
Overview
Built at the same time as the Scope and Richmond Coliseum, the Roanoke Civic Center is the area's premier sports and entertainment venue. There are eight restrooms and six concession stands at the arena, which has a ceiling height and 10 spotlights as well as a portable stage that is no larger than 60-by-40 feet. There are 8,372 permanent seats at the arena; the arena floor measures over. The Eclipse forms the Coliseum's half-house configuration. The arena recently began a $6.2 million renovation project expected to last until 2016. The arena's heating system has been replaced, and plans call for upgrades to the arena's electrical system and to all arena entrances, as well as for all seats to be replaced. Adjacent are a exhibit hall with of column-free space, and a 2,440-seat theatre that can be used for concerts, Broadway shows, the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra and other special events. The theatre features a -by-105-foot stage; 1,625 seats in the theatre are in the orchestra level, 295 in the loge and 520 in the balcony. After recent renovations, the facility became known as the Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre. A special events center was added to the Civic Center in 2007; it is used for trade shows, meetings, conventions and other special events. It can hold up to 3,066 seated, 5,850 standing. The ceiling height is 32 feet.
