Peoria Civic Center

Carver Arena
Former names	Peoria Civic Center Arena (1982-2001)
Operator	ASM Global
Capacity	12,000; Detailed capacity 9,919 (Ice hockey and indoor football); 11,433 (Basketball); 12,036 (Concerts);
Construction
Opened	June 7, 1982
Renovated	1992; 2005-07;
Tenants
	Bradley Braves (NCAA) (1982-present); Peoria Prancers/Rivermen (IHL) (1982-96); Peoria Rivermen (ECHL) (1996-2005); Peoria Pirates (IFL/AF2) (1999-2004, 2008-09); Peoria Rough Riders (UIF) (2005-06); Peoria Rivermen (AHL) (2005-13); Peoria Rivermen (SPHL) (2013-present)

Peoria Civic Center
Peoria Civic Center
	Exterior of complex (c.2006)
	Peoria Civic Center Location within Illinois Peoria Civic Center Location within the United States
General information
Location	Downtown Peoria
Address	201 SW Jefferson Ave; Peoria, IL 61602-1423
Coordinates	40°41′30″N 89°35′39″W / 40.69167°N 89.59417°W
Groundbreaking	April 30, 1979
Opened	February 1982
Inaugurated	June 6, 1982
Renovated	June 2005-May 2007
Cost	$64.2 million; ($270 million in 2023 dollars)
Renovation cost	$55 million ($85.8 million in 2023 dollars)
Owner	City of Peoria
Technical details
Size	Exhibit halls: 108,668 sq ft (10,095.6 m2); Meeting/breakout rooms: 17,355 sq ft (1,612.3 m2); Ballrooms: 28,667 sq ft (2,663.3 m2); Arena: 27,400 sq ft (2,550 m2); Theater: 7,000 sq ft (650 m2);
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Philip Johnson; John Burgee;
Renovating team
Architect(s)	HOK Sport Venue Event
Engineer	Dewberry
Services engineer	STS Engineering
Other designers	Advanced Audio & Light; Convergence Design; Zalk Josephs Fabricators;
Main contractor	Turner Construction
Other information
Seating capacity	6,500 (PCC Ballroom); 2,173 (PCC Theater); 300 (Lexus Club)
Public transit access	CityLink
Website
	Complex Website
Former names	Peoria Civic Center Arena (1982-2001)
Former names	Peoria Civic Center Arena (1982-2001)
Operator	ASM Global
Capacity	12,000; Detailed capacity 9,919 (Ice hockey and indoor football); 11,433 (Basketball); 12,036 (Concerts);
Construction
Opened	June 7, 1982
Renovated	1992; 2005-07;
Tenants
	Bradley Braves (NCAA) (1982-present); Peoria Prancers/Rivermen (IHL) (1982-96); Peoria Rivermen (ECHL) (1996-2005); Peoria Pirates (IFL/AF2) (1999-2004, 2008-09); Peoria Rough Riders (UIF) (2005-06); Peoria Rivermen (AHL) (2005-13); Peoria Rivermen (SPHL) (2013-present)

Peoria Civic Center is an entertainment complex located in downtown Peoria, Illinois. Designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Philip Johnson^[3] and John Burgee,^[4] it has an arena, theater, exhibit hall and meeting rooms.^[5] It opened in 1982^[6] and completed an expansion to its lobby and meeting facilities in 2007.^[7] On the grounds of the Peoria Civic Center sits the massive "Sonar Tide," the last and largest sculpture of the pioneer of abstract minimalism Ronald Bladen.

History[edit]

The site of the Civic Center includes the spot at Liberty Street and Jefferson Street, where Moses and Lucy Pettengill lived from 1836 to 1862; that house was part of the Underground Railroad and Moses was also an Underground Railroad "conductor". In 1862, the Pettingills moved out of downtown and to Moss Avenue, where the present Pettengill–Morron House was built in 1868. The downtown home was demolished in 1910 to make way for the Jefferson Hotel.^[8] The hotel, in turn, was imploded in 1978 to make way for the Civic Center.^[9]^[10]

Peoria Civic Center opened on June 6, 1982.^[10] The first event at the Civic Center was a home and garden show in the Exhibit Hall in February 1982.^[9]^[11]

Facilities[edit]

Carver Arena[edit]

Carver Arena has been hosts to acts such as Metallica, Eagles, Elton John, Bob Seger, Kiss, Blake Shelton, Eric Church, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Jason Aldean, Cher, Janet Jackson, James Taylor, Avenged Sevenfold, Shinedown, Godsmack, Five Finger Death Punch, The Harlem Globetrotters, World Wrestling Entertainment, Disney, Monster Jam, Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live, Disney on Ice, and basketball exhibition games for the Chicago Bulls.

As of 2013^[update], seating capacity was 9,919 for hockey and indoor football, 11,433 for basketball and up to 12,036 for concerts.^[2]

Bob Seger set the record for the highest-grossing concert in venue history on January 22, 2019. The previous record was held by an Elton John concert in 2011.^[12]

Reba McEntire set a record for top-selling country concert in venue history on March 18, 2022.^[13]^[14] Previous record holder was Blake Shelton.^[13]

Carver Arena hosted the Illinois High School Association boys' basketball state finals for two weeks every March from 1996 until 2019. The interactive March Madness Experience took place in the adjacent exhibition hall during the tournaments.^[15]

Theater[edit]

Steve Martin and Martin Short's Now You See Them, Soon You Won't event on April 20, 2019, set the record for top comedy show in Peoria Civic Center Theater's History.^[16] In March 2022, comedian Gabriel Iglesias set an all-time box office record, which comedian Bill Burr broke six months later.^[14]

Harry Connick Jr. set a new box office record for a concert in the theater with his December 3, 2022 performance. ^[17]

Pollstar ranked the Peoria Civic Center Theater as the 96th top selling theater in the world and 3rd in state of Illinois behind Chicago based venues - Chicago Theatre and Rosemont Theatre. ^[18]

Tenants[edit]

External links[edit]

Official Site

Carver Arena at BradleyBraves.com — short history of Bradley University basketball at Carver Arena

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Plan an Event > Arena". Official Website of the Peoria Civic Center. Archived from the original on January 20, 2014. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
^ Burnett, Marc (May 2009). "Civic Center Revitalization: A One-Year Review". Peoria Magazines. Archived from the original on January 9, 2022. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
^ Schulze, Franz (June 15, 1996). Philip Johnson: Life and Work. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. p. 342. ISBN 0226740587.
^ "Peoria Civic Center" (PDF). Progressive Business Media. August 8, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 9, 2022. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
^ "HISTORY OF THE PEORIA CIVIC CENTER". Official Website of the Peoria Civic Center. November 2015. Archived from the original on January 13, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
^ Sharp, John (2008-09-26). "Civic Center pays off project". Peoria Journal Star. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
^ Thompson, Katie (January–February 2008). "The Long Road to Freedom". Art & Society. Central Illinois Business Publishers, Inc. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
^ ^a ^b Phelps, Tori (October 2002). "Peoria's Civic Center 20 Years". Arts Alive!. Central Illinois Business Publishers, Inc. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
^ ^a ^b Hatch, Danielle (2022-02-17). "In the 1960s, the plan to construct Civic Center was an effort to save Downtown Peoria". Peoria Journal Star. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
^ Zwicky, Fred (February 11, 2013). "Peoria Civic Center: A look back". Journal Star. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
^ Rodriguez, Stephanie (22 January 2019). "Bob Seger concert breaks Civic Center record". WEEK-TV. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
^ ^a ^b Blount, Quentin (2022-03-20). "Reba McEntire Breaks Blakes Shelton's Record at Sold-Out Illinois Venue". Outsider. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
^ ^a ^b Cody, Tom (2023-02-27). "Breathing new life into Peoria's Downtown". Peoria Magazine. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
^ "IHSA March Madness". Peoria Civic Center. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
^ "Steve Martin and Martin Short - Peoria Civic Center".
^ "Civic Center breaks new revenue record over weekend". CIProud.com. 2022-12-05. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
^ "Pollstar". www.pollstar.com. Retrieved 2023-01-02.

[inflation-US-1] 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.

[pcccap-2] "Plan an Event > Arena". Official Website of the Peoria Civic Center. Archived from the original on January 20, 2014. Retrieved April 24, 2019.

[3] Burnett, Marc (May 2009). "Civic Center Revitalization: A One-Year Review". Peoria Magazines. Archived from the original on January 9, 2022. Retrieved January 9, 2022.

[4] Schulze, Franz (June 15, 1996). Philip Johnson: Life and Work. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. p. 342. ISBN 0226740587.

[5] "Peoria Civic Center" (PDF). Progressive Business Media. August 8, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 9, 2022. Retrieved January 9, 2022.

[6] "HISTORY OF THE PEORIA CIVIC CENTER". Official Website of the Peoria Civic Center. November 2015. Archived from the original on January 13, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2022.

[7] Sharp, John (2008-09-26). "Civic Center pays off project". Peoria Journal Star. Retrieved 2023-10-07.

[8] Thompson, Katie (January–February 2008). "The Long Road to Freedom". Art & Society. Central Illinois Business Publishers, Inc. Retrieved April 24, 2019.

[aa-20years-9] Phelps, Tori (October 2002). "Peoria's Civic Center 20 Years". Arts Alive!. Central Illinois Business Publishers, Inc. Retrieved April 24, 2019.

[:0-10] Hatch, Danielle (2022-02-17). "In the 1960s, the plan to construct Civic Center was an effort to save Downtown Peoria". Peoria Journal Star. Retrieved 2023-10-07.

[11] Zwicky, Fred (February 11, 2013). "Peoria Civic Center: A look back". Journal Star. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved January 9, 2022.

[12] Rodriguez, Stephanie (22 January 2019). "Bob Seger concert breaks Civic Center record". WEEK-TV. Retrieved 11 August 2020.

[:1-13] Blount, Quentin (2022-03-20). "Reba McEntire Breaks Blakes Shelton's Record at Sold-Out Illinois Venue". Outsider. Retrieved 2023-01-02.

[:2-14] Cody, Tom (2023-02-27). "Breathing new life into Peoria's Downtown". Peoria Magazine. Retrieved 2023-10-07.

[15] "IHSA March Madness". Peoria Civic Center. Retrieved April 24, 2019.

[16] "Steve Martin and Martin Short - Peoria Civic Center".

[17] "Civic Center breaks new revenue record over weekend". CIProud.com. 2022-12-05. Retrieved 2023-01-02.

[18] "Pollstar". www.pollstar.com. Retrieved 2023-01-02.

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