Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center

Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center

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Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center

Long Beach Convention Center showing a portion of the Wyland Whaling Wall.

The Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center is a convention center located in Long Beach, California. It was built on the site of the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium beginning in 1962. The primary venues of the complex include:

Long Beach Arena
Exhibition halls
Theaters
Meeting rooms
Live concert albums and videos
External links

Long Beach Arena

The Long Beach Arena was the first building to be completed in the complex. Capacities are as follows: 11,200 for hockey, 13,609 for basketball, and either 4,550, 9,200 or 13,500 for concerts depending on the seating chart.

It was home to the former Long Beach Ice Dogs team, which played professional ice hockey in the ECHL. The Ice Dogs ceased operations of the team in 2007.

The Arena has hosted various entertainment and professional and college sporting events, most notably the volleyball events of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games. It is also noted as a top venue for hip-hop concerts, although entertainers such as Frank Sinatra, Iron Maiden, Avenged Sevenfold, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, Metallica, Slayer,Kiss,Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin have also headlined here.

For trade shows, the arena features 46,000 square feet (4300 m²) of space, with an additional 19,000 square feet (1800 m²) of space in the lobby and 29,000 square feet (2700 m²) in the concourse. Hanging from the arena's 77 foot (23 m) high ceiling is a center-hung scoreboard with four White Way "Mega Color" Animation Screens. There is an 11 by 15 foot SACO Smartvision LED Wall located on the south end of the arena.

Along the exterior wall of the drum-shaped Arena is "Planet Ocean", one of environmental artist Wyland's Whaling Walls, which was dedicated on July 9, 1992. At 116,000 square feet (11,000 m²), it is the world's largest mural (according to the Guinness Book of Records). The mural depicts migratory gray whales and other aquatic life that can be found in the waters off Long Beach.

Long Beach Arena was the site of the first National Hockey League game involving an expansion team, as the Los Angeles Kings and the Philadelphia Flyers, both expansion teams, played on October 14, 1967. The Kings won, 4?2. The Kings played in Long Beach for the first half of their expansion season while the Forum was being completed.

The arena was also one of the sites of the 1986 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Rounds of 64 and 32. The teams which played at Long Beach Arena included Maryland, Pepperdine & UNLV. Maryland's Len Bias played his final collegiate game at the Long Beach Arena on March 14, 1986 in a loss to UNLV in the Round of 32. The Arena was also the site of the Big West Conference men's basketball tournament from 1989 to 1993.

Exhibition halls

Three exhibition halls feature a total 224,000 square feet (21,000 m²) of space. Separately or combined, the exhibition halls can seat up to 14,899 for events.

Theaters

There are two theaters: the 3,051 seat Terrace Theater and the adjoining 825 seat Center Theater.

Meeting rooms

There are two ballrooms: the 20,456 square foot (1900 m²) Grand Ballroom (seating up to 2,100) and the 13,200 square foot (1300 m²) Promenade Ballroom (seating up to 1,400) plus 34 meeting rooms totalling 82,823 square feet (7695 m²).