Berglund Center



The  Berglund Center (formerly the Roanoke Civic Center) is a 9,828-seat multi-purpose arena located in the Williamson Road neighborhood of Roanoke, Virginia. It was built in 1971. It was the former home to the Roanoke Dazzle basketball team, as well as the Roanoke Express and Roanoke Valley Vipers ice hockey teams. Currently, it is the home of the Virginia Tech men's ice hockey team. The Arena is also the home of the annual boys basketball games between Roanoke's two city schools, Patrick Henry High School and William Fleming High School. The teams play twice a year, splitting the series this year.

Opened in October 1971, the Roanoke Civic Center was also the former home of the American Basketball Association (1967-1976) professional basketball franchise Virginia Squires. The Squires played there (in addition to the Norfolk Scope, Richmond Coliseum and Hampton Coliseum; all within the state of Virginia) from 1971 to 1972. The Virginia Squires used the Civic Center for only one season due to low attendance. The Squires folded four years later, in 1976. It hosted WCW Fall Brawl in 1994 and Monday Nitro on March 31, 1997. The 1977-1981 Southern Conference men'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.[1]

Other seating capacities for the Civic Center arena include: 8,642 for hockey, 10,500 for end-stage concerts and 10,600 for center-stage concerts; it is the area's premier sports and entertainment venue. There are eight restrooms and six concession stands at the arena, which has a 60-foot (18 m) ceiling height and ten 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 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2). The Eclipse forms the Coliseum's half-house configuration and seats 4,276.

Adjacent are a 14,396-square-foot (1,337.4 m2) exhibit hall with 10,000 square feet (930 m2) 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 55-foot (17 m)-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 46,000-square-foot (4,300 m2) special events center was added to the Civic Center in 2007; it is be 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.

In 2014, Berglund Automotive Group bought naming rights to the arena.