Tsongas Arena
Encyclopedia
University of Massachusetts Lowell
The University of Massachusetts Lowell is a public university in Lowell, Massachusetts, and part of the University of Massachusetts system...
, in Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 106,519. It is the fourth largest city in the state. Lowell and Cambridge are the county seats of Middlesex County...
. The Arena was opened and dedicated to the memory of prominent local and national politician Paul Tsongas
Paul Tsongas
Paul Efthemios Tsongas was a United States Senator from Massachusetts from 1979 to 1985. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 1992 presidential election. He previously served as a U.S...
(who died in 1997) on January 27, 1998. The arena was built with $4 million funding from both the city and the university, plus another $20 million contributed from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, largely in support of UMass.
The facility is home to the NCAA Division I University of Massachusetts Lowell River Hawks ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
team, who compete in the Hockey East Association. The facility was also home to the Lowell Devils
Lowell Devils
The Lowell Devils, formerly known as the Lowell Lock Monsters from 1998 to 2006, were an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League playing in Lowell, Massachusetts at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell. In 2006, they were purchased by the New Jersey Devils franchise and renamed to the Lowell...
ice hockey team, who competed in the American Hockey League
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...
from 1998 to 2010. The Devils ended their stay in Lowell due to financial difficulties and the arena's new ownership and has moved to Albany, NY
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
to compete as the Albany Devils
Albany Devils
The Albany Devils are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League , founded in 2010. The top AHL affiliate of the National Hockey League 's New Jersey Devils, the team has as its home the Times Union Center in Albany, New York...
. Hockey 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...
is approximately 6,496, while concert seating capacity is approximately 7,800.
Tsongas Center also hosts concerts and other public events, including the graduations of several local high schools. In 2004, alternative music pioneers Pixies recorded their live concert DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and high-definition television
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
special "The Pixies: Come Home Live 2004 World Tour" at Tsongas Arena. In the same year, the group Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
released a DVD of their 35th anniversary tour performance at the venue titled "Songs from Tsongas
Songs from Tsongas
Songs From Tsongas is the video release of a concert by the progressive rock group Yes recorded live at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell, Massachusetts, on May 15, 2004...
."
In 2009, the boxing scenes of the 2010 film The Fighter were shot here with Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...
portraying Micky Ward
Micky Ward
Micky Ward , nicknamed Irish, is a retired American junior welterweight professional boxer and a former WBU champion from Lowell, Massachusetts...
, Lowell's own boxer who won a world championship, and Christian Bale
Christian Bale
Christian Charles Philip Bale is an English actor. Best known for his roles in American films, Bale has starred in both big budget Hollywood films and the smaller projects from independent producers and art houses....
portraying his brother Dicky Eklund.
UMass Lowell and the City of Lowell entered into negotiations in 2009 with the intent to transfer ownership of the arena, and the land adjacent to it, to the University. In late October 2009, it was reported that the deal had been perfected, with UMass Lowell committing to $5 million in repairs to the facility. In a ceremony during a game against Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
on October 30, 2009, the deal which would transfer ownership to the university was signed, and the school formally took control of the arena on February 5, 2010 after completing a $1 transaction.
UMass Lowell has spent 5 million dollars to renovate the arena since its acquisition. LED ribbons were installed and in the summer of 2010 as well as a new high definition score board. A new seating area was built in conjunction with a new upscale bar. Also a new sound system would be installed to replace the old system. Then in the summer of 2011 new ice making equipment would be installed.