The Bell Centre, Montreal, Canada



Architect
LeMay & Associate, LLC.  -  LeMoyne Lapointe Magne
Date Built
Opened March 16, 1996
Location
1909 Avenue des Canadiens-de-Montréal
Description
As the new home for the Montreal Canadiens Hockey Club in 1996, after they left the Montreal Forum, this building carried the name of the teams sponsor, and was called the Molson Centre.  It changed to the Bell Centre in 2002.  The building describes itself as, "... the largest arena for hockey in North America and one of the most technologically advanced and versatile venues in the world."  It has a seating capacity for hockey of 21,273 and for basketball 22,114.  However, it is also a concert venue and capable of accommodating crowds of between 9,000 and 15,000 for various cultural, political or business events.




The Bell Centre says of its capabilities that it, " ... can be configured into many different venues, covering every possible kind and size of show, from an intimate 2,000 seat operatic performance to a full-blown rock and roll concert. To make this work so effectively the Centre Bell has installed a revolutionary multi-million dollar curtaining system consisting of six miles of floor to ceiling black fabric. The curtains are attached to a technical grid and rolling transoms high above the floor and adjusted to fit the requirements of each show or event.   The positioning of the curtains improves the ambiance and sound of any show and the whole set-up takes about an hour. In addition the moveable super grid will support up to 75 tons of lighting sound and video equipment.  Moveable sections of seats at floor level allow easy access for equipment to the staging area. This gets rave reviews from the road crews since it’s only a short haul from the indoor parking bay to center stage and to the ground level hallways where there is plenty of room to store all traveling road cases during a concert"