Videotron Centre

Vidéotron Centre (French: Centre Vidéotron) is an indoor arena in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The 18,259-seat arena replaced Colisée Pepsi as Quebec City's primary venue for indoor events. The arena is primarily used for ice hockey, serving as the home arena of the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL and has been prospected as a venue for a new or re-located National Hockey League team in Quebec City,[5][6] and as part of a Winter Olympic Games bid.[7][8][9] The building opened on September 8, 2015.[10] It is now the nineteenth-largest indoor arena in North America, and the third largest that does not host an NHL team.

For the arena in Trois-Rivières, see Colisée Vidéotron.

Vidéotron Centre
Former namesQuebec City Amphitheatre (planning stages and during construction)
Address250-B Boulevard Wilfrid-Hamel
LocationQuebec City, Quebec
Coordinates46.829°N 71.248°W / 46.829; -71.248
OwnerGovernment of Quebec City
OperatorQuebecor Media
CapacityIce hockey: 18,259
Concerts: 20,396
Field size689,000 square feet (64,000 m2)
Construction
Broke groundSeptember 3, 2012[1]
OpenedSeptember 12, 2015
Construction cost$370 million
ArchitectPopulous[2][3]
ABCP Architecture[2]
GLCRM & Associates[2]
Project managerGenivar[2]
Structural engineerSNC-Lavalin[3]
Services engineerSNC-Lavalin[3]
General contractorPomerleau, Inc.[4]
Tenants
Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) (2015–present)
Website
lecentrevideotron.ca

History

A groundbreaking ceremony for the new arena was held on September 3, 2012, attended by then-Quebecor Chairman Pierre Karl Péladeau, then-Premier of Quebec Jean Charest, and former Quebec Nordiques players Michel Goulet, Peter Šťastný, and Alain Côté.[11] Arena construction began on September 10, 2012.

The arena was expected to cost $400 million, but cost $370 million instead with the city and province covering 50% of the cost of the arena.[12] On March 1, 2011 Quebecor entered into an agreement to acquire management rights to the new arena, a deal expected to be between $33 million and $63 million up front, plus between $3.15 million and $5 million in annual rent. The value of the deal will increase if an NHL franchise moves into the arena; Quebecor has actively backed an expansion franchise for Quebec City.[1][13] This arrangement was made without public tender, for which the provincial government provided legal immunity.[14]

As part of the management contract, Quebecor also holds the arena's naming rights; on April 7, 2015, it was announced that the arena would carry the name of Quebecor-owned cable company Vidéotron, and be known as the Videotron Centre (Centre Vidéotron in French).[15]

The arena held its official opening on September 3, running public two-hour tours for the following three days.[16] It hosted its first Quebec Remparts game on September 12, with a game against the Rimouski Oceanic setting a QMJHL attendance record of 18,259.[17]

Design
Inside the arena during an ice hockey game between the Quebec Remparts and the Shawinigan Cataractes on November 17, 2017

The arena is comparable in size to PPG Paints Arena, the home arena of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and occupies approximately 64,000 square metres of space, down from the originally proposed 70,000 square metres. The design is also similar to Rogers Place, the home arena of the Edmonton Oilers.[1] A television studio, valued at between C$30 million and C$40 million, is constructed within the arena.[18]

Populous architect and lead project designer Kurt Amundsen described the arena as having a "hockey-first" design suiting the preferences of Canadian fans (who Amundsen described as being more interested in the game itself rather than in-arena entertainment), with a bowl that is "as steep and tight as it could possibly get", allowing spectators to "feel like [they] are on top of the ice".[19] The angle of the upper seating bowl is so steep that rails had to be installed at every row to satisfy local building code requirements.[19]

Notable events

Two days after playing the last event of its predecessor, Colisée Pepsi, Metallica played the first-ever concert at Videotron Centre on September 16, both as part of their Lords of Summer Tour.[20][21]

Rihanna played at the venue on April 5, 2016 as an act of her Anti World Tour.

To this day, Celine Dion is the singer who has played the venue the most times, for a total of 8 concerts. During her Summer Tour 2016, she played the arena 5 times in front of 67,368 spectators. In 2019, she launched her Courage World Tour at the arena with 3 concerts in front of 39,930 spectators.

Videotron Centre has hosted the Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament since 2016.[22]

American professional wrestling promotion WWE will host a televised episode of WWE Raw from the venue on Monday, August 21, 2023.[23] Quebec wrestling historian Pat Laprade stated in an article with Le Journal de Québec that the event will also mark the very first time in history that both the Videotron Centre and Quebec City as a whole will play host to a televised WWE event.[24]

References
  1. "Quebec City to Break Ground on NHL-Style Arena in September". TSN.ca. March 25, 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  2. "Populous Chosen to Design Quebec City Arena" (Press release). Populous. October 20, 2011. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  3. "Centre Vidéotron" (in French). Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  4. "Amphithéâtre de Québec: Pomerleau Leads the Team" (Press release). Pomerleau, Inc. November 29, 2012. Archived from the original on November 2, 2013. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  5. Gagnon, Karine (March 1, 2011). "Quebecor Joins Arena Plan, Eyes NHL Team". Toronto Sun. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  6. McParland, Kelly (March 2, 2011). "The Quebec Gravy Train Chugs Off Without Ottawa on Board for Once". National Post. Archived from the original on March 11, 2011. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  7. "Quebec City Plans $400 Million Arena to Attract NHL Team, Winter Olympics". ESPN. October 16, 2009. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  8. White, Marianne (March 1, 2011). "Quebecor Buys Management, Naming Rights to Proposed Quebec City Arena". Montreal Gazette. Archived from the original on March 3, 2011. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  9. Brunt, Stephen (February 8, 2012). "Quebec Ready for Nordiques Return". Sportsnet. Archived from the original on April 12, 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  10. Plante, Caroline (September 12, 2015). "Quebec City's new arena opens its doors to public". Montreal Gazette.
  11. "Former Hockey Greats Attend Quebec City Arena Groundbreaking". CBC News. September 3, 2012. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  12. O'Brien, James (February 10, 2011). "Quebec Officials Name Who Will Pay the Bill for Their New NHL-Friendly $400M Arena: Taxpayers". NBC Sports. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  13. Magder, Jason. "New TVA Sports channel takes a shot at RDS". The Montreal Gazette. Archived from the original on August 26, 2014. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
  14. "Quebec City Arena Immune to Legal Challenge as Controversial Bill Becomes Law". CTV Montreal. Bell Media. September 21, 2011. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  15. "Quebecor naming Quebec City hockey arena Videotron Centre". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  16. "Videotron Centre opens its doors in Quebec City". CBC News. September 3, 2015.
  17. Boissinot, Jacques (September 13, 2015). "Quebec City inaugurates hockey arena with record-breaking crowd". Global News. The Canadian Press.
  18. White, Marianne (March 25, 2012). "New Quebec City Arena Gets the Green Light". Montreal Gazette. Archived from the original on April 28, 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  19. Newcomb, Tim (June 12, 2015). "Quebec City's stunning new arena designed with NHL team in mind". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  20. "Metallica To Play Historic September Shows in Quebec City". Loudwire. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  21. "Metallica will close the Colisée Pepsi and then rock at Centre Vidéotron". Montreal Gazette. June 25, 2015. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  22. Houde-Hébert, Karl (November 17, 2015). "Jouer au Centre Vidéotron : un rêve devenu réalité pour des jeunes magnymontois". CMATV (in French). Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  23. "WWE : Monday Night RAW - Avec Sami Zayn et Kevin Owens". Le Centre Vidéotron (in Canadian French). Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  24. Lapinski, Jessica. "Lutte: la WWE de retour au Centre Vidéotron, cette fois avec le «Monday Night RAW»". Le Journal de Québec. Retrieved May 6, 2023.

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