Whittemore Center

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Whittemore Center Arena or Whitt is a multi-purpose arena in Durham, New Hampshire on the campus of the University of New Hampshire. It was built for $30 million and opened in November 1995. It was dedicated to Frederick B. Whittemore and his family on May 5, 1996. It is adjacent to its predecessor, the Snively Arena, which is still standing and is used as a recreation facility. It is also adjacent to Durham's Amtrak station, and it is across the street from Cowell Stadium.

The arena is managed by Global Spectrum. The Whitt can seat 6,501 for hockey and basketball games, and 7,200 for concerts and similar events. It is home to the University of New Hampshire Wildcats ice hockey teams. The hockey rink has a full-sized Olympic-sized sheet of ice. The lobby is decorated with heroic portraits of past men's and women's All American hockey players, including Hall of Famer Rod Langway.

The basketball teams (which currently draw roughly 1,000 fans per game on the average) curently only play at the Whitt when they have a home game against a national power. Normally, they play across the street at the old Lundholm Gymnasium, which is attached to Cowell Stadium. However, there are plans to move the men's and women's programs to the Whittemore Center full-time at some point in the future. The arena is also a venue for many concerts, trade shows, and events.

Trivia

Trivia from the arena's official website:

The entire Whittemore Center project took only 14 months to complete.
The basketball hoops at the Arena were bought from the Boston Celtics and were originally used in the Boston Garden.
There are 11,091 glass blocks in the Arena's Glass Block Tower.
12,344 gallons of water are used to make the ice at the Arena.
There are roughly 4 miles of piping used to keep the floor cold for the ice.
The record time to convert the Arena from basketball to hockey is 1 hour and 45 minutes.
In 2003, hip-hop artist 50 Cent set the building record for fastest sellout in 2 hours and 37 minutes.
The Disney on Ice performance in December of 1996 set the arena record for largest attended engagement.
The Bill Cosby performance in October 2002 set the arena record for largest attended single event.
Patrons have consumed 182,000 pizzas over the last 7 years, enough to reach the top of Mount Washington in one stack.
12 miles of hot dogs have been consumed, enough to stretch from the Whitt to the Atlantic Ocean!
53,600 gallons of sodas have been purchased at the Whitt.

External links

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