Civic Arena

Civic Arena was a stadium in the Lower Hill District of Pittsburgh with a movable stainless steel roof covering roughly 15800 square meters. The structure rested on a cantilever arm about 79 meters long and formed a domed silhouette visible across the city.

A local opera company drove the construction of the facility starting in 1958, and the opening took place in September 1961. Demolition began in 2010 after the hockey team departed and was completed in 2012.

The home hockey team played here for over four decades, and locals nicknamed the facility „The Igloo

The stadium held roughly 16900 spectators and featured no interior support columns, so all seats offered clear sightlines. The facility was torn down in 2012, so today only archival footage and memories remain accessible.

Six of the eight steel roof segments could open in roughly two and a half minutes, making the building the first major covered sports venue with this capability. The technology allowed events to take place under open sky in good weather without relocating spectators.

Location: Pittsburgh

Inception: September 17, 1961

Official opening: September 17, 1961

Capacity: 16940

GPS coordinates: 40.44167,-79.99000

Latest update: December 4, 2025 23:42