The Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center is a convention center located in Long Beach, California. It was built on the site of the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium beginning in 1962.
The Long Beach Arena was the first building to be completed in the complex. Capacities are as follows: 11,200 for hockey, 13,609 for basketball, and either 4,550, 9,200 or 13,500 for concerts depending on the setup.
It is home to the Long Beach Ice Dogs team, which plays professional ice hockey in the ECHL.
The Arena has hosted various entertainment and professional and college sporting events, most notably the volleyball events of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games. It is also noted as a top venue for hip-hop music concerts, although entertainers such as Frank Sinatra, Slayer, and Led Zeppelin have also headlined here.
For trade shows, the arena features 46,000 square feet (4300 m²) of space, with an additional 19,000 square feet (1800 m²) of space in the lobby and 29,000 square feet (2700 m²) in the concourse. Hanging from the arena's 75 foot (23 m) high ceiling is a center-hung scoreboard with four 11 by 15 foot (3 by 5 m) Saco SmartVision video screens. In the lobby is a large scale model of the guided missile cruiser USS Long Beach.
Along the exterior wall of the drum-shaped Arena is “Planet Ocean”, one of environmental artist Wyland's Whaling Walls, which was dedicated on July 9, 1992. At 116,000 square feet (11,000 m²), it is the world's largest mural (according to the Guinness Book of Records). The mural depicts migratory gray whales and other aquatic life that can be found in the waters off Long Beach.
Long Beach Arena was the site of the first National Hockey League game involving an expansion team, as the Los Angeles Kings and the Philadelphia Flyers, both expansion teams, played on October 14, 1967. The Kings won, 4-2. The arena was also the site of the Big West Conference men's basketball tournament from 1989 to 1993.
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