The new MassMutual Center video screen at the corner of Main Street and Bruce Landon Way in downtown Springfield has been plugged in and is ready to promote events. (Don Treeger / The Republican) 1/11/2024The Republican
SPRINGFIELD — MGM Springfield and the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority turned on 1,000 square feet of outdoor video board Thursday evening at the MassMutual Center, a $3 million upgrade to the arena’s Main Street facade. led for advertising screen
Nathan Costa, president of the center’s principal tenant, the Springfield Thunderbirds hockey team, said he wants to use it especially when he has no more tickets to sell.
“You want to promote your sellouts,” Costa said, gathered with Thunderbirds employees across Main Street so they could see the sign in all its glory. “That’s what creates a sense of urgency.”
The T-birds are averaging more than 6,000 fans a game, Costa said, and are among the American Hockey League leaders in attendance as a percentage of arena capacity.
Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno rattled off a list of events, not just Thunderbirds games, that will be promoted on the signs, including American International College hockey, comedy shows, concerts, the coming Red Sox Weekend hot-stove baseball event, a performance of Paw Patrol on ice, the Harlem Globetrotters, events put on by the Springfield Business Improvement District and others.
This new digital sign at the MassMutual Center in Springfield is part of a $3 million upgrade. (Jim Kinney photo)Staff
The largest face of the three-sided video board over Main Street measures 16 feet wide by 25 feet high.
“A lot of marquee events will be seen on this,” Sarno said. “We are very appreciative of the investment by the state.”
In addition to the marquee, the Convention Center Authority is working on a renovation for Stair 7, a new entrance on the State Street side of the arena, said authority spokesman Nate Little.
The Civic Center Garage project — with space for 800 to 900 cars and 10,000 square feet of retail area— will be ready in December, Little said Thursday. The project is costing $35 million.
The adjacent plaza between the arena and the garage will be ready in spring 2025, Little said.
Next week, the Convention Center Authority’s board expects to award a new contract for management of the new garage.
The Convention Center Authority owns the properties — both the arena and the new garage. MGM Springfield manages the arena under a 10-year deal signed in 2022.
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The MassMutual Center has 100,000 square feet of flexible meeting space and an 8,000-seat arena.
“My Springfield heart is so excited, " said Xiomara Albán DeLobato, vice president and chief of staff of the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts — and the local representative on the Convention Center Authority board.
“I am thrilled with this investment, and in the garage,” DeLobato said. “This is just the first of many collaborations to come.”
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