Lewiston Maineiacs
Arena Name: Cumberland County Civic Center
Capacity: 7,005 (6,733 seated)
Built: 1977
Address: 1 Civic Center Square, Portland, ME, 04101
Used: 2008
Ice Surface Size: Regulation
Venue Web Site: CrossArenaPortland.com
Cumberland County Civic Center
What's the Arena Like?
Hockey is hugely popular in Maine, but when the locals refer to hockey, chances are they mean the University of Maine Black Bears. At times it can feel like the NCAA game is the only game in the state, and so marketing junior and minor league hockey can be an uphill battle which can require some creativity. So, in a brilliant move in December 2008, the ownership groups of the Lewiston Maineiacs and the AHL's Portland Pirates did a building swap. The Pirates played two home games at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee, while the Maineiacs played a pair in Portland's Cumberland County Civic Center.
The Civic Center, now renamed Cross Insurance Arena, is a concrete and steel 1970's design located in the heart of Portland. In comparison to the rest of Portland's old downtown, the Civic Center is relatively charmless. At street level it's red brick, with the concrete underside of the concourse overhanging street level. The building was renovated relatively recently, and has some new glass at its entrances, but the 70's pedigree of the building is still obvious. It's also located on a hill, so from the top side the arena seems barely a storey tall, whereas at the bottom end it seems much higher. The seating areas inside, judging by photos, are a four-box design comparable to the AHL rink in Binghamton or the former OHL rink in Cornwall.
I wasn't able to get in the building during my brief visit to Portland in November 2017.
Inside Cumberland County Civic Center
What's the Arena Used for Today?
Portland's longstanding AHL team, the Pirates, decamped in 2016 as a part of the AHL's gradual abandoning of its traditional heartland in the Northeast. When I visited the arena in 2017 there was no major tenant, but today there is hockey again with the ECHL's Maine Mariners playing there.
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Last Revised: December 18, 2019