Community First Champion Center Explained

Community First Champion Center
Fullname:Community First Champion Center Fox Cities
Logo Image:Community First Champion Center Logo.png
Pushpin Map:USA Wisconsin#USA
Pushpin Mapsize:200
Pushpin Relief:yes
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Wisconsin
Pushpin Label Position:right
Address:2200 North McCarthy Road
Grand Chute, Wisconsin, United States
Coordinates:44.2825°N -88.4808°W
Type:Multi-purpose arena
Genre:Sporting events and concerts
Broke Ground:September 18, 2018
Built:2018–2019
Opened:[1]
Owner:Town of Grand Chute
Scoreboard:Yes
Cost:$30 million
($ in dollars)
Architect:Performa Architects
General Contractor:Miron Construction
Capacity:~3,000 - 4,000 total across all 3 spaces

The Community First Champion Center is a 164000square feet indoor sports center in Grand Chute, in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The facility is primarily used for youth sports/community sporting activities and does not house a professional sports team.

The sports center was expected to cost $30 million to build. The cost of construction was provided by a 3% hotel-room tax being charged throughout the Fox Cities region; this tax was also used to pay for the Fox Cities Exhibition Center.[2] Shortly before its opening, it was expected to contribute around $8–12 million to the Fox Cities economy.

Location and design

The arena is located along County Highway GV just north of the Fox River Mall shopping district and less than 0.5miles west of Fox Cities Stadium. The new arena broke ground on September 18, 2018.[3] It opened in November 2019.[4] [5] [6]

The Center has three separate arena spaces with one being permanently set up with an ice rink and another two multi-purpose arenas which could handle court sports, concerts, or additional ice rinks.[7] The total capacity of all three arenas was expected to be between three and four thousand.

History

On January 23, 2019, the Center was the target of vandalism by a group of teenagers who also damaged other construction sites around the area as well as starting fires in elevators within parking ramps in downtown Appleton. The damage to the center was expected to cost over $1 million.[8]

On March 22, 2019, the Town of Grand Chute announced that the naming rights for the center were bought by Community First Credit Union; terms of the deal have not been released.[9]

Notes and References

  1. News: Check out the new Community First Champion Center . November 20, 2019 . www.postcrescent.com . en.
  2. News: Fox Cities Champion Center will give region a larger piece of sports tourism . 23 March 2019 . Post-Crescent Media . en.
  3. News: Fox Cities Champion Center holds ceremonial groundbreaking . 23 March 2019 . WLUK . 18 September 2018.
  4. Web site: Multi-mullion-dollar sports complex opens in the Fox Valley. Monique Lopez, FOX 11. News. November 20, 2019. WLUK.
  5. Web site: Community First Champion Center opens. Jason. Zimmerman. www.wbay.com.
  6. Web site: Champion Center in Grand Chute promises to be 'premier sports tourism destination in the Midwest'. Duke. Behnke. The Post-Crescent.
  7. Web site: Our Facility . Fox Cities Champion Center . 23 March 2019.
  8. News: New photos of Fox Cities Champion Center damage released . 23 March 2019 . WLUK . 25 January 2019.
  9. News: Steffen . Justin . Community First Champion Center Coming this Fall . 23 March 2019 . WEAREGREENBAY . 22 March 2019.