Sleeman Centre facts for kids
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 Sleeman Centre
Location in Ontario
Sleeman Centre
Location in Canada
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| Former names | Guelph Sports and Entertainment Centre |
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| Address | 50 Woolwich Street Guelph, Ontario N1H 3T9 |
| Coordinates | 43°32′48″N 80°14′47″W / 43.54667°N 80.24639°W |
| Owner | City of Guelph |
| Operator | City of Guelph |
| Capacity | Hockey: 4,715 Concerts 6,500 |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | November 1998 |
| Opened | October 6, 2000 |
| Construction cost | CA$21 million ($31.2 million in 2021 dollars ) |
| Architect | PBK Architects, Inc. |
| Services engineer | Integrated Engineering |
| General contractor | Ball Construction |
| Tenants | |
| Guelph Storm (OHL) (2000–present) Guelph Hurricanes (GOJHL) (2009–2018) Guelph Nighthawks (CEBL) (2019–2022) |
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The Sleeman Centre is a large building in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It has 4,715 seats and can be used for many different things. Before it was called the Sleeman Centre, it was known as the Guelph Sports and Entertainment Centre.
This cool place has hosted many exciting events. You can go there for concerts, sports games, and fun family shows. It is the home arena for the Guelph Storm, a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. The Sleeman Centre also hosted big hockey tournaments like the 2002 Memorial Cup and the 2008 Founders Cup.
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Building the Sleeman Centre
The Sleeman Centre was built in the year 2000. It cost about CA$21 million to build. People in Guelph had been talking about needing a new arena for more than ten years.
The city's old hockey team, the Guelph Platers, even moved away in 1989 because they wanted a better arena. Later, the Guelph Storm team moved to Guelph in 1991. They played in the old Guelph Memorial Gardens, which was too small. Talks about a new arena for the Storm started in the mid-1990s.
Finding the Right Spot
It took a long time to decide where to build the new arena and how much it would cost. Many places were considered. These included the old Memorial Gardens site and other spots around the city.
Then, the Eaton's department store at the Guelph Eaton Centre closed down. The city thought this empty store could be the perfect spot. In 1998, the city bought the mall for CA$1.7 million. They tore down the back part where Eaton's used to be. Then, they built the 5,000-seat arena there.
Who Owned the Arena?
In 1998, the city worked with a company called Nustadia. They agreed to build and run the Guelph Sports and Entertainment Centre for 30 years. The city paid half of the building cost. They also promised to help Nustadia with a CA$9 million loan.
However, in 2001, Nustadia had trouble making payments. So, the City of Guelph had to take over the loans. This meant the city had to pay about CA$3 million over four years to cover Nustadia's payments. Nustadia said they had problems because they didn't make as much money as they expected from restaurants and ticket sales. They thought 3,500 people would come to each Guelph Storm game, but only about 2,800 came.
The city gave Nustadia four more years to try and make things work. But in 2005, Nustadia decided to stop running the arena. The City of Guelph then took full ownership of the Sleeman Centre. This meant the city had to deal with almost CA$4 million in unexpected debt.
Arena Upgrades
In 2009, the City of Guelph announced plans to make the Sleeman Centre even better. Starting in 2010, they added a new video scoreboard. This scoreboard has four video screens and two LED rings that light up.
From 2009 to 2018, another local hockey team, the Guelph Hurricanes, also played their home games at the Sleeman Centre. They later moved to Cambridge, Ontario.
Sleeman Brewery Sponsorship
In June 2007, a company called Sleeman Breweries made a deal with the City of Guelph. Sleeman Breweries paid $1.2 million to have their name on the arena until 2020. This is why it's called the Sleeman Centre!
In 2021, they renewed this deal. Sleeman Breweries will continue to be the naming sponsor until June 30, 2030, for another $1 million.
Inside the Sleeman Centre
The main arena has blue seats. There are also special private rooms, called suites, located above the main seating area. If you get club seats, you'll be right behind where the players sit.
There's also a restaurant behind the club seats. On the same level as the private suites, there's a special VIP section. The arena has a standard four-sided scoreboard, which is also blue to match the arena's colors.
The area where fans walk around, called the concourse, is wide. It's shaped like a horseshoe. You can walk all the way around the arena and still see the action on the ice!
