Peoria Civic Center


Peoria Civic Center is a convention center in downtown Peoria, Illinois. Designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Philip Johnson, it has an arena, theater, exhibit hall and meeting rooms. It opened in 1982 and completed an expansion to its lobby and meeting facilities in 2007. On the grounds of the Peoria Civic Center sits the massive "Sonar Tide," the last and largest sculpture of the pioneer of abstract minimalism Ronald Bladen.

History

The site of the Civic Center includes the spot at Liberty Street and Jefferson Street where Moses and Lucy Pettengill lived from 1836 to 1862; that house was part of the Underground Railroad and Moses was also an Underground Railroad "conductor". In 1862 the Pettingills moved out of downtown and to Moss Avenue, where the present Pettengill–Morron House was built in 1868. The downtown home was demolished in 1910 to make way for the Jefferson Hotel. The hotel, in turn, was imploded in 1978 to make way for the Civic Center.
The first event at the Civic Center was a home and garden show in the Exhibit Hall in February 1982.

Facilities

Carver Arena

Prior to playing at Carver Arena, Bradley hosted its games at Robertson Memorial Field House.
, seating capacity was 9,919 for hockey and indoor football, 11,433 for basketball and up to 12,036 for concerts.
Carver Arena has been hosts to acts such as Eagles, Elton John, Bob Seger, Kiss, Blake Shelton, Eric Church, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Jason Aldean, Cher, James Taylor, Avenged Sevenfold, Shinedown, Godsmack, Five Finger Death Punch, The Harlem Globetrotters, World Wrestling Entertainment, Disney, Monster Jam, Disney on Ice, and basketball exhibition games for the Chicago Bulls.
Bob Seger set the record for the highest grossing concert in venue history on January 22, 2019. Previous record was held by Elton John
Blake Shelton is top selling country performer in venue history with his sold out February 28, 2019 performance.
Carver Arena hosted the Illinois High School Association boys' basketball state finals for two weeks every March from 1996 until 2019. The interactive March Madness Experience took place in the adjacent exhibition hall during the tournaments.

Exhibit halls

Theater

Peoria Civic Center Theater has a long history of being a special venue for Stand-up comedy as Peoria is the hometown of Rolling Stone and Comedy Central's greatest stand-up comedian off all-time, Richard Pryor.
In 2014, A Night for Richard Benefit featuring George Lopez, Charlie Murphy, Cedric the Entertainer, D. L. Hughley, Eddie Griffin, and Mike Epps took place in the Peoria Civic Center Arena to raise funds for a statue of Richard Pryor.
Comedians George Carlin, Louis C.K., Jerry Seinfeld, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Kevin Hart, Bob Hope, Jay Leno, Daniel Tosh, Tom Segura, Gabriel Iglesias, DeRay Davis, Lewis Black, Chris D'Elia, Jo Koy, Bill Engvall, Larry the Cable Guy, Kevin James and Sam Kinison have all performed at the PCC Theater.
Steve Martin and Martin Short's Now You See Them, Soon You Won't event on April 20, 2019 set the record for top comedy show in Peoria Civic Center Theater's History.
The Ameren Illinois Broadway in Peoria has a long history of bringing touring Broadway theatre productions to Peoria. The Lion King, The Phantom of the Opera, The Book of Mormon, Rent, Stomp, Wicked, Blue Man Group, Jersey Boys, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Finding Neverland, Mamma Mia!, Cinderella have all played in Peoria.

Tenants

Ballroom