Hartwall Arena

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Hartwall Arena
Hartwall areena, Helsinki.JPG
The arena from outside
Location Areenankuja 1, Helsinki, Finland
Opened April 19, 1997
Owner Arena Events Oy
Tenants Jokerit (1997-)
Capacity 13,349 (Ice hockey)
12,000 - 15,000 (Concert)
3,000 - 5,000 (Theatre)

Hartwall Arena (previously known until 19 March 2014 as Hartwall Areena, often called Helsinki Areena, Helsingin Areena or Helsingforsarenan ('The Helsinki Arena') by the Finnish press) is a large multifunctional indoor arena located in Helsinki, Finland. The arena gets its name from its largest sponsor, the beverage company Hartwall, also based in Helsinki.

Specifications

Hartwall Arena from inside during an ice hockey preseason game

The idea of building the arena came from Harry "Hjallis" Harkimo]in 1994. It was built to be ready for the Ice Hockey World Championships in 1997 and was delivered by the constructor on 11 April 1997. The building is elliptical, 153 metres long and 123 metres wide. 37 meters under ground there is a practice arena which is used by many hockey teams.

The arena is situated next to Pasila railway station, which is the second busiest railway station in Finland, 3.5 km north of Helsinki Central.

Total capacity in ice hockey games is 13,349 (all seats). The arena is convertible for various events. For sport events, the capacity is about 10,000, about 14,000 for basketball, for concerts about 13,000, and as an amphitheatre, 3,000-5,000. It is connected to a multi-storey carpark, which has a total capacity of 1,421 vehicles.

Usage

Hartwall Arena is the home venue of the ice hockey team Jokerit.

The arena has also been used for Ice Hockey World Championships, World Figure Skating Championships, NHL Challenge, and World Cup of Hockey. In May 2011, Hartwall Arena served as the main venue of the 2012 IIHF World Championship. It hosted all Group A games and quarterfinals, all semifinals and all medal games. Group B games and quarterfinals were hosted in Ericsson Globe, Stockholm. It also co-hosted the 2013 IIHF World Championship with Ericsson Globe, but in 2013 all games after quarterfinals were played in Stockholm.

The arena has been a concert venue for numerous foreign and domestic artists since being the largest indoor venue in Finland. Hartwall Arena was also the venue for the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest.

References

External links

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