Riverside Fourth District Supervisor V. Manuel Perez Honored as Arena’s First Official ‘Sitter’
PALM SPRINGS, CA (August 12, 2022) – Acrisure Arena, the newest world-class venue designed specifically for the Coachella Valley, and the Coachella Valley Firebirds, the 32nd AHL team debuting in Fall 2022 and the affiliate of the NHL Seattle Kraken, held a special ceremony to unveil the installation of its very first seats. Riverside County Fourth District Supervisor V. Manuel Perez was honored as the arena’s first ‘sitter’ and helped affix the final bolts of the first of 11,000+ seats at the Arena. The first two seats were placed in Section 120, row M, seats 9 & 10.
The event coincided with the pouring of the Arena’s concrete ice floor. Within six hours early this morning, the future hockey rink for the Coachella Valley Firebirds was transformed. A special crew was called in to pour what’s called a super flat floor. To meet strict AHL standards, the floor is then surveyed to make sure it’s exactly where it needs to be before we begin the 28-day curing process. To complete Acrisure Arena’s floor took 420+ yards of concrete from over 15 concrete trucks.
Images from the event can be viewed here: https://spaces.hightail.com/space/8QNeDDAmkR
Perez commented, “Today represents a very significant construction milestone at Acrisure Arena”, remarked Riverside County Fourth District Supervisor V. Manuel Perez. “It’s an honor to help build and be the very first person to sit and take in the view at Acrisure Arena. I know I speak on behalf of everyone in Riverside County when I say how truly excited we are to have a world class music and sports venue opening this December in the heart of Coachella Valley.”
“It’s one down, and only 10,000+ seats to go,” said John Bolton, senior vice president, Oak View Group & general manager, Acrisure Arena. “It’s a definitely a day of firsts. Our first seat, first professional hockey rink, first day of school for Coachella Valley kids, first day we can imagine this venue filled with thousands of people to an experience their bucket-list concerts and family shows. Tickets for concerts and family events will be announced in September. We kick off this December 15 with over 100+ nights of amazing entertainment annually.”
Steve Fraser, president of Acrisure Arena and the Coachella Valley Firebirds, commented, “Firebirds fans, these two seats are of the few remaining for hockey season tickets. That means you could be sitting right here cheering on the Firebirds when they play against the Tucson Roadrunners at our first home game on December 18.”
Acrisure Arena will open for the 2022-23 AHL season this fall and host more than 150 sports and live entertainment events annually. For more information about the construction of Acrisure Arena, visit www.AcrisureArena.com.