FirstOntario Centre is a sports and entertainment arena at the corner of Bay Street North and York Boulevard in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1985, it has a capacity of up to 19,000. Hamilton was left without a large ice hockey venue after the Barton Street Arena was demolished in 1977, and even that arena had a small seating capacit…FirstOntario Centre is a sports and entertainment arena at the corner of Bay Street North and York Boulevard in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1985, it has a capacity of up to 19,000. Hamilton was left without a large ice hockey venue after the Barton Street Arena was demolished in 1977, and even that arena had a small seating capacity by modern standards. Construction on the new site was started in 1983 and completed two years later at a cost of $33.5 million, with an additional $2.3 million spent on a parking garage. The project was overseen by Hamiltonian Joseph Pigott. The arena was originally named Copps Coliseum after long-time mayor Victor Copps, the patriarch of a Hamilton political family that includes his daughter, former Member of Parliament of Canada and Member of Provincial Parliament of Ontario Sheila Copps, and wife, Geraldine, who was a long-time councillor.
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