The Tribute Communities Centre, formerly known as the General Motors Centre or GM Centre, GMC for short, is a multi-purpose arena located in downtown

Oshawa Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Greater Toronto Area and of the Golden Horseshoe. It ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, which opened in November 2006. The arena was constructed to replace the

Oshawa Civic Auditorium The Oshawa Civic Auditorium was an indoor arena in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. It operated from 1964 to 2006, and was primarily used as an ice hockey venue for the Oshawa Generals. The auditorium was built as a replacement to the Hambly Arena, whi ...

. The main tenant is the

Oshawa Generals The Oshawa Generals are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They are based in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The team is named for General Motors, an early sponsor (commercial), sponsor which has its Canadian headquarters in Oshawa. ...

of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The league is for players ag ...

, and formerly the Durham TurfDogs of the Canadian Lacrosse League. It features the Oshawa Sports Hall of Fame, Prospects Bar and Grill, an Oshawa Generals retail store, executive seating and special club seats. The name was changed to Tribute Communities Centre on November 1, 2016.

History

The Tribute Communities Centre is owned by the city of Oshawa. On October 5, 2006,

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

obtained the naming rights of the arena. The City originally selected

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE) is a professional sports and commercial real estate company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With assets that include franchises in four of the six major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(MLSE) to manage the building but, after disappointing results in the first year and a half, MLSE requested in March 2008 that its contract be terminated. MLSE had been attempting to get into the business of managing facilities beyond those where their sports teams played but decided to withdraw, with Bob Hunter, MLSE's Vice President of venues and entertainment, saying that managing the arena was "no longer a strategic focus for us". Global Spectrum assumed control of the operations and management of the arena on June 30, 2008. On April 14, 2016, they announced an agreement to replace the videoboard in the building. It meets

Canadian Hockey League The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; , LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League, and is composed of its three me ...

requirements for a future

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three Junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tou ...

bid, and replaces the old videoboard, which was a point of contention for Generals fans over the past few years. An announcement was made on October 7, 2016 that the facility would be renamed the Tribute Communities Centre effective November 1, 2016. The new naming rights are currently set to last for ten years.

2015 Pan American Games

For the

2015 Pan American Games The 2015 Pan American Games (), officially the XVII Pan American Games () and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games (Toronto 2015), were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, ...

the facility hosted both

weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

and

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

events. During the games, the facility was configured to hold roughly 3,000 spectators per session. During Games time the facility was known as the Oshawa Sports Centre. Image:General Motors Centre - Interior.JPG, Interior view during an Oshawa Generals game General Motors Centre exterior.jpg, Tribute Communities Centre Exterior, when known as the General Motors Centre Tribute Communities Centre - Exterior.jpg, Exterior with Tribute Communities Branding

References

External links

* {{Authority control Indoor arenas in Ontario Ice hockey venues in Ontario Ontario Hockey League arenas Oshawa Generals Sports venues in Oshawa Venues of the 2015 Pan American Games Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Boxing venues in Ontario