Charleston Civic Center

About Us:

The original portion of Charleston Civic Center opened on Reynolds Street in 1959. The $3 million facility included a Main Arena which had 6,000 seats, the Little Theater seating 750 and three meeting rooms plus kitchen and administrative offices.

In 1960 the Civic Center was an important stop on President John F. Kennedy's campaign visit to West Virginia.

In 1966 Wilt Chamberlain of the then Philadelphia Warriors broke the NBA's all time scoring record at the Civic Center in February.

A $1.8 million expansion in 1968 added 2,400 seats to the west balcony of the Grand Arena and included installation of air conditioning, construction of a recreational ice skating rink and other improvements.

In the mid-1970's city officials realized if Charleston was to take its place as a regional entertainment and convention center, expanded public assembly facilities were necessary. The decision was made to construct a new coliseum and two-story lobby connecting it to the existing Civic Center. The existing Civic Center would then be renovated into a first-class convention center featuring meeting rooms, exhibit halls and major banquet facilities.