Idaho Central Arena (originally Bank of America Centre, formerly Qwest Arena and CenturyLink Arena) is a multi-purpose arena in the western United States, located in Boise, Idaho. Its seating capacity is 5,002 for ice hockey, 5,300 for basketball, 5,732 for end-stage concerts, 6,400 for boxing, and up to 6,800 for center-stage concerts. With 4,508 permanent seats, it was built for $50 million. In downtown Boise, its street level elevation is approximately 2,700 feet (825 m) above sea level.
Originally the Bank of America Centre, it became Qwest Arena in 2005.[1] With CenturyLink's[a] takeover of Qwest Communications in 2011, the venue was renamed on August 18 that same year.[10] On September 16, 2020, Idaho Central Credit Union purchased the naming rights, giving the building its current title.[11]
The arena features 39 corporate suites, 1,100 Club Premiere seats, standing room space for 200, The Zone restaurant (overlooking the arena), as well as a Blimpie franchise among the nine concession stands. The arena is physically connected to the Grove Hotel at the corner of Front Street and Capitol Boulevard; the main entrance is from the Grove Plaza. There are two scoreboards and a Daktronics ProStar videoboard.
The Grove Hotel has 36,000 square feet (3,340 m2) of meeting and convention space in addition to the 22,247 square feet (2,067 m2) of arena floor space.
Idaho Central Arena hosted the 2006 CBA All-Star Game (while the Idaho Stampede were still part of the CBA) and the 2007 ECHL All-Star Game.
A 2007 Idaho Steelheads game at Idaho Central Arena
Other events hosted in the facility include concerts, trade shows, conventions, ice shows and various other sporting events, including professional wrestling, MMA, and the Treasure Valley Rollergirlsroller derby squad.
On July 14, 2018, the arena was host to UFC Fight Night 133, the MMA promotion's first event held in Idaho.
Idaho Central Arena has hosted two NBA D-League Showcases in 2008 and 2010. Each Showcase had all NBA D-League teams play for 4 days, and showed their talent in front of National TV (NBA TV) and had scouts all around the country.
^CenturyLink adopted the new name of Lumen Technologies in September 2020. The company still uses CenturyLink as the brand name for its copper-based telecom services.
