Giant Center History

November 8, 2000

Official ground breaking ceremony is held at the future site of Giant Center.

July 12, 2000

GIANT naming rights announced. The title sponsorship for GIANT Center includes a ten-year naming rights agreement, integrated marketing programs, and more. The partnership reflects the growing synergies between Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company and GIANT Food Stores that began in 1992 with the implementation of a discount ticket program for HERSHEYPARK.

August 1, 2001

The new state-of-the-art GIANT Center starts to take form with its first roof truss being placed July 20; a total of 23 roof trusses will be used in the construction. Two to three trusses are scheduled to be placed each week; the backbone of the roof should be completed in eight to eleven weeks.

November 1, 2001

GIANT Center tops off. The new state-of-the-art GIANT Center's final roof truss was placed at the South end of the building. An American flag and an evergreen tree lye atop the truss. The tree symbolizes good luck and stresses the fact that construction has proceeded without ay loss of life.

December 7, 2001

GIANT Center reached Club Seat milestone with more than 500 of the 688 Club Seats sold.

June 12, 2002

Ice floor foundation pour takes place. The floor foundation is composed of layers of limestone, sand, piping and concrete. Thickness of the entire floor is over two feet. The concrete itself is eight inches thick and was poured all at once, taking approximately 10 hours to complete. From one end to the other, the floor has to be level within an eighth of an inch (the thickness of a nickel).

June 18, 2002

The naming of the arena occurred today when the actual GIANT Center sign was mounted on the outside of the arena. The sign is approximately 6-feet tall and 76-feet long and is installed 20 feet above the ground.