History
The facility played host to various sporting events, including boxing, professional wrestling and races while it was active.
It was home of the NCAA's Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team from the time it opened for the 1973-74 season through the 1981-82 campaign. The Purple Eagles went back to campus for five years to return again in the 1988-89 season and stay until 1996. Their last game at the Convention Center was a victory over Siena (79-77).
In 1974, 1975 and 1976, the convention center hosted the Miss USA competition.
In 2001, Joe Mesi defeated Jorge Luis Gonzalez and Bert Cooper, in separate professional boxing cards.
The former Convention center served as a world-class entertainment venue, during past Festival of Lights celebrations and throughout the years.
The venue played host to The Rolling Thunder Revue Tour on November 15, 1975, headed by Bob Dylan.
The venue, thought by many to be too large for the city, struggled from the day it was open, and was blamed for contributing to the economic decline in Niagara Falls and the depletion of the city's finances over the years. Although it was the largest off-season tourist attraction in the city, it struggled until it was closed in 2002. It was replaced by the smaller Niagara Falls Conference Center.
Read more about this topic: Niagara Falls Convention And Civic Center
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