Halifax’s Scotiabank Centre has a fresh new look.
Renovations are underway at the city’s largest sports and entertainment venue, including washroom and concession upgrades.
However, the most notable change so far is the replacement of the iconic orange seats that have lined the building since it opened in 1978.
“When I do think of growing up, like with the Mooseheads, especially in the 90s, I associate it strictly with the orange seats. It was something sort of unique,” says Mooseheads fan Mark McKinley.
The new, more comfortable navy seats were installed at a cost of $3 million.
The Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo has called the building home for 36 years. The show’s producer, Jim Ford, says he is excited about the change.
“The new seats are much more comfortable,” says Ford. “Especially, I think, if you've got the odd blank chair here and there, it's not going to glare out at you so much.”
The majority of the 10,000 or so older orange chairs are being dismantled and recycled by the company that's installing the new navy blue chairs.
However, some of the orange chairs are being saved, allowing fans a chance to collect a piece of Halifax history.
Amy Isnor won a pair of the seats from a radio station contest.
“I was like ‘oh my god! What? Really?’ and I was excited. One, I don't ever win anything and two, to have something from the Metro Centre was pretty awesome,” says Isnor.
Isnor has spent a lot of time in those orange chairs. As an avid Halifax Rainmen fan, she has rarely missed a game. The memorabilia is even more special, as Isnor was sitting in the orange seats when she first met her fiancé.
“We'll put them downstairs in our man cave. It'll be a memory of everything in the last five years that we've been through,” says Isnor.
For the fans who will miss seeing the orange seats while attending concerts or games at the Scotiabank Centre, management is considering hanging one from the rafters.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Matt Woodman
