Tullio Arena to become Erie Insurance Arena (VIDEO) - Erie Times-News

Tullio Arena, currently undergoing a $42 million renovation, is getting a new name as well -- Erie Insurance Arena.

Officials from Erie Insurance Group and the Erie County Convention Center Authority this afternoon announced a $3 million naming rights agreement for the downtown entertainment and sports venue.

The money, which will be paid to the authority over 10 years, will be used to repay a bank loan the authority will apply for to restore several amenities cut from the renovation project because of budget constraints.

Those amenities include luxury suites; new ice and ice-making equipment for hockey; and a state-of-the-art scoreboard that could cost up to $1 million.

"I am now fully confident that we will have a first-class facility" when the revamped arena is finished in the fall of 2013, said Erie lawyer Roger Richards, who leads the Convention Center Authority's Strategic Planning Committee.

Renovations at the arena, which opened in June 1983, began in December. The facility had been named for longtime Erie Mayor Louis J. Tullio; officials now plan to call the renovated plaza outside the arena Tullio Plaza.

"This is about two Erie-based organizations making a long-term commitment to the city," said Terrence Cavanaugh, Erie Insurance's chief executive.

The Tullio family was consulted on the deal, and is OK with the name change, said June Pintea, the late mayor's daughter.

See Thursday's Erie Times-News and GoErie.com for more coverage.

10 May, 2012

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Source: http://www.goerie.com/article/20120509/NEWS02/305099873/Tullio-Arena-to-become-Erie-Insurance-Arena
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