Sound system blows before hockey game Failure calls attention to Civic Center’s age

PORTLAND – The failure of the public address system during the American Hockey League’s showcase event is sure to heighten perceptions that the Cumberland County Civic Center is outdated, officials say.

The arena’s 12,000-watt sound system blew up an hour before the Monday night game, cutting off music or other amplified sound for most of the first two periods.

Sound was eventually restored, if only partially, but the system’s failure at such a critical moment is likely to be remembered as the future of the 26-year-old Civic Center is debated in the months ahead.

“It’s sad because everyone did a heck of a job getting this place ready,” said Richard Shaw, a Portland Pirates season ticket holder who nonetheless enjoyed the 2003 All Star Classic won by the Canadian team. “It’s a shame having that kind of a black mark.”

A commission studying the feasibility of replacing the arena is expected to deliver its final report in May.

“If this issue calls more attention to the shortcomings of the building, so be it,” said Brian Petrovek, president and CEO of the Pirates.

The public address system, which was inspected just two weeks ago, is among the building’s newer and more reliable amenities. Installed six years ago at a cost of $91,000, the digital system delivers high-quality sound through sixteen speakers arranged around the perimeter of the auditorium. In six years, it had never failed.

“We’ve had about 3,000 events here and never had something like that happen,” said Steve Crane, general manager of the Civic Center.

Technicians at Canfield Systems Inc., the Scarborough company that designed the system, suggested that the problem arose when disparate power sources were connected, perhaps improperly, to bring together the audio and video.

“The building was asked to do things that it had never been asked to do,” said Tom Loveitt, a design technician. “It had never hosted that level of electronic media before and, on a huge night when the pressure was on, it just failed.”

Crane said the problem with the sound system had nothing to do with the antiquity of the building, but it still feeds the perception, shared by many inveterate concert-goers and Pirates season ticket holders, that the Civic Center should be substantially renovated or replaced.

“It certainly plays into the feeling that the building’s outdated,” Crane said.