Civic center naming rights may go on the block in Portland

PORTLAND – After 28 years as the Cumberland County Civic Center, Maine’s largest arena may begin shopping for a new name.

Civic center trustees are considering whether to follow what has become common practice at other arenas by selling the right for a company to slap its moniker on the 8,000-seat facility in downtown Portland.

If trustees go along with the trend, the name of a bank, car dealership or energy company could grace the building and appear on everything from tickets to the circle at center ice.

The discussion was prompted by the expiration of a decade-long agreement with the late philanthropist Elizabeth Noyce that was meant to protect the civic center’s name. Noyce agreed during the mid-1990s to spend $1.3 million for improvements to the arena so that trustees would not have to consider a name change to raise corporate money.

She wanted to maintain the status quo because the taxes of Cumberland County residents built and supported the center and people knew it by its original name.

“I know there is a concern about putting a corporate name on the building,” said Richard Ranaghan, a civic center trustee. But, he added, “Everyone is doing it, and they generate significant revenue with little or no cost to the civic center.”

Officials in Worcester, Mass., last fall reached a 10-year deal with Digital Federal Credit Union to change the name of the Worcester Centrum to the DCU Center. The deal is worth $4.8 million up front and more than $6 million in additional benefits, including new signs, direct marketing to DCU customers and a new logo for the 14,800-seat arena, said John LaHair, the center’s marketing director.

In Lewiston, city officials are negotiating with a handful of corporations to sell naming rights for its newly renovated arena, the Colisee.

Civic center trustees hope to replace the Portland facility with a new and larger arena in five to 10 years.