Much-needed renovations to the 49-year-old XL Center in downtown Hartford are closer to reality as the state Bond Commission approved $118 million for the project Thursday. The total renovation for the 16,300-seat arena, which opened in 1975 as the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in the Hartford Civic Center, will cost $145 million, down from a $250 million project that was ditched in 2018. It will include premium loge seating, a relocated upgraded concert stage and IT upgrades. The renovations are seen as making the center more attractive to promoters and able to turn a profit, eliminating a years-long state subsidy of about $2 million a year and increasing concerts from about six to 30 a year. That private company is Oak View Group of Los Angeles, which manages the arena day to day and which is investing $20 million into the project. It plans to take a larger role over the next two decades. Freimuth has said the renovations would likely be completed by spring 2026, because of contractors having to work around the fall and winter sports seasons.
XL Center gets $118M CT Bond Commission boost; big upgrades are in its future