astronomy

Sullivan Arena

Sullivan Arena is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Sullivan Arena rather than just read about it. In short: George M. Sullivan Arena (commonly shortened to "Sullivan Arena" and often referred to colloquially as "The Sully") is a 6,290-seat arena in Anchorage, Alaska, United States.

Key takeaways

Sullivan Arena belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Sullivan Arena to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Sullivan Arena from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

George M. Sullivan Arena (commonly shortened to "Sullivan Arena" and often referred to colloquially as "The Sully") is a 6,290-seat arena in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. The arena is named after former Anchorage mayor George M. Sullivan. It is owned by the Municipality of Anchorage and operated by All in 49. The Sullivan Arena sits in the southwest region of Fairview, a neighborhood in Anchorage. The arena opened in 1983 and sits just east of Mulcahy Stadium as part of the Chester Creek Sports Complex. Sullivan Arena hosted the 1989 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships along with the Harry J. McDonald Memorial Center in Eagle River. In ice hockey, it was the home of the professional Alaska Aces of the ECHL from 1995 to 2017 and the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's NCAA Division I team from 1983 to 2019. It hosted the Great Alaska Shootout basketball tournament, which relocated to the Alaska Airlines Center in 2014. From 2007 to 2010, it was home to the Alaska Wild of the Indoor Football League. In 2021, the junior Anchorage Wolverines of the North American Hockey League planned to use Sullivan Arena for home games starting in the 2021–22 season, assuming the arena reopened following its use as a homeless shelter during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sullivan Arena operated on and off as a homeless shelter since the pandemic began in 2020. In May 2023, the homeless shelter shut down, as Anchorage mayor Dave Bronson said it needed to return to hosting hockey games and concerts. When the homeless shelter at Sullivan shut down, homeless camps in Anchorage's parks and green areas exploded in size. Anchorage officials have no plans to provide another winter shelter. On July 9, 2024, the Wolverines confirmed that they would relocate from Ben Boeke Ice Arena to Sullivan Arena for the 2024-25 season. For hockey, the Sullivan Arena offers 6,251 seats with a standing room capacity of 6,451. If areas designated for wheelchairs are included, the arena can seat 6,290, plus standing room, during hockey games. The arena is noted for having an international-dimension (Olympic-sized) ice rink (61 m × 30 m / 200 ft × 98.5 ft) instead of the NHL dimensions (200 ft × 85 ft / 61 m × 25.9 m) common among North American venues. The main arena floor contains 32,000 square feet of space.

In 2014, a new center-hung scoreboard, with four 8-by-8-foot video screens and a wraparound LED display system was installed to replace the 80s-style scoreboard which had a black-and-white dot matrix display. The new scoreboard was previously installed at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California, where it was used by the ECHL affiliate of the San Jose Sharks, the San Francisco Bulls. The Bulls purchased the scoreboard for their first season in 2012 but the team folded less than two years later. The scoreboard is made by Colosseo, a European company specializing in stadium and arena LED and entertainment technology. There were plans, projected for 2015, for the neighboring Mulcahy Stadium to be demolished and rebuilt to its west in order to create 400 new parking spaces for the arena. In addition, all seats and telescopic risers inside Sullivan Arena were replaced, the arena floor was rebuilt, and its ice-making equipment was upgraded for the 2015–16 hockey season. Another renovation in 2017 expanded the arena's storage space by 5,000 square feet, replaced the arena's portable stage, floor seating and artificial turf, and improved the arena's acoustics. Musicians that have performed at the arena include The Beach Boys, Johnny Cash, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Buffett, Bon Jovi, Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne, Steve Miller Band, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Coolio, Filter, Lonestar, Metallica, Aerosmith, Green Day, Stone Temple Pilots, No Doubt, Blink-182, James Brown, Elton John, Red Hot Chili Peppers, 36 Crazyfists, Sum 41, Chicago, and Luke Bryan.

References

External links Media related to Sullivan Arena at Wikimedia Commons

Official website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sullivan Arena

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Sullivan Arena claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Sullivan Arena before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Sullivan Arena ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Sullivan Arena

In research: Sullivan Arena appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Sullivan Arena in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Sullivan Arena is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1983 establishments in Alaska, Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey, American football venues in Alaska, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Sullivan Arena outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Sullivan Arena in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Sullivan Arena means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Sullivan Arena out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sullivan Arena in simple terms?

George M. Sullivan Arena (commonly shortened to "Sullivan Arena" and often referred to colloquially as "The Sully") is a 6,290-seat arena in Anchorage, Alaska, United States.

Why does Sullivan Arena matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Sullivan Arena?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Sullivan Arena.