LEWISTON – Word got around: the Central Maine Civic Center was ugly.

The concert promoters who could bring famous performers stopped calling.

Even Lewiston people were reluctant to come. The promoter of a home show couldn’t convince companies to peddle their goods here, in the gray old arena with a dirt parking lot.

“They’d tell me bluntly,” arena owner Roger Theriault said. “It wasn’t nice enough.”

He agreed. There was no air conditioning. The inside looked dark and bleak. The outside looked worse, its ghostly gray paint peeling away. And the parking lot was an embarrassment.

“It was always either mud or dust,” Theriault said. “If you’re putting on a flower show, you need aesthetics.”

That all changed with the arrival of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, whose agreement to come led to a $2.5 million civic center renovation. In September, the arena became the home to the Lewiston MAINEiacs.

But Theriault hopes to sell the place to more than hockey fans.

In the next few weeks, he plans to give tours to event promoters from across New England.

As renovation work continues into the winter, he hopes to book the venue with a greater variety of acts than ever before.

“It has already begun,” Theriault said.

Next March, the Harlem Globetrotters are scheduled to perform here. In April, there will be a rodeo, and a sportsman’s show. The home show is coming back.

“When people see the place for the first time, there’s a “wow response,” Theriault said, “especially if they have been here before.”

There have been some bumps, though.

On Sept. 27, New Hampshire promoter Tommie Gunn brought a hip hop music show to the civic center. Expecting large numbers, Gunn had hired 12 off-duty police officers and eight firefighters to be on hand to aid the crowd, which never came.

The College Fest 2K3 Back to School Hip Hop Party drew just over 100 people. Gunn’s company, Top Gunn Entertainment LLC, had hoped to bring 2,500.

The Sun Journal was unable to reach Gunn, who has successfully promoted several dance parties at the civic center.

Theriault hopes the small turnout this time will not stop Gunn from holding other shows there, he said. But there are other genres and other events.

One promoter he plans to bring to Lewiston works with country music acts. Another promoter, Don Law, has booked the rock band Primus for November. The band has played here before. It should be a new experience for both the band and the audience, Theriault said.

The promoters have come here with lists of the things that needed to change from the old arena. In most cases, everything was met.

The first thing Theriault did to the arena was install air conditioning. It wasn’t a standard system. In this case, the compressors that create the ice for hockey were used to create cold air.

Each one of the 2,800 seats was dismantled, painted and rebuilt. New bleachers were erected behind the seats. Combined with the seats on the floor, fire officials have set the capacity at 5,400 people.

“They’ll come,” Theriault said.

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