LEWISTON – When the City of Lewiston took over the Central Maine Civic Center earlier this month, it promised that some of the changes would come quickly, others may take a little while.

File renaming the arena as a quick change.

In a pre-game ceremony in front of the largest crowd of the season Thursday night, city officials took the ice to formally announce the new name of the arena: The Colisee.

Unlike the process for picking the team’s name last year (a contest among fans), this name change took place quickly and decisively, within the first two weeks of the new Limited Liability Corporation’s tenure as owner.

“It was a board decision,” Assistant City Administrator and Interim Rink Manager Phil Nadeau said. “There has already been some public discussion as to how the facility will be run, and how the management will work. As far as the name is concerned, it will clearly be extraordinarily unique.”

Lewiston City Councilor Norm Rousseau heads the corporation’s committee, and was instrumental in the process by which the name was chosen.

Reaction from fans during the game was positive.

Bill Rocheleau of Lewiston, a season ticket holder, said “I didn’t know about the name change until tonight. I don’t think anybody did. I think it was a good idea. With the new team we get to start fresh, almost like a new beginning.

Rocheleau admitted, “It’ll take a bit of getting used to, and people will probably mispronounce it at first, but I think it’s a catchy name.”

Ray Bourgoin, also of Lewiston, said, “I have no problems with the name. I think it fits the team well. I didn’t hear anybody around me saying they had a problem with it. Bourgoin said he has missed only five games this season.

According to Nadeau, picking a name isn’t all that easy, though.

“The name ‘Maineiacs’ generated a lot of talk when it first came out, too,” Nadeau said. “There were some doubters out there about that name, myself included, but over time we have seen how valuable that name is becoming as a brand.”

Also, Nadeau said, the name ‘Colisee’ (coliseum in French) will make the arena stand out from others in Maine.

“There are three other civic centers in Maine,” Nadeau said. “We didn’t want to categorize this facility the same as the rest of them. Hopefully, we can distance ourselves from that.”

There is no title sponsor for the arena yet, leaving the official name as ‘The Colisee,’ but team Vice President and Governor Matt McKnight was quick to point out that even this name may be temporary.

“In the long-term thought process, this may well be a short-term name,” McKnight said. “With the naming rights, the name may even change from what it is right now. This was simply a move to help this facility move on. When new owners take over a facility, generally one of the fist things to change is the name.”

jpelletier@sunjournal.com

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