Hundreds of seats have been removed from Lenovo Center as part of ongoing renovations, leaving ‘Canes and Wolfpack fans wondering what happened to the old seats.
It’s not uncommon to see sports arenas sell or auction off their former seats. Fans use them as memorabilia, putting them in mancaves or bars. So when major ‘Canes fans Bob Padula and Mike Wolstenholme heard from a friend of theirs that seats were getting thrown out, they were surprised.
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“The whole thing doesn’t seem right. Something’s wrong there,” Padula said. “I don’t know what they were thinking.”
Padula and Wolstenholme say a construction worker friend of theirs who was working on Lenovo Center renovations texted them in June saying that since crews were planning to toss them, the seats were up for grabs.
“The Lenovo Center superintendent told her and other construction workers that they could take as many of these seats as they wanted as long as they did it within 48 hours because the rest were getting thrown out,” Padula said.
The Stanley Cup Championship was just a couple of weeks ago at the time, so the pair jumped at the chance to get their hands on hockey history. They loaded 59 seats onto a truck and brought them home.
“You’re talking about the seats people probably paid $1,500 to sit in for three hours for the home games of the Stanley Cup?” Wolstenholme said. “I’d say we should go get some of those.”
But the next day, they say they got a different message from that construction worker. They were told to return the seats, which they say they did.
They also say their friend was fired in the following days – they believe in connection to the seat mix up.
“It was no problem and then the next day, it was a problem,” Padula said. “To have someone fired for it – that’s really unfortunate.”
Padula says their friend who was fired plans to pursue legal action against the construction company and did not want their name shared as a result.
Aside from their friend’s firing, the pair say they’re upset more wasn’t done with the old Lenovo Center seats. They say it was a missed opportunity.
“Someone at the Lenovo Center could’ve taken those 700 chairs, put them in storage, and offered them to charity or season ticket holders. It’s not that difficult,” Padula said.
WRAL emailed Lenovo Center officials asking what construction crews were told to do with the seats, why the seats weren’t sold, and where they are now. We have not yet heard back.
For now, the whereabouts of the missing Lenovo Center seats will remain a mystery.
“When we were in the parking lot we saw a lot of cars and trucks leave with construction workers taking those seats,” Padula said. “They probably still have them – which is fine – and I’m sure a good portion of the 700 of them were destroyed.”
WRAL first heard about this story from a viewer tip. If you have a story you want to share with the station, you can send it to us through our ReportIt tip line at pugongyingbo.com.