To some, it is an icon worth saving, on par with the Gateway Arch in St. Louis or the Space Needle in Seattle. To others, it is an eyesore standing in the way of progress.

For more than two hours Monday, Penguins, preservationists, CEOs, labor officials, Hill District leaders and others waged a pitched battle over the future of the Civic Arena. But in the end, no clear victor emerged.

In all, the 49 people who testified before the city-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority seemed to be evenly divided over whether the silver domed landmark should get a makeover or a death sentence.

For the most part, the debate followed familiar ground, with those seeking to save the old building campaigning for more time to put together a feasible reuse plan, while those in favor of demolition saw little value in prolonging the arena's life.

Among those leading the charge to save the 49-year-old structure was state Sen. Jim Ferlo, who was arrested in 1991 trying to stop the demolition of the Syria Mosque in Oakland. He called on the SEA, which owns the arena, to declare a "two-year cooling period" to allow for the development of alternative uses.

"What an embarrassing contradiction for city and county leaders to tout our green and sustainable initiatives, projecting new regional initiatives or sustainability principles and projects, yet [they] are so quick to implement the self-serving and demolition agenda of the Penguins organization," he said.

Peter Floyd, a project management consultant who lives in Sewickley, said he was "astonished and appalled" that demolition was even an option.

Replacing what he described as a "national historic facility" with a "boring rectangular street grid with generic buildings," an apparent reference to the Penguins' redevelopment plans, "is just plain nuts."

"Do you think the leaders of St. Louis would even consider the idea of demolishing the Gateway Arch? Or would Seattle leaders discuss replacing the Space Needle with offices and shops? I think not," he said.

Some accused the SEA of rushing through a state process designed to consider alternatives to demolition, even though the state's Bureau for Historic Preservation has stated that the agency has met the consultation requirements of the state History Code.

"This process has been a ruse. It's been downright dirty and corrupt," said Gary English, who called on the SEA to put the future of the arena before voters in a referendum on Nov. 2.

But not everybody felt the same way about the Igloo, which reverted back to the Civic Arena on Aug. 1 when the naming rights held by BNY Mellon expired.

Chief among them was Penguins president David Morehouse, who was booed when he suggested the arena's retractable roof "never opened because it never worked."

The team wants to see the arena demolished to make way for a mixed use development that would include offices, residences and entertainment. It also plans to restore the street grid that once connected the Hill and Downtown, destroyed when the Civic Arena was built. The Penguins have development rights over the 28 acres of land that includes the arena.

Mr. Morehouse said developers had expressed concern about trying to build around the arena.

"In the last 20 years, there have been 25 new NHL arenas, 25 NBA arenas, 22 Major League Baseball ballparks, 22 NFL stadiums. An equal number of those arenas and stadiums have been demolished. The reason for that is because there's no real good, economic, viable reuse option for a structure of that size," he said.

He added in an interview after his testimony that he had yet to see a viable reuse plan from those seeking to save the arena.

"There are a lot of great ideas. They have a few Facebook friends, and a couple of ideas. We can say we want to put a spaceship there but it doesn't make it viable," he said.

The Penguins picked up support for their plans from local labor leaders; some of the contractors that have worked for them; and state Rep. Jake Wheatley, D-Hill District, and city Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle, who represents the Hill.

Jack Shea, president of the Allegheny County Labor Council, said the Penguins' plan would create badly needed jobs in the region. He likened arena reuse plans to Skybus, the proposed transit system scrapped in the mid-1970s.

"We can't [let] that same mistake happen. We need jobs. This is going to provide jobs," he said of the Penguins proposal.

While most speakers debated the pros or cons of saving the arena, some Hill District leaders took a different tack. They argued that whatever happens at the site should not be left to the Penguins, preservationists or developers, but to Hill residents themselves.

Those who live closest to the arena need to have the most say in what is developed on the lower Hill property, argued George Moses of the Hill District Consensus Group.

"I haven't heard that here. Everybody's come from Bedford, from Ambridge, Sewickley. I mean, what's up with that?" he asked.

"I'm not going out to Sewickley asking them what to do with the bridge that won't go nowhere out there. I'm not going there asking other folks what to do in their neighborhoods. We Hill District residents determine the process of what happens."

After the meeting, SEA board chairman Wayne Fontana, a state senator, said no vote had been scheduled on whether to demolish the arena. He said he wanted to review the testimony and give the matter some thought before deciding what to do.

"I don't know I'm leaning one way or the other. I want to give myself a chance to read through and review everything again before I make up my mind. It's just one of those things where I think there's a lot of good thoughts and comments on both sides," he said.

Some proponents of saving the arena warned that the SEA could jeopardize federal funding for site redevelopment under federal preservation law if it moves too quickly to demolish.

However, the SEA has been assured by the federal advisory council on historic preservation that no such issue exists because there is no application for funding at this point, executive director Mary Conturo said.

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