Renovations at Halifax arena reveal 'really cool piece of rock history'

criminal maintenance workers at Halifax's Scotiabank Centre made a try-on find in a freightage lift over the Christmas holidays.

While removing a bumper — a panel that protects the walls of the well-used elevator that transports equipment and goods in the facility — the workers found a pristine signature belonging to Steven Tyler, the lead singer of iconic rock band Aerosmith.

The Love in an Elevator and Sweet Emotion hitmakers have played at least two shows at the Halifax rink, with the last one being on Dec. 28, 1993, at what was then known as the Halifax Metro Centre. Tickets sold for $32.50.

"It's funny to be star-struck from an autograph, but it is a really cool piece of rock history to have his autograph in our facility," said Adria Young, a spokesperson for Events East, the Crown corporation that runs the Scotiabank Centre and Halifax Convention Centre.

Aerosmith has sold more than 150 million albums worldwide and is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

When the discovery was made, word about the find was spread via internal email, said Young. Some staffers even went and had their picture taken with the signature.

She said that beginning in the late 1980s, performers and bands would occasionally take this specific freight elevator as a means of getting from the loading bay to the arena.

Over time, people wrote their signatures on the wall.

"It just became sort of this funny little custom that people would do," said Young.

She said some longtime staffers remember signatures from people such as Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose and Canadian rocker Bryan Adams.

Young said the wall may have had signatures from artists such as Neil Young, Billy Idol and Alice Cooper, but over time, staff members such as maintenance workers, caterers and security guards also signed the wall, which became unsightly.

Young said the wall was painted over in the late 1990s, with the Steven Tyler signature being one of the only ones preserved.

The photo of the Tyler autograph shows parts of another autograph, but it's unclear who it belongs to.

Besides the walls being painted over, bumpers were installed to better protect the elevator walls from being damaged.

Young said it's been about two decades since the Tyler signature was last spotted. As a result, the recent find came as a surprise to many people in the building.

"It's an incredible memento and reminder of Scotiabank Centre's legacy as the home of sports and entertainment in the Atlantic region for almost 50 years," she said.

"And we can imagine there are similar treasures hidden throughout the facility from artists and athletes and figures over the last 50 years, so we hope to uncover more of those in time."

People hoping to see the autograph in person will be out of luck. With the maintenance work complete, the autograph is again protected by the protective panel, said Young.

The Dec. 28, 1993, Aerosmith concert found itself in the news after the show, on account of counterfeit band T-shirts that some bootleggers were hawking for $10 to $15 inside the venue. Official ones sold for $28 to $40, according to stories in The Daily News.

After getting booted from the rink by security, the bootleggers waited outside and continued selling their merchandise there to departing fans.

Three Montreal-area men were fined in Halifax provincial court for violating the federal Copyright Act by selling the shirts.

One of the men didn't learn his lesson — he was busted selling counterfeit shirts at a 1995 Bon Jovi concert in Halifax.

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