More than 60,000 people flocked to Rogers Place – the new arena for National Hockey League (NHL) franchise the Edmonton Oilers – on its first public open day last week.

Construction has been completed on the CA$600m (US$455.5m, €405.8m, £345m) ice hockey venue, located in downtown Edmonton, Canada, and it will host its first official sporting fixtures next month when the NHL returns.

“Watching fans gather in the building for the first time is absolutely what’s been motivating our staff and to get the building ready,” said vice president and general manager for Rogers Place, Susan Darrington. “We couldn’t be more excited.”

Spectators will be able to follow the sporting action on the 90,000lbs (40,823kg) scoreboard – five times bigger than any other in the league – and on 1,250 television screens spread throughout the venue.

Architects HOK have designed Rogers Place in association with partner firms Dialog, Manica and Arndt Tkalcic Benger. The venue has 25,000sq ft (2,300sq m) of programmable space, and as well as being used to host NHL fixtures it features cafes, bars, restaurants and a hotel.

It can also be expanded to host concerts, with Dolly Parton and Keith Urban scheduled to appear in its first few months.

The arena will be the revitalising centrepiece of Edmonton’s forthcoming Ice District – a 25 acre commercial and leisure district being developed by Shugarman Architecture, WAM Development and Hariri Pontarini Architects – which is set to open by 2020.