With Mario Lemieux appropriately at the center of the line, officials from government and the Penguins ceremonially broke ground on a new hockey arena today, using shovels with shafts made from star Sidney Crosby's sticks.

The $290 million facility will replace the nearby Mellon Arena in the lower Hill District. Also designed to accommodate basketball and other indoor sports, circuses and concerts, the new arena is to open in fall 2010.

The Penguins have been pressing for a home to replace the Mellon Arena, built in 1961.

The new facility will have a capacity of 18,087 for hockey, an increase over Mellon's 16,940. It will also have more suites and club seats.

Gov. Ed Rendell credited the creation of slots casinos in the state for providing a key piece of the funding for the facility. Revenue from the casino to be built on the North Side, currently delayed by funding problems, has been promised to the arena.

Several hundred fans attended the ceremony and chanted "Let's Go Pens."