The gymnasium at Great Falls High School, built in 1930, sat about 1,200 on wooden benches[4] in an area designed for use primarily as a basketball court.

The College of Great Falls built the McLaughlin Center in 1966, which contained an Olympic-size swimming pool and 1,800-seat gym designed for use as a basketball court.

In June 2001, city managers held an extraordinary day-long meeting of the arena's users in an attempt mediate these differences.

Instead, city managers said the most urgent needs at Four Seasons involved wooded dashers (waist-high walls) around the rink, a new cover for the ice (to keep it cold when not in use), portable bleachers to expand seating, upgrading and replacement of power lines and poles, a new scoreboard, and improvements to make the facility comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

[29] After extensive negotiations, Cascade County agreed to pay $384,370 over 10 years at 4% interest (a total which included all of the improvements to the arena).

[30] On November 12, 2002, Cascade County signed a formal agreement to allow SMG World to take over management of the fairgrounds and arena.

[33] Two weeks later, the county proposed keeping the main rink open only from mid-May to mid-June and from mid-August to mid-September, and closing the practice ice permanently.

[34] The cooling system under the practice ice failed the first week of April 2003, and the county hired a refrigeration specialist from Canada to determine whether it could be repaired.

In May 2003, it signed an agreement with the Class C Northern Division high school athletic league to "permanently" host District 7, 8, 9, and 10 boys' and girls' basketball tournaments.

[39] Although this was later expanded to include November, blocks of ice-time were so discontinuous that no hockey or figure skating events were scheduled for Four Seasons Arena that year.

[40] When the All-American Professional Basketball League announced it was forming and intended to award Great Falls a franchise, SMG said it would stop offering ice events in the main arena permanently.

[42] Cascade County also agreed to subsidize the fairgrounds and Four Seasons Arena by $750,000 a year, and pay the wages of all SMG employees operating the facilities.

[42] But in 2009, Cascade County declined to renew SMG's contract, concluding it had learned enough to manage the fairgrounds and arena on its own.

[45] The same year, the flooring in the concessions area was cleaned and sealed and the carpeting replaced, and the "green room" in the arena refurbished.

[46] A major study by Cascade County and Montana ExpoPark in 2010 proposed making significant changes to the fairgrounds and Four Seasons Arena.

[47] The same month, however, a private group announced it intended to build a new $40 million 6,000-seat indoor sports arena south of the city.

[48][49] The second story would contain space which would leased by Mountain View Physical Therapy (a for-profit health care provider).

[49][50] The second phase of the project would be a 150,000-square-foot (14,000 m2) multi-purpose arena capable of seating 6,000 and hosting a full-size football field (reconfigurable for rodeos and soccer).

[51] Organizers said they had already secured a 19-acre (7.7 ha) site[52] two blocks south of the Montana State University College of Technology – Great Falls, and intended to begin construction on the $10 million "phase one" building in the summer of 2011.

[48][53] In April 2011, the backers of the proposed facility received a favorable reception from Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer (although no funds were allocated or appropriate yet).

[53] The Internal Revenue Service approved Mountain View Sports Complex's application for nonprofit status in early June 2011.

[56] The CBA awarded the Great Falls Explorers franchise to the city in 2006, and the team played at Four Seasons Arena until it folded in 2008.

In January 1989, Great Falls native and Olympic boxer Todd Foster made his professional boxing debut at the arena.

[61] The first MayFaire, an annual arts and music event benefitting the Benefis Health System, held its first-ever concert at Four Seasons Arena in 2006 (featuring country-western singer Trisha Yearwood).

[62] In 2007, for the first time in its history, the city of Great Falls consolidated all its polling places into a single site: The Four Seasons Arena Exhibition Hall.

[63] In March 2011, the arena hosted the city's first-ever mixed martial arts event, featuring Great Falls natives Leo Bercier, Frank Ramsey, and Tim Welch.

On February 3, 2005, President George W. Bush spoke there the day after his State of the Union address to promote his plan to privatize Social Security.

In Montana, Class C athletics have a complex structure due to the large number of schools and the extensive geographic distances involved.

[82] The arena hosted the annual Terry Casey Memorial Cup national high school hockey tournament in 2000[83] and 2006.

The nonprofit, private foundation raises money to help pay for the cost of bidding on sporting events at the Four Seasons Arena.