Mrs Chadwick said the re-naming reflected the predominant use of the centre and a proposal to turn it into a hub for the city's performing arts and cultural groups with the Rotorua Energy Events Centre now the main venue for conventions and conferences.
Last night's concert took the crowd on a tour through Sir Howard's career and featured a host of well-known Kiwi entertainers who accompanied "Rotorua's favourite son" during his long career.
"It was the right time to be doing this, the right time to be honouring a man who was much more than an entertainer," Mrs Chadwick said.
"He had a passion for this place - he was an ambassador for Rotorua and for New Zealand and an ambassador for the youth of this country. As a council we are very pleased to remember him in this way.
"We all remember Sir Howard in different ways - my early memories of him are as a child, watching and listening to him. Naming this centre after him is recognition of his huge contribution to the arts - moving it into the future but symbolically linking it with our past."
The mayor said the new name would bring more meaning to the centre.
"It will become a local landmark, something that will be directly linked with Rotorua."