Prudential Center

The Prudential Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the Downtown district of Newark, New Jersey. The arena was designed by HOK Sport, with the exterior designed by Morris Adjmi Architects. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the National Hockey League’s New Jersey Devils ice hockey team, as well as the Seton Hall Pirates men’s basketball team and the Xtreme Soccer League’s New Jersey Ironmen indoor soccer team. The arena seats 17,625 people for hockey. Prudential Center is also known by its nickname, “The Rock”, in reference to the corporate logo of Prudential Financial, the company that owns the naming rights to the arena.

Capacity: 17,625
Opened: October 25, 2007
Owner: City of Newark
Operator: Anschutz Entertainment Group
Architect: HOK Sport

The arena is located two blocks from Newark Penn Station in downtown Newark, just west of Newark’s Ironbound district. A new park named Triangle Park will connect the train station to the arena, making it easily accessible via New Jersey Transit, PATH, Newark Light Rail, and Amtrak.

The Prudential Center is the first major league sports venue to be built in the New York metropolitan area since the Brendan Byrne Arena, the Devils’ former home, opened in 1981. It is hoped that the Prudential Center might play an important role in the revitalization of Newark.

Features

The Prudential Center, built through 2006 and 2007, is the first new arena built in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area in more than 25 years. Located only two blocks from Newark Penn Station, the building is one of the most easily accessible arenas in the country via NJ Transit, PATH, Newark Light Rail, and Amtrak through Newark’s Penn Station. Highways surrounding the arena include I-280, I-78, New Jersey Turnpike, Rt. 1&9, Rt. 21, Rt. 22, and the Garden State Parkway.

The red and gray exterior is inspired by Newark’s bricklaying and railroad heritage, as well as an homage to the colors of the New Jersey Devils. Fans approaching the arena from the front are presented with a view of the arena’s externally mounted 4,800 square foot (446 m�) LED screen, one of the largest in the world. Along the arena’s east side Mulberry Street entrance are two large “entrance cylinders” named the Verizon Tower and PNC Tower, the arena’s most prominent exterior feature. The interior Grand Concourse provides views of downtown Newark on the Edison Street and Mulberry Street sides through large windows. Located next to the ticket office on the street level is the Devils’ new 2,600 square foot (242 m�) Team Store. The Prudential Center features separate concourses for the lower and upper levels.

As the newest facility to be used in the NHL, the Prudential Center features a large array of amenities. The rink area features four LED ribbons and an eight-sided scoreboard equipped with high-definition video screens. The 76 luxury suites available are the largest in North America. Personal dining, WiFi and high-definition televisions are some of the many conveniences available in the luxury suites. There are 750 flat-screen televisions in total across the arena. In the lower bowl are 2,300 black Club seats in three center sections on either side of the ice. Club seat and season ticket holders have access to a 350-seat restaurant on the suite level in one of the end zones with views of the rink. Additionally, the Goal Bar, located at Suite Level One offers Club and Goal Bar seat holders terrace-style seating in a bar environment. Club seat holders also have access to the Fire and Ice Lounges, modern themed private bars intended to attract pre-game and post-game crowds.

Attached to the Prudential Center are the Devils’ corporate offices and practice rink, which contains its own locker rooms. The Prudential Center is one of only two NHL arenas with a practice rink (the other being Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, home of the Columbus Blue Jackets) and the only one with dual locker rooms and practice facilities.

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Prudential Center
Prudential Center wikipedia entry
New Jersey Devils website
NHL website

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