The William G. Mennen Sports Arena, commonly referred to as Mennen Arena, is a multi-purpose

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

Morris Township, New Jersey Morris Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Morris County, New Jersey, Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 22,974, an increase of 668 (+3.0%) from the 201 ...

primarily used for

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

and other

skating Skating involves any sports or recreational activity which consists of traveling on surfaces or on ice using skates, and may refer to: Ice skating *Ice skating, moving on ice by using ice skates **Figure skating, a sport in which individuals, ...

activities. The building houses three regulation-sized

ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water or an artificial sheet of ice where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The growth and increasing popularity of ...

s. The main rink has seating for 2,500 spectators.

Usage

Mennen Arena is a facility of the Morris County Park Commission. The venue is the main home ice rink for the

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

Colonials youth hockey program and the main training center for the Skating Club of Morris. Morris Rugby Corporation holds events at Mennen Arena. It is also the host rink for the

County College of Morris A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) ''Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denotin ...

hockey team as well as most of the public high school hockey teams in

Morris County, New Jersey Morris County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey, about west of New York City. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the county was the state's List of counties in New Jersey, tenth- ...

. During the summer months the ice surface in the main rink is removed. The arena has hosted the

Shrine Circus The Shrine Circus is a circus founded in Detroit, Michigan on Woodward Avenue in 1906. It travels to roughly 120 cities per year in the United States and a separate unit travels to about 40 in Canada. It is affiliated with the former Ancient Ara ...

, dog shows, professional wrestling and

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

events such as

Grapplers Quest Grapplers Quest is an organization mainly concerned with the promotion of submission grappling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournaments. Founded in 1998 by Brian Cimins, Grapplers Quest hosts competitions of various division, age, and weight classes ...

and

Cage Fury Fighting Championships Cage Fury Fighting Championships (CFFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion primarily operating in the Northeastern United States, founded by Felix and Amy Martinez. They promoted their first shows in Atlantic City, New Jersey, laun ...

(CFFC). Mennen hosted one game for the

New Jersey XTreme The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, ...

of the

National Indoor Football League The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, ...

in 2005, and was formerly the home of the

New Jersey Revolution The New Jersey Revolution were members of the American Indoor Football Association based in Morristown, New Jersey, with home games at the George Mennen arena. The Revolution name referred to New Jersey's nickname, The Crossroads of the Revolutio ...

of the

American Indoor Football Association American Indoor Football (AIF) is a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the East Coast of the United ...

History

The Mennen Arena was built in 1973 on land donated by the

Mennen Mennen is a brand owned in most parts of the world by the Colgate-Palmolive Company. Its most notable product, Mennen Speed Stick, with its fougère perfume and green wide stick, was the US market leader among deodorants and antiperspirants fo ...

Company, now part of

Colgate-Palmolive The Colgate-Palmolive Company, commonly known as Colgate-Palmolive, is an American multinational corporation, multinational consumer products company headquartered on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company specializes in ...

. It was opened to the public on January 12, 1975. At that time, the facility consisted of one indoor multi-purpose arena with artificial ice in place for most of the year. A second ice surface was added in an expansion building in 1986 and a third surface added in 2002.

References

External links

Mennen Sports Arena
at Morris County Parks Commission
RinkAtlas listing for William G. Mennen Sports Arena
Ice hockey venues in New Jersey 1975 establishments in New Jersey Sports venues completed in 1975 Figure skating venues in the United States {{NewJersey-stadium-stub