DUNKIN' DONUTS CENTER

 

                                                                 

Back to Venues                                       Next Venue

 

  1972 - present

 

 

HISTORY

The Dunkin' Donuts Center, is an indoor arena located in downtown Providence. In 1972 it opened its doors as the Providence Civic Center as a replacement to the very old RI Auditorium and as a place for the emerging Providence College men's basketball program and the high demand for tickets to their games in Alumni Hall, as well as for the then-Providence Reds, who played in the nearly fifty-year old Rhode Island Auditorium. In 2001, the naming rights to the arena were sold to Dunkin’ Donuts, and the Center started to become known as “The Dunk”. Current tenants include the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League and the Providence College Friars men's basketball team.

 

The Civic Center has hosted many notable events in its thirty-plus year history. In 1973, the first full year it opened, the PC Friars of Ernie DiGregorio and Marvin Barnes made it to the NCAA Final Four in basketball. The Boston Celtics once played some home games there, and Marvin Hagler and Vinny Pazienza fought for world championships in the building. The Civic Center was a stop for the world’s greatest entertainers. Elvis Presley, Rod Stewart, Sting and Springsteen have played the building. During his time, Frank Sinatra made several stops in Providence. Whenever he appeared, state police detectives would scan the crowd for organized crime figures who had gotten choice seats near the stage.

 

CLICK BELOW for an except of

"The Prince of Providence: The Rise and Fall of Buddy Cianci, America's Most Notorious Mayor by Mike Stanton

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONCERT WE PRESENTLY KNOW ABOUT