The Santander Arena is a 7,160-seat multi-purpose arena, in Reading, Pennsylvania. It was built in 2001. The arena sits on the former site of the Astor Theatre; one of several grand movie and theater palaces built in Reading in the early 20th century. Closed in 1975, the theater sat vacant for over two decades. In 1998, the Astor was demolished to make room for the Santander Arena. Early in construction, steps were taken to retain mementos of the Astor, including its ornate Art Deco chandelier and gates. These are on display and in use inside the arena corridors, allowing insight into the ambience of the former movie house. The Santander Arena is owned by the Berks CountyConvention Center Authority and managed by SMG. In 2000, the Rajah Shrine Theater was purchased, and after a thorough restoration and updating of the facilities was renamed the Sovereign Performing Arts Center. The Reading Eagle Theater is part of the complex. On October 13, 2013, the building's name was changed from Sovereign Center to Santander Arena. The arena is home to the Reading Royalsice hockey team in the ECHL as well as the Alvernia University Crusaders ice hockey team of the ACHA. It was formerly home to the Reading Railersbasketball team, the New York MajestyLingerie Football League team, the Reading Rocketsbox lacrosse team, and the Reading Express indoor football team. The arena has hosted Jehovah's Witnesses District Conventions from 2005-2013 and will host the renamed Regional Conventions of Jehovah's Witnesses beginning in 2015.
Features
The arena contains 701 club seats and 20 luxury suites. The arena offers of banquet space on the arena floor. With seating for up to 1,200 guests, the Santander Arena can accommodate large functions as well as smaller ones using the Reading Eagle Theater at the Santander Arena setup. The arena also offers a multipurpose room which measures and accommodate functions for up to 200 guests. With the exception of the suites, all seats are standard chairbacks and there is a center-hung videoboard which also functions as a scoreboard for hockey and other sporting events. The seating bowl is surrounded by a concourse which features generic concessions as well as local vendors such as Pennsylvania-based Chickie's & Pete's.
