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The Pine Belt Arena is a public arena connected to the Toms River High School North. It is the centerpiece of the Toms River Regional School District. It opened June 19, 2003, and is situated on the grounds of the school. The facility is used by the high school and the school district for many functions, and is also used for performances by world-renowned artists, like Bill Cosby. The performances and events inside the arena are ticketed and tickets are sold and marketed to the general public. The venue is used for major concert events throughout the year to raise money for the school district.
The Class of 2003 was the first group of seniors to graduate in the newly built Pine Belt Arena.
Its biggest performances (some as part of Toms River Fest) include Kelly Clarkson, Vanessa Carlton, The Beach Boys, Frankie Valli, The Four Seasons, Kenny Rogers and The Moody Blues. It was also the host of a WWE live event for the new ECW originally scheduled for July 1, 2006 but postponed due to the rowdy un-family friendly crowd at the Hammerstein Ballroom's pay-per-view event One Night Stand 2006 on June 11, it was instead held on September 9 after WWE proved the new ECW was more friendly on the Sci-Fi channel than at the pay per view.
The building was originally named The Ritacco Center, after Michael Ritacco, the then superintendent of Toms River Regional Schools, with Poland Spring coming on board as a major sponsor shortly afterwards. In the wake of the bribery scandal that culminated in Ritacco's arrest by the FBI on October 21, 2010 and his retirement the same day, the school district quickly acted to erase the now-shamed name from the building. The building was then known as the Poland Spring Arena. As of October 26, 2010, using tarps, workers covered over the Ritacco Center name, and discontinued the use of the name elsewhere, including the URL www.ritaccocenter.com. The exterior signage was permanently removed on October 17, 2011.
In July 2011, the school district announced a new name sponsor for the venue. The Pine Belt Auto Group signed a $500,000 contract for the naming rights for five years.
During the building of the Pine Belt Arena, additional wings, a cafeteria, and a library were added onto the school. These additions helped limit overpopulation of the school. They also allowed freshmen to have their own wing so they could easily adjust to the high school.
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