Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium
Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium, originally simply Riverfront Stadium, was a 6,200-seat baseball park in Newark, New Jersey built in 1999. It was the home field of the Newark Bears, who played in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent minor baseball league. The Bears played in the stadium from 1999 until 2013 when they announced a move to the Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball, but the team was folded shortly thereafter.
Brick City The Den | |
| Location | 450 Broad Street Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 6,200 |
| Field size | Left field: 302 feet (92 m) Left-center field: 364 feet (111 m) Center field: 394 feet (120 m) Right-center field: 365 feet (111 m) Right field: 320 feet (98 m) |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Opened | July 16, 1999 |
| Demolished | August 2019 |
| Construction cost | US$30 million |
| Architect | Populous |
| Tenants | |
| Newark Bears (Atlantic/Can-Am) (1999–2013) Rutgers–Newark Scarlet Raiders baseball (NCAA) NJIT Highlanders baseball (NCAA) | |
The stadium was also home to the baseball teams of two of Newark's universities: the Rutgers-Newark Scarlet Raiders, who play in the New Jersey Athletic Conference as part of NCAA Division III, and the NJIT Highlanders, who play in the America East Conference as part of NCAA Division I.
The stadium was named in honor of the original Bears, who were the top farm club of the New York Yankees from 1946 until 1949, and the Newark Eagles, who played in the Negro leagues. Above the press boxes, the stadium featured a Hall of Fame bearing the names of famed players from the Bears and the Eagles and baseball players from Newark.
The stadium cost $34 million to build. It was sold to a developer in 2016 for $23 million, and the site was designated for a commercial-residential project named Riverfront Square. The stadium was demolished in 2019.