Smoothie King

The New Orleans Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is located in the city's Central Business District, adjacent to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. It has been home to the New Orleans Pelicans (formerly the Hornets) of the NBA since 2002, and is also home to some Tulane University basketball games as well as some high school basketball games and other special events. The now-defunct New Orleans Brass of the ECHL played in the New Orleans Arena their last three seasons before their demise in 2002, caused in part by the arrival of the Hornets. Since February 2004, the New Orleans VooDoo, of the Arena Football League (AFL), played their home games in the arena until the team folded in 2008. The VooDoo resumed play at the Arena in March 2011. Following Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, medical operations that had previously been housed in the Superdome were moved to the Arena. Medical personnel had been working in an area of the Superdome with poor lighting, leaking ceilings and soggy carpet. The Arena's design was tested in 1996 by CPP, a wind engineering consulting firm, so it fared far better than the Superdome during the storm and was in better condition to house sensitive medical operations. Thus, unlike the Superdome, the Arena reopened to activities only one month after the storm.