The Onondaga War Memorial at Oncenter: Entertainment Venue in Syracuse, New York

The Onondaga War Memorial at Oncenter is located in the Oncenter Complex in Syracuse, New York. The complex also contains a civic center and convention center, but it is the War Memorial that separates itself from the rest of the complex. It is host to Syracuse Crunch hockey, ice shows, concerts, car shows, and many others.

The War Memorial is located in downtown Syracuse and has easy access for entrance and exit. It is right near an enclosed, 1,000 space parking garage. The outside building may remind you of the marquee on an old fashioned movie theatre. The arena can seat up to 8,000 people for events depending on the seating arrangements. Although this is one of the AHL's older arenas, the Crunch's home building has been updated to include an LED technology scoreboard with video replay, new seating, and food service areas. Plans to add luxury suites to the arena are also in the works.

One of the most unique features of the War Memorial is its tribute to Onondaga County war veterans. There is a large wall with over 62,000 names of natives who served in the two World Wars and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The lower level features display cases with artifacts such as uniforms originally worn by soldiers in the Revolutionary Wars and Vietnam Wars.

Attendees at Crunch games, concerts, or other shows sit in the "auditorium" of the War Memorial. Regardless of whether you sit downstairs, or on the upper level (also known as the upper concourse), the building is designed to have obstruction free view. During my visit in March, I sat upstairs and still felt like we were right in the middle of game action. The upper level seating is not as high as it is in some other buildings, but I can't speak for the lower level seating. However, one of the unique features is "stage" seating, which is located on the far right side of the lower level and features an elevator for easy access.

Food selections are located on both the lower and upper concourses. Among the selections are chicken fingers and fries, funnel cakes, and Little Ceasars' pizza. The food services are not contracted out and concessions are maintained by Oncenter employees. I remember being pleased by the food, but not finding anything too remarkable about it.

The worst part of my visit was definitely the restrooms. I was appalled to walk into the restroom and see something that reminded me of bathrooms at my old high school. Bad design aside; I felt the area was not kept clean as you could definitely tell the floors were dirty. I understand that the War Memorial is an older building, but that was no excuse for the lack of cleanliness. The housekeeping staff definitely needs to do a better job.

The Onondaga War Memorial is a unique building and unlike any hockey arena I have been in. I enjoyed looking at the exhibits dedicated to the war veterans and not having an obstructed view of the game from my seats. I believe everyone should go to this building regardless of the event you're going to because not only will you have a good time, you will also get an education.