Boston Garden

Boston Garden
The Garden
Location	150 Causeway Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02114
Opened	November 17, 1928
Closed	September 28, 1995
Demolished	November, 1997
Owner	Delaware North Companies
Operator	Delaware North Companies
Surface	Ice / Parquet Floor
Construction cost	$4 million
Architect	Tex Rickard
Former names	Boston Madison Square Garden
Tenants	Boston Bruins (NHL) (1928–1995) Boston Celtics (NBA) (1946–1995) Boston Braves (AHL) (1971–1974) New England Whalers (WHA) (1972–1974) Boston Blazers (National Lacrosse League
Capacity	Ice Hockey: 13,909 Basketball: 14,890

The Boston Garden was a famous arena built November 17, 1928 in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third incarnation of New York's Madison Square Garden, the arena was originally called the "Boston Madison Square Garden", but eventually got clipped to the Boston Garden. It would eventually outlive its original namesake by some 30 years. Located on top of North Station, a train station, which is a hub for Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Commuter Rail and Amtrak trains, the Garden hosted home games for the Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics, as well as rock concerts, amateur sports, boxing and wrestling cards, circuses and ice shows. It was also used as an exposition hall for political rallies such as the famous speech by John F. Kennedy in November, 1960. The Boston Garden was demolished in 1997, a few years after the completion of its new successor arena, the FleetCenter, which will be called TD Garden beginning in July 2009.

Design

Tex Rickard built the arena specifically with boxing in mind, believing that every seat should be close enough to see the "sweat on the boxers' brows." Because of this design theme, when the larger hockey and basketball playing areas were used, fans were much closer to the players than in most arenas, leading to a distinct hometown advantage. The closeness also created spectacular acoustic effects; one legendary story had a lone fan, sitting in the cheapest seats in the arena, harassing Bruins player Ed Westfall from across the length of the ice, and Westfall turning and giving him "the finger". When teams made playoff appearances, and a sold out crowd was chanting or screaming, the impact was enormous.

During the 1980s, the Boston Garden was known as the most difficult sporting venue for visiting sports team to visit. The Boston Celtics dominance at home, especially during the mid-80s helped to create this aura. During the 1986 season, the Celtics were 40-1 at home, setting the NBA record for home court mastery. They also finished the post season undefeated at home. Combined with the following regular season, the Celtics Garden record was an amazing 79-3 between the 1985-86 and 1986-87 regular seasons.

Boston Garden interior, showing the Bruins' banners.

Flaws

The Garden's hockey rink was undersized as it was nine feet shorter and two feet narrower than standard (200 feet by 85 feet), due to the rink being built at a time when the NHL did not have a standard size for rinks. The setup threw visiting players off their games. Its visitor's dressing room was notoriously small, hot, and underserved by plumbing; the Los Angeles Lakers developed a special hatred for it. Rats made the bowels of the Garden their home.

The Garden had no air conditioning, resulting in fog forming over the ice during Bruins' playoff games. During Game 5 of the 1984 NBA Finals, the 97-degree heat was so intense that oxygen tanks were provided to exhausted players; to this day this game is known as the "Heat Game."

The electrical systems were notoriously unreliable; the Bruins' last two Stanley Cup finals appearances were both disrupted by power outages. On May 24, 1988 a power transformer blew up during Game 4 of the finals series between the Bruins and the Edmonton Oilers: the contest officially ended in a 3–3 tie. However the power-outage had nothing to do with the Garden; a transformer in the North End knocked out power to all areas, including the Garden. Two years later, on May 15, 1990, the lights went out during an overtime finals game between the same two teams, only because they'd been on for so long (the game went to 3 overtimes and lasted 6 hours) Luckily, the lights were turned back on this time, and Game 1 of the series ended with a 3–2 triple overtime win for the visiting Oilers.

Notable events

The facility hosted games in the 1929, 1930, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1946, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1988, and 1990 Stanley Cups, the 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, and 1987 NBA Finals, the NBA All-Star Game in 1951, 1952, 1957, and 1964, and the NHL All-Star Game in 1971. The NCAA Frozen Four was contested there from 1972 to 1974.

Boston Garden was the first arena to host the Stanley Cup Finals and NBA Finals at the same time in 1957. It would achieve the feat again in 1958 and 1974.

Final years

By the early 1990s, Boston Garden had largely outlived its usefulness. The building had no air conditioning and many seats were obstructed by structural pillars. The seats themselves were decades old and terribly cramped. With a capacity of less than 15,000, it was one of the smallest sports arenas in the country. The Garden also lacked luxury suites, which had become a major source of revenue for teams in all professional sports and a veritable necessity. In 1991, preliminary planning began for the construction of a new arena in Boston.

An agreement was finally reached for a new 18,000 seat arena to be built just north of the Boston Garden. Construction began on April 29, 1993. Fleet Bank purchased the naming rights for the new building, and the new FleetCenter opened in October 1995. As of July, 2009 it will be named TD Garden.

The last official game played at the Garden took place on Sunday, May 14, 1995. It was Game 5 of an NHL Eastern Conference quarterfinal series between the Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils. The Devils edged the Bruins, 3–2, winning the series 4 games to 1. The last event ever to be held at the Boston Garden was a preseason game between the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens on September 28, 1995. The Garden sat vacant for almost two years before it was demolished in 1997. The site where the building once stood is now a parking lot.

Preceded by Boston Arena	Home of the Boston Bruins 1928 – 1995	Succeeded by TD Garden
Preceded by Boston Arena	Home of the New England Whalers 1973 – 1974	Succeeded by Hartford Civic Center
Preceded by St. Louis Arena	Host of the NHL All-Star Game 1971	Succeeded by Metropolitan Sports Center
Preceded by Onondaga War Memorial Syracuse, New York	Host of the Frozen Four 1972-1974	Succeeded by St. Louis Arena St. Louis, Missouri