Souvenir program from the opening night in 1949
| Cincinnati Gardens | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | 2250 Seymour Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45212 |
| Opened | February 22, 1949 |
| Owner | Gerry Robinson |
| Operator | Cincinnati Gardens |
| Surface | Concrete (ice floor) |
| Construction cost | $32 Million |
| Tenants | Cincinnati Mighty Ducks (AHL) (1997-2005) Cincinnati Mohawks (AHL) / IHL) (1949-1958) Cincinnati Wings (CPHL) (1963-1964) Cincinnati Swords (AHL) (1971-1974) Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL / IHL) (1990-1997) Cincinnati Royals (National Basketball Association) (1957-1972) Xavier University basketball (NCAA) (occasional 1949-1979, permanent 1983-2000) University of Cincinnati basketball (NCAA) (1949-1954, 1987-1989) Cincinnati Slammers (Continental Basketball Association) (1984-1987) Cincinnati Silverbacks (National Professional Soccer League II) (1995-1998) |
| Capacity | 10,208 |
The Cincinnati Gardens is an arena located in Cincinnati, Ohio, that opened in 1949. The 25,000 square foot (2,300 m²) brick and limestone building, whose entrance is decorated with six three-dimensional carved athletic figures, was modeled after Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, by the same architects and engineers who designed and built the more famous arena a quarter century earlier. When it opened, its seating capacity of 11,000+ made it the seventh largest indoor arena in the United States.
The Cincinnati Gardens' first event was an exhibition hockey game. It has been the home of six league championship hockey teams, and most recently was the home of the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the American Hockey League, but it also has been host to numerous other sporting events, concerts, stage shows, circuses and political rallies.
Sporting events[]
The interior of the Cincinnati Gardens
The Cincinnati Gardens has been known primarily as a venue for hockey, basketball and boxing.
Hockey[]
The Gardens' first event was an exhibition hockey game on February 22, 1949, between the Dallas Texans of the United States Hockey League and their parent National Hockey League team, the Montreal Canadiens. Several of the Texans' players would soon seed the first professional hockey team in Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Mohawks, who played at the Gardens from 1949 through 1958--three seasons in the AHL and six in the International Hockey League. Three members of the Hockey Hall of Fame played for the Mohawks — Harry Howell, Buddy O'Connor and Clint Smith — and from 1952 through 1957, the team won an IHL record five consecutive Turner Cup championships.
Cincinnati Gardens was also home to the Cincinnati Mohawks of the Midwest Amateur Hockey League in 1966, 68, 69. Most of the Mohawks games were held in the annex, but some were played in the big building. The Xavier University Ice Hockey Program began using the Cincinnati Gardens as its home facility for the 2007-2008 season. During the summer before the 2009-2010 season the team constructed its own permanent home inside the arena. The Chuck Stout Locker Room now serves as the home of the Xavier ice hockey team. Complete with 22 individual stalls, shower facilities, coaches room, classroom, and equipment and workout area the Chuck Stout Locker Room is a great asset to the Xavier program.
The Cincinnati Swords played in the AHL as an affiliate of the NHL Buffalo Sabres from 1971 through 1974 and won the Calder Cup as AHL champions in 1973.
The Cincinnati Wings played the 1963-64 season at the Gardens, relocating from Indianapolis (where they were known as the Capitals) after their home arena, the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum, was heavily damaged in a propane explosion on October 31, 1963 which killed 74 people.
The Cincinnati Cyclones played in the East Coast Hockey League for two seasons and the IHL for five seasons at the Cincinnati Gardens. When the Cyclones moved to U.S. Bank Arena in 1997, the AHL returned to the building for the third time with the creation of the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, an affiliate of the NHL Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Detroit Red Wings, who played in the building until 2005.
The Cincinnati Thunder of the NA3HL (North American 3 Hockey League) moved to the Gardens beginning with the 2015-16 season, making the team the Gardens' newest hockey tenant.[1]
Though having no pro-hockey team, the Gardens still acted as the home rink for several area high school teams.