Boston Garden

Boston Garden

The Garden
Boston Garden viewed from Causeway Street 1994
Former names	Boston Madison Square Garden
Location	150 Causeway Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02114, USA
Coordinates	42°21′56.51″N 71°3′42.18″W / 42.3656972°N 71.0617167°W / 42.3656972; -71.0617167Coordinates: 42°21′56.51″N 71°3′42.18″W / 42.3656972°N 71.0617167°W / 42.3656972; -71.0617167
Owner	Boston and Maine Corporation (1928–65) Linnell & Cox (1965–1973) Storer Broadcasting (1973–75) Delaware North (1975–97)
Operator	Madison Square Garden Corporation (1928–34) Boston Garden-Arena Corporation (1934–1973) Storer Broadcasting (1973–75) Delaware North (1975–97)
Capacity	Ice hockey: 14,448 Basketball: 14,890 Concerts: 15,909
Surface	Ice / Parquet floor
Construction
Broke ground	December 1927
Opened	November 17, 1928
Closed	September 28, 1995
Demolished	March 1998
Construction cost	$4 million ($55.8 million in 2017 dollars)
Architect	Tex Rickard Funk & Wilcox Company
General contractor	Dwight P. Robinson Company, Inc.
Tenants
Boston Bruins (NHL) (1928–95) Boston Celtics (BAA/NBA) (1946–95) Boston Braves (AHL) (1971–74) New England Whalers (WHA) (1973–74) Boston Blazers (NLL) (1992–95)

Boston Garden was an arena located in Boston, United States. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928 as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (later shortened to just "Boston Garden") and outlived its original namesake by 30 years. It was located above North Station, a train station which was originally a hub for the Boston and Maine Railroad and is now a hub for MBTA Commuter Rail and Amtrak trains. The Garden hosted home games for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as rock concerts, amateur sports, boxing and professional wrestling matches, circuses, and ice shows. It was also used as an exposition hall for political rallies such as the speech by John F. Kennedy in November 1960. Boston Garden was demolished in 1998, three years after the completion of its new successor arena, the FleetCenter, now known as the TD Garden.

Tex Rickard, the noted entrepreneur and boxing promoter who built and operated the third Madison Square Garden, sought to expand his empire by building a series of seven "Madison Square Gardens" around the country. Built at a cost of $10 million – over double the price for New York's arena three years earlier – Boston Garden turned out to be the last of the series, a decision fueled by high costs and Rickard's death in 1929. The Garden's first event was on November 17, 1928, a boxing card headlined by Boston Native "Honey Boy" Dick Finnegan's defeat of Andre Routis. The first team sporting event was held three days later, an ice hockey game between the Bruins and the archrival Montreal Canadiens, won by the Canadiens 1–0. The game was attended by 17,000 fans, 2,000 over capacity, as fans without tickets stormed their way in. The game started 25 minutes late. Windows and doors were broken by the fans in the action. The first non-sporting event, a conclave featuring evangelist Rodney "Gipsy" Smith, was held on March 24, 1929.