TD Garden

This article is about the TD Garden. For its predecessor, see Boston Garden.

TD Garden
"The Garden", "Boston Garden"
Former names	Shawmut Center (1995) FleetCenter (1995 – February 10, 2005) various names (February 11 – March 13, 2005) TD Banknorth Garden (March 14, 2005 – July 16, 2009) TD Garden (July 17, 2009–present)
Location	100 Legends Way Boston, Massachusetts, 02114
Coordinates	42°21′58.69″N 71°3′44.02″W
Broke ground	April 29, 1993
Opened	September 30, 1995
Owner	Delaware North Companies
Operator	Delaware North Companies
Construction cost	$160 million ($244 million in 2013 dollars)
Architect	Ellerbe Becket, Inc.
Project manager	Upton & Partners
Structural engineer	LeMessurier Consultants
Services engineer	Flack + Kurtz
General contractor	Morse Diesel International
Capacity	NBA Basketball: 18,624 NHL Hockey: 17,565 Concerts: 20,000
Tenants
Boston Celtics (NBA) (1995–present) Boston Bruins (NHL) (1995–present) Boston Blazers(MILL) (1996–1997) Boston Blazers (NLL) (2009–2011)

TD Garden is a multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts. It is named after its sponsor, TD Bank, N.A. and is often simply referred to by local Bostonians as, The Garden, The Fleet Center, or the traditional Boston Garden. It was formerly known as the FleetCenter and the Shawmut Center (title sponsor Shawmut Bank was bought by FleetBoston Financial before the arena opened). TD Bank, N.A. has been in control of the arena's naming rights since 2005, with the arena called TD Banknorth Garden until July 16, 2009, when the TD Banknorth name ceased to exist.

TD Garden is the home arena for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association and the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. It is owned by Delaware North, whose CEO, Jeremy Jacobs, also owns the Bruins. It is the site of the annual Beanpot college hockey tournament, and hosts the annual Hockey East Championships. The arena has also hosted many major national sporting events including the 1999, 2003, and 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball regional first and second rounds, the 2009 and 2012 Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight, the 1998 Frozen Four, the 2004 Frozen Four, and the 2006 Women's Final Four. It also hosted the home games of the 2008 and 2010 NBA Finals, and the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals for the Celtics and Bruins, respectively.

History

Construction

Planners drew up designs for a new arena in the early 1990s after years of pressure on the owners of the Boston Bruins hockey club to replace the aging Boston Garden, which had been considered inadequate as a major league sports facility for many years. Plans for the new stadium stated that it would be slightly north of the old facility. The term "slightly north" ended up meaning that there was only nine inches (23 cm) of space between the two buildings when construction was completed. The site for the new stadium occupied 3.2 acres (13,000 m²). It eventually cost $160 million. Ground was broken on April 29, 1993. In 27 months, quick by today's standards, the stadium was built. That included seven weeks of delay caused by heavy snowfall. The Shawmut Center opened on September 30, 1995.

Naming

When constructed to replace the aging Boston Garden as the home of the Boston Celtics basketball team and the Boston Bruins hockey team, the arena was called the FleetCenter. The arena opened on September 30, 1995.

During the construction phase, the naming rights to the "New Garden" were sold to a major Boston-based regional bank, Shawmut Bank. However, just as the Shawmut Center was being completed, Shawmut merged with its somewhat larger rival, the Providence-based Fleet Bank. The merger was negotiated in secret while Shawmut and Fleet's marketing departments were simultaneously engaged in a spirited bidding war for the arena's naming rights. The post-merger bank had effectively been bidding against itself. The bank which won the competition for the "New Garden's" naming rights, Shawmut, was the bank whose name disappeared during the merger. Shortly before the new arena opened, every seat, which had been stamped with the Shawmut logo, had to be replaced. Also, the entire color scheme for the interior had to be adjusted.

New HD Scoreboard

2004 Celtics game at the then named FleetCenter

The name of the arena was expected to change as a result of the April 1, 2004 merger of FleetBoston Financial with Bank of America. On January 5, 2005, Delaware North announced an agreement under which the bank made a payment to be released from the remaining six years on the naming rights agreement. The agreement left Delaware North free to sell the naming rights to another sponsor. On March 3, 2005, Maine-based TD Banknorth, a U.S. subsidiary of Toronto-Dominion Bank, announced its purchase of the naming rights for $6 million per year. The first major event after the announcement was the 2005 Hockey East men's tournament.

The company named the facility "TD Banknorth Garden" in honor of the original Boston Garden. The name officially became the TD Banknorth Garden on July 1, 2005. Prior to that date, it went under the name "YourGarden."

In early 2005, while still searching for a long-term corporate sponsor, the FleetCenter conducted auctions on eBay to sell one-day naming rights. From February 10 to March 13, the FleetCenter sold the naming rights 30 different times on eBay. The net proceeds of $150,633.22 generated during the auction was donated to charities in the Greater Boston area, and $40,000 worth of My Grandma's Coffee Cakes was donated to local food banks. The FleetCenter also made private arrangements with a few companies for one-day naming rights, and offered one day's rights in an employee raffle.

2nd Fleetcenter Logo after Fleet's merger with BankBoston (1999–2004)

TD Banknorth Garden signage (2005–2009)

The Boston Bruins's hockey rink in 2008

During the name auction, only twice were names reported to be rejected. Kerry Konrad, a New York City lawyer and Yankees fan, won naming rights for March 1 with a bid of $2300. He proposed the name "Derek Jeter Center," after the New York Yankees shortstop, a stab at fellow Harvard College alum and Boston Red Sox fan Jerry Rappaport, Jr., with whom he had a 25 year-old rivalry. Being in the heart of Red Sox Nation, the name did not sit well with the executives and was rejected. An agreement was reached in which Rappaport added $6300 for a total bid of $8600, representing the 86 years of the Curse of the Bambino, and named the arena "New Boston Garden, Home of The Jimmy Fund Champions." Fark.com founder Drew Curtis held a contest on his website to name the arena after he bought single-day rights. A user vote resulted in the "Fark.com UFIA Center" coming on top, but the name was rejected due to its inappropriate meaning. The name eventually selected by Curtis and company was "Boston Garden".

• Including its present name, the TD Garden has had 33 different names.
• Celtics players dubbed it "The Jungle" during the team's 2002 playoff run.

In April 2008, TD Banknorth became TD Bank, after a merger with Commerce Bancorp, a New Jersey–based bank. Owner Delaware North Companies announced on April 15, 2009, that the building would be renamed TD Garden in July 2009.

Renovations

Before the 2006–07 season, the TD Garden underwent a major overhaul, installing a new HD entertainment board. For basketball, video advertising panels (installed by the NCAA for the 2006 Women's Final Four) replaced the traditional scrolling panels, and added a see-through shot clock, joining the FedExForum, Wells Fargo Center (Philadelphia), Philips Arena, US Airways Center, United Center, Quicken Loans Arena, and the Time Warner Cable Arena. In addition, for hockey, a vintage siren, just as the original Boston Garden had used, was added to replace the end-of-period horn, although the latter is still used for basketball. In 2009 a LED energy efficient lighting system was added to the exterior of the building. The arena has been recognized by many industry publications as one of the top arenas in the country. Arena industry publication Venues Today ranked the TD Garden as the No. 3 arena in the country for 2006. Additionally, the TD Garden has been recognized with the following recent awards and achievements:•2007 TD Garden selected as finalist for National Sports Forum Achievement Award •2008 TD Garden receives EPA Award •2009 Nominated for Sports Facility of the Year by Sports Business Journal On january 25 2013 during a celtics vs knicks game at the garden television announcer marv albert accused the td garden production crew for being one of those arenas that "constantly" use fake sound effects to intensify the crowd reactions on nationally televised games, however the official twitter account of the boston celtics stated that the Celtics have never used artificial crowd noise.

Usage

Sports

Celtics in a game at the TD Garden

The arena is primarily the home arena for the NBA's Boston Celtics and the NHL's Boston Bruins, and is the home of the annual Beanpot college hockey tournament between the Boston University Terriers, Boston College Eagles, Harvard University Crimson and Northeastern University Huskies. The facility has also hosted the 2001 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the 1996 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, the 1996 and 2000 US Gymnastics Trials, the 1998 and 2004 NCAA Men's Frozen Four, the 1996 NHL All-Star Game, the 2008 and 2010 NBA Finals, and the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals.

The Celtics' trademark parquet floor at the TD Garden in 2010.

TD Garden is one of two NBA arenas (along with Amway Center, home of the Orlando Magic) with parquet floors. The Celtics are best known for the tradition of the parquet floor, originally built after World War II because of cost and the scarcity of lumber in that time. However, a traditional floor was used in the 2006 NCAA Women's Final Four and the 2009 NCAA Men's East Regional (NCAA rules require a special NCAA-specification floor be used for all tournament games). When the 2012 NCAA Men's East Regional was held at TD Garden, a lighter-shaded parquet floor was used, with the same NCAA-specific design.

Ricky Hatton began his 'American dream' here on May 13, 2006, he stepped up to welterweight to fight WBA world champion Luis Collazo. After knocking Collazo down after seconds into the first round, Hatton was made to work hard to earn a unanimous point win.

Other events

The FleetCenter (at the time of the photo) hosting the 2004 Democratic National Convention

The very first concert ever hosted at the now TD Garden was R.E.M. on October 2, 1995. Since its grand opening in 1995, more than 30 million people have come to the TD Garden to see the arena's famous tenants, the NHL's Boston Bruins and NBA's Boston Celtics, as well as world-renowned concerts, sporting events, family shows, wrestling, ice shows and so much more. Home to approximately 200 public events annually, the TD Garden hosts well over 3.5 million people each year.

Among the non-sporting events hosted by the Garden are concerts, shows, graduations, seminars, Disney on Ice, the circus, and commencement exercises for Northeastern University.

Comedians such as Tim Allen, Denis Leary, Chris Rock and Louis C.K., among many others, have all performed at the TD Garden during their nationwide tours. It has hosted many WWE events such as Wrestlemania 14 in 1998, King of the Ring 2000, Royal Rumble 2003 and 2011, Summerslam 2006, Survivor series 2008 and Night of Champions 2012. It has been a regular stop for Monday Night Raw and Friday Night Smackdown, notable episodes that have been held here at the 900th episode of Raw and celebrating a Decade long of Smackdown. The WWE will return to the Garden for a Smackdown taping on April 9, 2013. The arena will host wwe Survivor Series on November 17 2013, which is the second one it hosted, the first being in 2008.

On August 28, 2010, the TD Garden hosted UFC 118, which was the first time that the UFC held an event in Boston. UFC president Dana White has confirmed that the UFC will be returning to the garden sometime in 2013.

Diana Ross was scheduled to perform during her Return to Love Tour on July 13, 2000, but the show was canceled. In 2001, U2 recorded four consecutive concerts there for use on their Elevation 2001: Live from Boston DVD. David Bowie was scheduled to perform during his A Reality Tour on December 9, 2003, but the show was canceled, due to tour band illness. He returned and performed on March 30, 2004. Fleetwood Mac recorded and filmed their 2004 CD/DVD package Fleetwood Mac: Live in Boston at this venue. Bon Jovi recorded his Walmart Exclusive CD Live From the Have A Nice Day Tour which was recorded December 10, 2005. The Who and Genesis recorded live CDs as part of the Encore Series in 2006 and 2007, respectively. The Spice Girls performed at the Garden on January 30, 2008. The filming of Celine Dion's Taking Chances Tour took place on August 12–13, 2008. Miley Cyrus performed her hit songs in her Wonder World Tour on November 9, 2009. Lady Gaga brought her record-breaking Monster Ball Tour to TD Garden in 2010 and 2011. She will also bring her Born This Way Ball Tour in 2013. Katy Perry performed hit songs from her Teenage Dream album in her California Dreams Tour. Aerosmith performed two shows July 17 and July 19, 2012 on their Global Warming Tour. On July 29 and 30 2012 Coldplay visited TD garden as a part of their Mylo Xyloto Tour. Pearl Jam first played the arena on September 28 & 29, 2004 as warm-up shows for the Vote for Change tour. They performed again on May 24 & 25, 2006 and May 17, 2010.Kiss 108's Jingle Ball was held here on December 6 2012. Disney on ice celebrates 100 years of magic performed here from December 27-30.

Museum

Located in TD Garden is The Sports Museum (also known as "The Sports Museum of New England"). The museum's exhibits focus on the history of various sports in the Boston area, including the Boston Bruins and the Boston Celtics.

Facilities

2005 Hockey East Tournament

Just as the Boston Garden was, the TD Garden is built on top of Boston's North Station, a major transportation hub. The Commuter Rail waiting area becomes crowded during events due to this design: the fans shared a relatively small area with commuters and several fast food concessions. (There is a concourse on the second floor which is about the same size as the former main ground floor concourse, but this is utilized only as an entryway for the arena.) Work finished on the expanded North Station concourse in early 2007. A new, larger, railway concourse gives railway passengers a waiting area which does not interfere with patrons entering or leaving the Garden.

Connections to the Orange Line and Green Line are near the eastern entrance to the Garden. The Green Line formerly ran on an elevated train in front of the building: however, a Green Line tunnel was completed in 2004. (The original plan was to tear down the rail tracks before the 2004 Democratic National Convention, but in the end the tracks were purposely left up through the convention, to serve as a platform for security forces.) The elevated rail has since been demolished.

The TD Garden has been seen/mentioned in movies such as The Town (2010 film) starring Ben Affleck, Knight And Day (2010 film) starring Tom Cruise, Zookeeper (2011 film) starring Kevin James, and Ted (2012 film) starring Mark Wahlberg.

See also

• Boston Garden
• TD Ameritrade Park Omaha (Nebraska)
• TD Bank Ballpark (Bridgewater, New Jersey)
• TD Bank Sports Center (Hamden, Connecticut)
• Toronto Dominion Bank Arena (Charleston, South Carolina)
• List of indoor arenas by capacity

External links

• TD Garden