Mutual Street Arena
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mutual Street Arena | |
|---|---|
| Arena Gardens | |
| Location | Toronto, Ontario |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: |
| Opened | 1912 |
| Demolished | 1989 |
| Owner | Toronto Arena Company |
| Construction cost | $500,000 CDN |
| Tenants | Toronto Tecumsehs, NHA (1912-13) Toronto Blueshirts, NHA (1912-17) Toronto Ontarios, NHA (1913-14) Toronto Shamrocks, NHA (1914-15) Toronto Aura Lee, OHA (1916-26) Toronto 228th Battalion, NHA (1916-17) Torontos1917-1919 Toronto St. Pats 1919-1927 Toronto Maple Leafs (1927-31) Toronto Marlboros (1926-31) Toronto Falcons, IHL (1929-1930) |
| Capacity | 7,500 (hockey) |
Mutual Street Arena, also called Arena Gardens and initially just the Arena, was a hockey arena in Toronto, Ontario. It was constructed for a reported cost of $500,000 and opened in 1912. At the time, it was billed as the largest indoor arena in Canada and seated about 7,500 for hockey. The rink was owned by the Toronto Arena Company, organized September 19, 1911 with Sir Henry Pellatt as president, Lol Solman as managing director, and directors Aemilius Jarvis, Joseph Kilgour, T.W. Horn, R.A. Smith, and Col. Carlson. There were two other directors from Montreal. It was built on the site of a previous Mutual Street rink, between Dundas Street and Shuter Street.
Arena Gardens was initially home to two new teams in the National Hockey Association: the Toronto Hockey Club and the Tecumseh Hockey Club. Delays in construction meant that the teams could not play in the 1911-12 season, as was originally scheduled.
The Stanley Cup finals were played at Arena Gardens three times, with the Toronto team winning each time. The Cup was won by the Toronto Blueshirts in 1914, by the Torontos in 1918 (the first National Hockey League team to win the Cup), and by the Toronto St. Pats (formerly the Torontos/Arenas) in 1922. Arena Gardens also hosted the Memorial Cup finals nine times from 1919 to 1931. It was from Arena Gardens that radio pioneer Foster Hewitt broadcast his first hockey game on February 16, 1923. The St. Pats became the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1927, and played at Arena Gardens until the construction of Maple Leaf Gardens in 1931.
It also served as a neutral site for several other NHL games during the mid-1920s. For a time, the Arena Gardens was the only facility in Canada east of Manitoba with artificial ice[1] until the Ottawa Auditorium opened in December 1923.
On June 10, 1925, this building was used as the venue to consummate the union of three Protestant denominations: Most of the Presbyterians, the Methodist Church of Canada, and the Congregational Union of Canada, into the United Church of Canada.
In 1938, the Arena was leased to William Dickson who turned it into a recreation facility offering ice skating in winter and roller skating in summer. Dickson bought the building in 1945 and it remained in the family for the next 43 years. Eighteen curling sheets were added in a 1962 renovation, and the building was renamed The Terrace, a name it kept until it was sold in 1988 to become the site of a condominium complex. It closed its doors on April 30, 1989 and was demolished a few months later.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Hunter, Douglas (1997). Champions: The Illustrated History of Hockey's Greatest Dynasties. Chicago: Triumph Books. ISBN 1572432166.
[edit] External links
- Ballparks: Mutual Street Arena
- Arena Gardens: Toronto's original wrestling palace (1922-1938)
- TMLfever: Mutual Street Arena
| Preceded by temporary franchise |
Home of the Torontos/Arenas 1917 – 1919 |
Succeeded by temporary franchise |
| Preceded by first arena |
Home of the Toronto St. Pats/Maple Leafs 1919 – 1931 |
Succeeded by Maple Leaf Gardens |
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