Cincinnati Gardens
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Cincinnati_gardens_exterior_2004.jpg
The Cincinnati Gardens is an indoor sports and entertainment 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 was most recently the home of the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the American Hockey League, but it has also been host to numerous other sporting events, concerts, stage shows, circuses and political rallies.
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Sporting events
Cincinnati_gardens_interior_2005.jpg
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 NHL Hall of Famers 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.
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 Cyclones played in the East Coast Hockey League for two seasons and the IHL for five seasons at the Gardens. When the Cyclones moved to an existing downtown 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, who played in the building until 2005.
Basketball
The Gardens was home to the Cincinnati Royals of the National Basketball Association (now the Sacramento Kings) from 1957 through 1972. Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson played for the Royals from 1960 through 1970. In 1966, the arena hosted the NBA All-Star Game and Royals' guard Adrian Smith was named the game's Most Valuable Player.
College basketball, including 42 "Crosstown Shootout" games between the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University, has been played at the Gardens since its first week in 1949. The arena has served as the home court for both schools at various times, lastly for Xavier from 1983 through 2000.
From 1984 through 1987, the Cincinnati Slammers of the Continental Basketball Association played their home games at the Gardens.
Boxing
The Gardens has hosted a number of boxing matches, particularly several featuring prominent local fighters. Eventual Heavyweight champion and Hall of Famer Ezzard Charles of Cincinnati defeated Joey Maxim in a heavyweight title contender fight on February 28, 1949 in the arena's first week. Numerous Golden Gloves competitions have drawn as many as 10,000 fans, and a "Super Brawl Sunday" event was held in 2002.
Other sports
Other sports hosted at the Gardens have included:
- Indoor soccer - Cincinnati Silverbacks (1995-1997)
- Professional wrestling
- Roller derby
- Rodeo
- Monster truck jams
- Auto and motorcycle racing
Political events
Political events have drawn the largest crowds in the Gardens' history including:
- Richard Nixon/Henry Cabot Lodge campaign rally, October 25, 1960 - 19,000
- Barry Goldwater campaign rally, September 29, 1964 - 16,025
- Richard Nixon campaign rally, October 21, 1968 - 16,000
Concerts
Numerous concert acts have appeared at the Cincinnati Gardens, most notably The Beatles on August 27, 1964. Others include:
- Yes - September 19, 1972; March 3, 1974; December 15, 1974
- Elvis Presley - June 27, 1973
- Grateful Dead - December 4, 1973
- Frank Zappa - May 16, 1975; August 19, 1984
- Pink Floyd - June 23, 1977
- Madonna - May 17, 1985
- Bob Dylan - February 19, 1998
- Sammy Davis, Jr.
- Lawrence Welk
References
- Cincinnati Mohawks (http://www.cincysports.net/Mohawks.htm)
- Cincinnati Swords (http://www.cincysports.net/Swords.htm)
External links
- Cincinnati Gardens history (pdf) (http://www.cincinnatimightyducks.com/pdf/gardens.pdf)