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Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street within Toronto's Garden District. The building was originally constructed in 1931 as an indoor arena to host ice hockey games.
Considered one of the "cathedrals" of hockey, it was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1931 to 1999. The Leafs won the Stanley Cup 11 times from 1932 to 1967 while playing at the Gardens. The first NHL All-Star Game, albeit an unofficial one, was held at the Gardens in 1934 as a benefit for Leafs forward Ace Bailey, who had suffered a career-ending head injury. The first official annual National Hockey League All-Star Game was also held at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1947.
It was home to the Toronto Huskies (1946–1947) in their single season in the Basketball Association of America (a forerunner of the National Basketball Association), the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey League, the Toronto Toros of the World Hockey Association (1974–1976), the Toronto Blizzard of the North American Soccer League (1980–1982 indoor seasons), the Toronto Shooting Stars of the National Professional Soccer League (1996–1997), and the Toronto Rock of the National Lacrosse League (1999–2000). The NBA's Buffalo Braves played a total of 16 regular season games at Maple Leaf Gardens from 1971 to 1975. The NBA's Toronto Raptors played six games at the Gardens from 1997 to 1999, mostly when SkyDome was unavailable.
The arena was also one of the few venues outside the United States where Elvis Presley performed in concert (April 2, 1957). In 1972, Maple Leaf Gardens hosted Game 2 of the famous Summit Series between Team Canada and the USSR—Team Canada won the game 4–1.
After the Leafs and Raptors moved to Air Canada Centre (later renamed to Scotiabank Arena), in 1999, Maple Leaf Gardens sat largely vacant for nearly a decade as the owners refused to sell it, fearing that it would compete with Air Canada Centre. In 2009, it was sold and underwent a major internal reconstruction, turning it into a multi-purpose facility, with a Loblaws supermarket occupying retail space on the lower floors and an arena for Toronto Metropolitan University, known as Mattamy Athletic Centre at the Gardens, occupying the top level.
The Toronto Maple Leafs had been playing in the Arena Gardens on Mutual Street. It was built in 1912 and held 7,500 spectators for hockey. By 1930, the Leafs managing director Conn Smythe decided the "Arena" was too small, and he wanted to build a new arena, larger and more impressive. After considering various sites, the site at the corner of Carlton and Church was purchased from The T. Eaton Co. Ltd. for $350,000, ($6.71 million in 2023 dollars), a price said to be $150,000 below market value. The new 12,473-seat (14,550 including standing room) arena was designed by the architectural firm of Ross and Macdonald.
To finance the construction, Smythe launched Maple Leaf Gardens Limited (MLGL), a management company that would own the arena and the Maple Leafs. A public offering of shares in MLGL was made at C$10 each ($192.00 in 2023 dollars), with a free common share for each five preferred shares purchased. Ownership of the hockey team was transferred to MLGL in return for shares. Intending right from the start, the Gardens would host other events. W. A. Hewitt, sports editor of the Toronto Star, was hired as general manager of Maple Leaf Gardens to oversee all events other than professional hockey. His son, Foster Hewitt, was hired to run the radio broadcasts and oversaw the construction of the radio broadcast facilities.
The contract to construct the building was awarded to Thomson Brothers Construction of Port Credit in Toronto Township. Thomson Bros bid just under $990,000 for the project, the lowest of ten tenders received, mainly because amongst the Thomson Brothers' various enterprises they had much of the sub-contract work covered (Thomson Lumber, Thomson Bros. Excavation), and others could not compete in this manner. That price did not include steelwork, which was estimated at an additional $100,000. Further savings were made through deals with labour unions in exchange for shares in MLGL. Construction began at midnight on June 1, 1931. In what is to this day considered to be a remarkable accomplishment, the Gardens was constructed in five months and two weeks at a cost of C$1.5 million ($28.7 million in 2023 dollars).
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Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street within Toronto's Garden District. The building was originally constructed in 1931 as an indoor arena to host ice hockey games.
Considered one of the "cathedrals" of hockey, it was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1931 to 1999. The Leafs won the Stanley Cup 11 times from 1932 to 1967 while playing at the Gardens. The first NHL All-Star Game, albeit an unofficial one, was held at the Gardens in 1934 as a benefit for Leafs forward Ace Bailey, who had suffered a career-ending head injury. The first official annual National Hockey League All-Star Game was also held at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1947.
It was home to the Toronto Huskies (1946–1947) in their single season in the Basketball Association of America (a forerunner of the National Basketball Association), the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey League, the Toronto Toros of the World Hockey Association (1974–1976), the Toronto Blizzard of the North American Soccer League (1980–1982 indoor seasons), the Toronto Shooting Stars of the National Professional Soccer League (1996–1997), and the Toronto Rock of the National Lacrosse League (1999–2000). The NBA's Buffalo Braves played a total of 16 regular season games at Maple Leaf Gardens from 1971 to 1975. The NBA's Toronto Raptors played six games at the Gardens from 1997 to 1999, mostly when SkyDome was unavailable.
The arena was also one of the few venues outside the United States where Elvis Presley performed in concert (April 2, 1957). In 1972, Maple Leaf Gardens hosted Game 2 of the famous Summit Series between Team Canada and the USSR—Team Canada won the game 4–1.
After the Leafs and Raptors moved to Air Canada Centre (later renamed to Scotiabank Arena), in 1999, Maple Leaf Gardens sat largely vacant for nearly a decade as the owners refused to sell it, fearing that it would compete with Air Canada Centre. In 2009, it was sold and underwent a major internal reconstruction, turning it into a multi-purpose facility, with a Loblaws supermarket occupying retail space on the lower floors and an arena for Toronto Metropolitan University, known as Mattamy Athletic Centre at the Gardens, occupying the top level.
The Toronto Maple Leafs had been playing in the Arena Gardens on Mutual Street. It was built in 1912 and held 7,500 spectators for hockey. By 1930, the Leafs managing director Conn Smythe decided the "Arena" was too small, and he wanted to build a new arena, larger and more impressive. After considering various sites, the site at the corner of Carlton and Church was purchased from The T. Eaton Co. Ltd. for $350,000, ($6.71 million in 2023 dollars), a price said to be $150,000 below market value. The new 12,473-seat (14,550 including standing room) arena was designed by the architectural firm of Ross and Macdonald.
To finance the construction, Smythe launched Maple Leaf Gardens Limited (MLGL), a management company that would own the arena and the Maple Leafs. A public offering of shares in MLGL was made at C$10 each ($192.00 in 2023 dollars), with a free common share for each five preferred shares purchased. Ownership of the hockey team was transferred to MLGL in return for shares. Intending right from the start, the Gardens would host other events. W. A. Hewitt, sports editor of the Toronto Star, was hired as general manager of Maple Leaf Gardens to oversee all events other than professional hockey. His son, Foster Hewitt, was hired to run the radio broadcasts and oversaw the construction of the radio broadcast facilities.
The contract to construct the building was awarded to Thomson Brothers Construction of Port Credit in Toronto Township. Thomson Bros bid just under $990,000 for the project, the lowest of ten tenders received, mainly because amongst the Thomson Brothers' various enterprises they had much of the sub-contract work covered (Thomson Lumber, Thomson Bros. Excavation), and others could not compete in this manner. That price did not include steelwork, which was estimated at an additional $100,000. Further savings were made through deals with labour unions in exchange for shares in MLGL. Construction began at midnight on June 1, 1931. In what is to this day considered to be a remarkable accomplishment, the Gardens was constructed in five months and two weeks at a cost of C$1.5 million ($28.7 million in 2023 dollars).
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