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Madison Square Garden (1925)

This article is about the former New York arena. For other uses, seeMadison Square Garden (disambiguation).

Madison Square Garden(MSG III) was anindoor arenainNew York City,the third bearing that name. Built in 1925 and closed in 1968, it was located on the west side ofEighth Avenuebetween49thand50thstreets inManhattan,on the site of the city's trolley-car barns.[1]It was the first Garden that was not located nearMadison Square.MSG III was the home of theNew York Rangersof theNational Hockey Leagueand theNew York Knicksof theNational Basketball Association,and also hosted numerousbo xingmatches, theMillrose Games,theNational Invitation Tournament,Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey,concerts, and other events. In 1968 it was demolished and its role and name passed to thefourth Madison Square Garden,which stands at the site of theoriginal Penn Station.One Worldwide Plazawas built on the arena's former 50th Street location.

Madison Square Garden III
1941 postcard depicting the building
Map
Full nameMadison Square Garden
LocationManhattan,New York
Coordinates40°45′45″N73°59′16″W/ 40.7624°N 73.9877°W/40.7624; -73.9877
OwnerTex Rickard
OperatorTex Rickard
CapacityBasketball: 18,496
Ice hockey: 15,925
Construction
Broke groundJanuary 9, 1925(99 years ago)(January 9, 1925)
OpenedDecember 15, 1925(98 years ago)(December 15, 1925)
ClosedFebruary 13, 1968(56 years ago)(February 13, 1968)
Demolished1968–1969
ArchitectThomas W. Lamb
Tenants
New York/Brooklyn Americans(NHL) (1925–1942)
New York Rangers(NHL) (1926–1968)
St. John's Redmen(NCAA) (1930s–1968)
National Invitation Tournament(1938–1967)
New York Knicks(BAA/NBA) (1946–1968)
Gold loan specimen of the Madison Square Corp., issued 1. May 1925

History

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Groundbreaking on the third Madison Square Garden took place on January 9, 1925.[1]Designed by the theater architectThomas W. Lamb,it was built at the cost of $4.75 million in 349 days by bo xing promoterTex Rickard,who assembled backers he called his "600 millionaires" to fund the project.[1]The new arena was dubbed "The House That Tex Built."[2]In contrast to the ornate towers ofStanford White'ssecond Garden,the exterior of MSG III was a simple box. Its most distinctive feature was the ornatemarqueeabove the main entrance, with seemingly endless abbreviations (Tomw., V/S, Rgrs, Tonite, Thru, etc.) Even the name of the arena was abbreviated, to "Madison Sq. Garden".

The arena, which opened on December 15, 1925,[3]was 200 feet (61 m) by 375 feet (114 m), with seating on three levels, and a maximumcapacityof 18,496 spectators for bo xing.[1]It had poor sight lines, especially for hockey, and fans sitting virtually anywhere behind the first row of the side balcony could count on having some portion of the ice obstructed. The poor ventilation and allowed smoking often caused haze in the upper portions of the Garden.

Madison Square Garden III was managed by Rickard,John S. Hammond,William F. Carey, GeneralJohn Reed Kilpatrick,Ned IrishandIrving Mitchell Felt.[1]It was eventually replaced by the fourthMadison Square Garden.

Events

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Sports

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BulldoggingchampionCowboy Morgan Evanscompetition chit at Madison Square Garden's 1928 World Series Rodeo

Bo xing

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Bo xingwas Madison Square Garden III's principal claim to fame. The first bout took place on December 8, 1925, a week before its official opening. On January 17, 1941, 23,190 people witnessedFritzie Zivic's successful welterweight title defense againstHenry Armstrong,still the largest crowd at any of the Gardens.[4]

Hockey

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TheNew York Rangers,owned by the Garden's ownerTex Rickard,got their name from a play on words involving his name:Tex's Rangers.However, the Rangers were not the first NHL team to play at the Garden; theNew York Americanshad begun play in 1925 – and officially opened the Garden in front of 17,000 by losing to theMontreal Canadiens,3-1[1]–Shorty Greenof the Americans was the first player to score a goal in the arena.[3]The Americans were so tremendously successful that Rickard wanted his own team. The Rangers were founded in 1926 and played their first game in the Garden on November 16, 1926.[1]Both teams played at the Garden until the Americans suspended operations in 1942 due toWorld War II.In the meantime, the Rangers had usurped the Americans with their own success, winning threeStanley Cupsbetween 1928 and 1940. The refusal of the Garden's management to allow the postwar resurrection of the Americans team was one popular theory underlying theCurse of 1940,which supposedly prevented the Rangers from winning another Stanley Cup until 1994. Another alleged cause of "The Curse" stemmed from manager Kilpatrick burning the Garden's mortgage papers in the bowl of the Stanley Cup, made possible by receipts from the 1940 Cup run. Hockey purists believed that the trophy had been "defiled", leading to the Rangers' woes.

TheNew York Rovers,a farm team of the Rangers, played in the Garden on Sunday afternoons, while the Rangers played on Wednesday and Sunday nights.[1]Tommy Lockhartmanaged the Rovers games and introduced on-ice promotions such as racingmodel aircraftandbicyclesaround the arena,figure skatingactsShipstads & Johnson Ice FolliesandSonja Henie,and a skatinggrizzly bear.[5]The fourth floor of the Garden had a second sheet of ice, used for public skating, recreational hockey, and as the Rangers' practice facility.

Basketball

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The first professional basketball game was played in the 50th Street Garden on December 6, 1925, nine days before the arena officially opened. It pitted theOriginal Celticsagainst theWashington Palace Five.The Celtics won 35–31.[1]TheNew York Knicksdebuted there in 1946, although if there was an important college game, they played in the69th Regiment Armory.[1]Due to other event bookings in the arena, all their home games during the1951,1952and1953NBA Finalswere played at the Armory; thus MSG III never hosted an NBA Finals game. MSG III hosted theNBA All-Star Gamein 1954, 1955 and 1968.

In 1931, a highly successful college basketball triple header raised money for MayorJimmy Walker's Unemployment Relief Fund. In 1934,Ned Irishbegan promoting a successful series of college basketball double headers at the Garden featuring a mix of local and national teams. MSG III began hosting theNational Invitation Tournamentannually in 1938, and hosted sevenNCAA men's basketball championshipfinals between 1943 and 1950. On February 28, 1940, Madison Square Garden hosted the first televised basketball games in a Fordham-Pitt andGeorgetown-NYU doubleheader. Apoint shaving scandalinvolving games played at the Garden led the NCAA to reduce its use of the Garden, and caused some schools, including 1950 NCAA and NIT ChampionCity College of New York(CCNY), to be banned from playing there.[6]

Professional wrestling

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Capitol Wrestling Corporation—along with its successor, theWorld Wide Wrestling Federation—promoted professional wrestling at the Garden during its last two decades.Toots MondtandJess McMahonowned CWC, which initially promoted tag team wrestling. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Mondt and McMahon were successful at promoting ethnic heroes ofPuerto RicanorItalian descent.

Two historic wrestling events took place at MSG III. On May 17, 1963,Bruno Sammartinodefeated"Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers,via submission, in 48 seconds, to become the second everWWWF World Heavyweight Champion.On November 19, 1957, theDr. Jerry Graham&Dick the Bruiservs.Edouard Carpentier&Argentina Roccamain event led to a race riot involving Italian and Puerto Rican fans of Carpentier and Rocca. After the riot, New York City nearly bannedprofessional wrestlingand children under the age of 14 were prohibited from attending.[7]

Cycling

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From 1925 until 1961, Madison Square Garden hosted theSix Days of New York,an annualsix-day racingevent oftrack cycling.Upon its final running, it was the longest-running series in the world with 73 editions.

Other entertainment

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Circus

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TheRingling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circusdebuted at the second Garden in 1919, and moved to the third Garden in 1926 where it opened each spring for about a four-week engagement. The circus was so important to the Garden that for the1928 Stanley Cup Finals,the Rangers were forced to play all their games on the road, but they still won the series. The circus performed as often as three times daily throughout the life of the third Garden, repeatedly knocking the Rangers out of the Garden at playoff time.[8]

The circus acrobatics included acts in the rings, on the high wire, and trapeze. In the early 1930s wild animal trainerClyde Beattywas a featured performer during the circus engagements in New York and Boston before returning to theHagenbeck-Wallace Circusfor a tour under canvas. Many of the most famous clowns in America appeared each year before hundreds of thousands of fans. Among the most famous were sad-faced clownEmmett Kellyas well asFelix AdlerandLou Jacobs.

Dog show

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The Garden continued to hostThe Westminster Kennel Club'sannual dog show. This championship is the third-longest continuously running U.S. sporting event (behind only theKentucky DerbyandKentucky Oaks).

Other events

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Anti-Nazi rally in MSG III (March 15, 1937)

Closure and demolition

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On November 3, 1960,Penn Station's ownersPennsylvania Railroadannounced they had sold their air rights to the Madison Square Garden Corporation to build a new arena replacing Penn Station's original building. Previously, the corporation had sought to replace the arena as early as 1946 due to poor sight lines from the upper decks and expanding attendance. Even though the Rangers played poorly during this time, they still sold out every game; added to the rising popularity of the Knicks, the demand for a new arena grew. Demolition of Penn Station commenced in 1963 with major controversy surrounding the demolition of a historic architectural landmark and the new Madison Square Garden was completed in 1968 with its first event being held on February 12, 1968. Originally the third Garden was planned to close at the end of the summer of 1967 but construction delays pushed the opening to February 1968. Their final Knicks game in Madison Square Garden was on February 10, a 115–97 win against thePhiladelphia 76ers,just weeks after the1968 NBA All-Star Gamewhich was originally supposed to be held in the new Garden. The final Rangers game was held on February 11, 1968, resulting in a 3–3 tie against theDetroit Red Wings.Jean Ratellewas the last player to score a goal in the arena with 19:15 remaining in the third. After the game, former Ranger greats along with players representing other NHL teams over the previous 43 years, including New York Americans playersLorne CarrandEddie Shoreskated on the ice in a closure ceremony. Two days later, the last event in the Garden was theWestminster Dog Show.[citation needed]

There were no plans to keep the old Madison Square Garden and demolition commenced in the summer of 1968, finishing in early 1969. After the third Madison Square Garden was torn down, there was a proposal to build the world's tallest building on the site, prompting a major battle in theHell's Kitchenneighborhood where it was located. Ultimately, the debate resulted in strict height restrictions in the area. The space remained a parking lot until 1989 whenWorldwide Plaza,designed byDavid ChildsofSkidmore, Owings and Merrill,opened on the site of the old Garden.

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See also

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References

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  1. ^abcdefghijklmno"Madison Square Garden III"on Ballparks
  2. ^Schumach, Murray (February 14, 1968).Next and Last Attraction at Old Madison Square Garden to Be Wreckers' Ball,The New York Times
  3. ^ab"Canadiens victors over New York in a colorful battle".The Gazette.Montreal.December 16, 1925. p. 18.RetrievedAugust 11,2021.
  4. ^Baker, Mark A. (2019).Between the Ropes at Madison Square Garden, The History of an Iconic Bo xing Ring, 1925-2007.ISBN978-1-4766-7183-3.
  5. ^Miller, Chuck."FROM ATLANTIC CITY TO TORONTO: The Boardwalk Trophy and the Eastern Hockey League"(PDF).Hockey Ink!.RetrievedApril 16,2018.
  6. ^Nat Holman: The Man, His Legacy and CCNY."The 1951 Basketball Scandal"ArchivedDecember 5, 2007, at theWayback Machine- The City College Library -City College of New York.
  7. ^"Wrestling Observer Newsletter, February 3, 1997".Wrestling Observer Newsletter.RetrievedApril 10,2014.
  8. ^Even at the fourth Garden, games would sometimes have to begin as late as 9:00 p.m. to accommodate the circus.
  9. ^abKatznelson, Ira (2013).Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of our Time.New York, NY: Liveright Publishing Corporation.ISBN978-0-87140-450-3.OCLC783163618.
  10. ^"From Haven to Home"Library of Congressexhibit.
  11. ^The New York Times,March 10, 1943.
  12. ^Billboard Music Week, March 13, 1961. "Daily News Jazz Festival, June 8-9"
  13. ^Rhythm on the Rangeat theAFI Catalog of Feature Films
  14. ^The Manchurian Candidateat theAFI Catalog of Feature Films
  15. ^""Rodeo",Richard Diamond, Private Detective,February 20, 1958 ".Internet Movie Database.RetrievedMarch 30,2013.
  16. ^"Formats and Editions of GUYS AND DOLLS. [WorldCat.org]".worldcat.org.
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Preceded by Home of the
New York Americans
1925–1942 		Succeeded by
last arena
Preceded by
First arena
 Home of the
New York Rangers
1926–1968 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
First arena
 Home of the
New York Knicks
1946–1968 		Succeeded by
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