Mutual Street Arena
Encyclopedia
Mutual Street Arena, initially called Arena Gardens or just the Arena, was an ice hockey arena and sports and entertainment venue in Toronto
, Ontario
. From the time period of 1912 until 1931, with the opening of the Maple Leaf Gardens
, it was the premier site of ice hockey
in Toronto, being home to teams from the National Hockey Association
(NHA), the National Hockey League
(NHL), the Ontario Hockey Association
(OHA) and the International Hockey League (IHL). It was the first home of the Toronto Maple Leafs
, who played at the arena under various names for their first 13.5 seasons. The Arena Gardens was the third rink in Canada to feature a mechanically-frozen or 'artificial' ice surface, and for eleven years was the only such facility in eastern Canada. In 1923, it was the site of the first radio broadcast of an ice hockey game, the first radio broadcast of an NHL game, and the first broadcast of an ice hockey game by long-time broadcaster Foster Hewitt
.
The Arena was also used for musical concerts, gatherings and other sporting events, including professional boxing
, cycling
, wrestling
and tennis
. In 1962, it was later converted to a curling
club and roller skating
rink known as The Terrace. The building was demolished in 1989 and the Cathedral Square residential complex and Arena Gardens municipal park now occupy the site. It was located on Mutual Street, just south of Dundas Street East
and one block east of Church Street in downtown Toronto.
, used primarily for curling
and ice skating
between Dundas Street
and Shuter Street. At the time, it was billed as the largest indoor arena in Canada and held 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. W. J. Bellingham was the initial manager.
The Arena opened with a performance by Nathan Franko's Orchestra on October 7, 1912, supporting a recital by Alice Neville, soprano of the Metropolitan Opera
, tenor Orville Harold and a company of opera singers from the Boston Opera Company
organized by Neville. It was the first of a series called the Toronto Music Festival. Entrances to the various blue and red seating sections were indicated by corresponding blue and red lights on the outside of the building. It was followed the next day by a recital by Johanna Gadski
with Franko's orchestra. The festival continued all week, concluding on October 12 with a variety show headlined by Marie Dressler
.
Arena Gardens was initially home to two new teams in the National Hockey Association
(NHA): 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 12 miles of piping for the artificial ice was installed improperly and had to be reinstalled in December 1912. The first professional ice hockey game in the building was on December 21, 1912, an exhibition between the Montreal Canadiens
and Montreal Wanderers
. Sprague Cleghorn
was suspended for four weeks and fined $65 by the NHA for assaulting the Canadiens' Newsy Lalonde
in the game.The first official game was on December 25, 1912, a game between the Canadiens and the Torontos. Upon the suspension of the NHA in 1917, the professional franchise of the new National Hockey League
(NHL) for Toronto was operated by the Toronto Arena itself. The franchise was operated by the Arena for two years before being sold to become the Toronto St. Patricks
. The St. Pats became the Toronto Maple Leafs
in 1927, and played at Arena Gardens until the construction of Maple Leaf Gardens
in 1931. Until 1923, the Arena was the only facility east of Manitoba
with artificial ice-making capability. With this in mind, the St. Pats often let other teams use the Arena as a neutral site during the early and late months of the season, when it was usually too warm for proper ice.
The year 1922 saw the first professional wrestling bout at the Arena, a bout between former world champion Stanislaus Zbyszko and Canadian champion George Walker. Professional wrestling would continue at the Arena until 1938. Promoter Ivan Mickailoff began promoting weekly shows in 1929. Some of the names that Michailoff presented at the Arena included Strangler Lewis and Toots Mondt, as well as reigning world champions Gus Sonnenberg, Ed Don George, Henri Deglane, Jim Londos, Ali Baba, Vic Christie, Everett Marshall and Billy Weidner, who all defended their titles at the Arena.
On February 8, 1923, the first radio broadcast of an ice hockey game was made from the Arena by Toronto Star
's CFCA radio station. Norman Albert
did the play-by-play of the third period of a game between North Toronto and Midland
, won by North Toronto 16–4. Later that season, Foster Hewitt
made his first radio broadcasts from the Arena, also on CFCA. A game on February 14, 1923 featured the Toronto St. Pats and the Ottawa Senators
, and is the first NHL
game to be broadcast on radio. The Stanley Cup
Final was played at Arena Gardens four times: 1914
, 1918
, 1920
and 1922. Arena Gardens also hosted the Memorial Cup
finals nine times from 1919 to 1931. The Gardens also hosted the Allan Cup
final series. A 1931 game between the Montreal Canadiens
and the Maple Leafs was filmed by the National Film Board of Canada
.
The building was also used for mass assemblies. An assembly was held for Sir Wilfrid Laurier in 1913 by the Liberal Party of Canada
. On June 10, 1925, this building was used as the venue for the inaugural service of the United Church of Canada
, which united the Presbyterian
s, the Methodist Church of Canada, and the Congregational Union of Canada
. On October 9, 1936, it was the site of a mass assembly by the Communist Party of Canada
.
After the Maple Leafs left in 1931, the building no longer was a venue for professional ice hockey, but remained opened as a venue for sports and entertainment. Some of the other sports included bicycle racing, professional boxing and tennis. By 1934, revenues did not keep up with interest on bonds on the property, property taxes and the expenses of operating the arena. The bondholders made it known that the building was for sale. By 1937, with $200,000 of bonds in default, and the Arena in default of 1933 and 1934 taxes of nearly $16,000, and a similar amount estimated for 1936 and 1937, the Arena was listed for sale by the City of Toronto.
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. The name was changed that year to the Mutual Street Arena. The Glenn Miller
big band played at the Arena in January 1942, Miller's only appearance in Toronto. Frank Sinatra
made his first appearance in Toronto here in 1949. Roller hockey
was introduced to the Arena in the late 1940s. The city's first boat show was held in 1954. The Melody Fair theatre-in-the-round operated at the Arena in 1954.
Dickson bought the building in 1945 and it remained in the family for the next 43 years. The arena was renovated for $3 million in 1962, adding eighteen curling
sheets, a parking garage and a new facade. The Arena was renamed The Terrace, a name it kept until it was sold in 1988. It closed its doors on April 30, 1989 and was demolished a few months later. The site was converted into a residential development with some of the site reserved for a city park. The Terrace name was retained for one of the residential buildings. In May 2011, the name of the city park on the site was changed from Cathedral Square Park to Arena Gardens.
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. From the time period of 1912 until 1931, with the opening of the Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens is an indoor arena that was converted into a Loblawssupermarket and Ryerson University athletic centre in Toronto, on the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto's Garden District.One of the temples of hockey, it was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the...
, it was the premier site of ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
in Toronto, being home to teams from the National Hockey Association
National Hockey Association
The National Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor organization to today's National Hockey League...
(NHA), the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
(NHL), the Ontario Hockey Association
Ontario Hockey Association
The Ontario Hockey Association is the governing body for the majority of Junior and Senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey Association. Other Ontario sanctioning bodies along with the...
(OHA) and the International Hockey League (IHL). It was the first home of the Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
, who played at the arena under various names for their first 13.5 seasons. The Arena Gardens was the third rink in Canada to feature a mechanically-frozen or 'artificial' ice surface, and for eleven years was the only such facility in eastern Canada. In 1923, it was the site of the first radio broadcast of an ice hockey game, the first radio broadcast of an NHL game, and the first broadcast of an ice hockey game by long-time broadcaster Foster Hewitt
Foster Hewitt
Foster William Hewitt, OC was a Canadian radio broadcaster most famous for his play-by-play calls for Hockey Night in Canada. He was the son of W. A. Hewitt, and the father of Bill Hewitt.-Early life and career:...
.
The Arena was also used for musical concerts, gatherings and other sporting events, including professional boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
, wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
and tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
. In 1962, it was later converted to a curling
Curling
Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area. It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called "rocks", across the ice curling sheet towards the house, a...
club and roller skating
Roller skating
Roller skating is the traveling on smooth surfaces with roller skates. It is a form of recreation as well as a sport, and can also be a form of transportation. Skates generally come in two basic varieties: quad roller skates and inline skates or blades, though some have experimented with a...
rink known as The Terrace. The building was demolished in 1989 and the Cathedral Square residential complex and Arena Gardens municipal park now occupy the site. It was located on Mutual Street, just south of Dundas Street East
Dundas Street
Dundas Street, also known as Highway 5 west of Toronto, is a major arterial road connecting the centre of that city with its western suburbs and southwestern Ontario beyond...
and one block east of Church Street in downtown Toronto.
History
It was constructed for a reported cost of $500,000 and opened in 1912. It was built on the site of the Mutual Street RinkMutual Street Rink
The Mutual Street Rink also known as the Caledonian Rink was a curling and skating rink located on Mutual Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was the primary site of the sport of ice hockey in Toronto from the 1880s until 1912 when it was replaced by the Arena Gardens...
, used primarily for curling
Curling
Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area. It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called "rocks", across the ice curling sheet towards the house, a...
and ice skating
Ice skating
Ice skating is moving on ice by using ice skates. It can be done for a variety of reasons, including leisure, traveling, and various sports. Ice skating occurs both on specially prepared indoor and outdoor tracks, as well as on naturally occurring bodies of frozen water, such as lakes and...
between Dundas Street
Dundas Street (Toronto)
Dundas Street, also known as Highway 5 west of Toronto, is a major arterial road connecting the centre of that city with its western suburbs and southwestern Ontario beyond...
and Shuter Street. At the time, it was billed as the largest indoor arena in Canada and held about 7,500 for hockey. The rink was owned by the Toronto Arena Company, organized September 19, 1911 with Sir Henry Pellatt
Henry Pellatt
Major-General Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, C.V.O. was a well-known Canadian financier and soldier....
as president, Lol Solman
Lol Solman
Lawrence "Lol" Solman was a prominent businessman in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Born in Toronto, Solman was educated in public schools and grew up in profile when compare to his later life...
as managing director, and directors Aemilius Jarvis
Aemilius Jarvis
Edward Aemilius Jarvis was a Canadian businessman and sailor.-Career and Military Service:A member of a prominent Toronto family, Jarvis apprenticed as a banker, and eventually became president of the Trader's Bank of Canada. Jarvis founded the Steel Company of Canada...
, Joseph Kilgour, T.W. Horn, R.A. Smith, and Col. Carlson. There were two other directors from Montreal. W. J. Bellingham was the initial manager.
The Arena opened with a performance by Nathan Franko's Orchestra on October 7, 1912, supporting a recital by Alice Neville, soprano of the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, tenor Orville Harold and a company of opera singers from the Boston Opera Company
Boston Opera Company
The Boston Opera Company was an American opera company located in Boston, Massachusetts that was active from 1909 to 1915.-History:The company was founded in 1908 by Bostonian millionaire Eben Dyer Jordan, Jr. and impresario Henry Russell...
organized by Neville. It was the first of a series called the Toronto Music Festival. Entrances to the various blue and red seating sections were indicated by corresponding blue and red lights on the outside of the building. It was followed the next day by a recital by Johanna Gadski
Johanna Gadski
Johanna Gadski was a German soprano blessed with a secure, powerful, ringing voice, fine musicianship and an excellent technique. These attributes enabled her to enjoy a top-flight career in New York City and London, performing heavy dramatic roles in the German and Italian repertoires.-Life &...
with Franko's orchestra. The festival continued all week, concluding on October 12 with a variety show headlined by Marie Dressler
Marie Dressler
Marie Dressler was a Canadian-American actress and Depression-era film star. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1930-31 in Min and Bill.-Early life and stage career:...
.
Arena Gardens was initially home to two new teams in the National Hockey Association
National Hockey Association
The National Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor organization to today's National Hockey League...
(NHA): the Toronto Hockey Club
Toronto Blueshirts
The Toronto Hockey Club, known as the Torontos and the Toronto Blue Shirts were a professional National Hockey Association team that played in Toronto, Ontario, Canada...
and the Tecumseh Hockey Club
Toronto Tecumsehs
The Tecumseh Hockey Club, also known as the Toronto Tecumsehs and nicknamed the Indians, were a team in the National Hockey Association in 1912-13. They then became the Toronto Ontarios....
. Delays in construction meant that the teams could not play in the 1911-12 season, as was originally scheduled. The 12 miles of piping for the artificial ice was installed improperly and had to be reinstalled in December 1912. The first professional ice hockey game in the building was on December 21, 1912, an exhibition between the Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
and Montreal Wanderers
Montreal Wanderers
The Montreal Wanderers were a Canadian amateur, and later becoming a professional men's ice hockey team. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League , the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association , the National Hockey Association and briefly the National Hockey League . The Wanderers are...
. Sprague Cleghorn
Sprague Cleghorn
Henry William Sprague "Peg" Cleghorn, , was a Canadian professional hockey player from Westmount who played for the Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Renfrew Creamery Kings and Toronto St. Patricks in the National Hockey Association and National Hockey League...
was suspended for four weeks and fined $65 by the NHA for assaulting the Canadiens' Newsy Lalonde
Newsy Lalonde
Édouard Cyrille "Newsy" Lalonde was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward in the National Hockey League and a professional lacrosse player, regarded as one of hockey's and lacrosse's greatest players of the first half of the 20th century and one of sport's most colourful characters...
in the game.The first official game was on December 25, 1912, a game between the Canadiens and the Torontos. Upon the suspension of the NHA in 1917, the professional franchise of the new National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
(NHL) for Toronto was operated by the Toronto Arena itself. The franchise was operated by the Arena for two years before being sold to become the Toronto St. Patricks
Toronto St. Patricks
The Toronto St. Patricks professional men's ice hockey team started as an amateur ice hockey organization. In 1919, the club purchased the Toronto National Hockey League franchise from the NHL. The club renamed the franchise the Toronto St. Patricks club and operated the franchise until 1927, when...
. The St. Pats became the Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
in 1927, and played at Arena Gardens until the construction of Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens is an indoor arena that was converted into a Loblawssupermarket and Ryerson University athletic centre in Toronto, on the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto's Garden District.One of the temples of hockey, it was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the...
in 1931. Until 1923, the Arena was the only facility east of Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
with artificial ice-making capability. With this in mind, the St. Pats often let other teams use the Arena as a neutral site during the early and late months of the season, when it was usually too warm for proper ice.
The year 1922 saw the first professional wrestling bout at the Arena, a bout between former world champion Stanislaus Zbyszko and Canadian champion George Walker. Professional wrestling would continue at the Arena until 1938. Promoter Ivan Mickailoff began promoting weekly shows in 1929. Some of the names that Michailoff presented at the Arena included Strangler Lewis and Toots Mondt, as well as reigning world champions Gus Sonnenberg, Ed Don George, Henri Deglane, Jim Londos, Ali Baba, Vic Christie, Everett Marshall and Billy Weidner, who all defended their titles at the Arena.
On February 8, 1923, the first radio broadcast of an ice hockey game was made from the Arena by Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
's CFCA radio station. Norman Albert
Norman Albert
Norman Albert was a Canadian journalist and radio reporter. He was the first to broadcast a ice hockey game for radio.-First radio broadcast of ice hockey:...
did the play-by-play of the third period of a game between North Toronto and Midland
Midland, Ontario
Midland is a town located on Georgian Bay in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada.Situated at the southern end of Georgian Bay's 30,000 Islands, Midland is the economic centre of the region, with a 125-bed hospital and a local airport. It is the main town of the southern Georgian Bay area...
, won by North Toronto 16–4. Later that season, Foster Hewitt
Foster Hewitt
Foster William Hewitt, OC was a Canadian radio broadcaster most famous for his play-by-play calls for Hockey Night in Canada. He was the son of W. A. Hewitt, and the father of Bill Hewitt.-Early life and career:...
made his first radio broadcasts from the Arena, also on CFCA. A game on February 14, 1923 featured the Toronto St. Pats and the Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators (original)
The Ottawa Senators were an amateur, and later, professional, ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934...
, and is the first NHL
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
game to be broadcast on radio. The Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
Final was played at Arena Gardens four times: 1914
1914 Stanley Cup Finals
The 1914 Stanley Cup Finals was a series between the Victoria Aristocrats, champions of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association , and the Toronto Hockey Club, champions of the National Hockey Association . The Torontos defeated the Aristocrats in three games to win the best-of-five series...
, 1918
1918 Stanley Cup Finals
-See also:* 1917–18 NHL season* 1917–18 PCHA season* List of Stanley Cup champions...
, 1920
1920 Stanley Cup Finals
-See also:* 1919–20 NHL season* 1919–20 PCHA season* List of Stanley Cup champions...
and 1922. Arena Gardens also hosted the Memorial Cup
Memorial Cup
The Memorial Cup is a junior ice hockey club championship trophy awarded annually to the Canadian Hockey League champion. It is awarded following a four-team, round robin tournament between a host team and the champions of the CHL's three member leagues: the Ontario Hockey League , Quebec Major...
finals nine times from 1919 to 1931. The Gardens also hosted the Allan Cup
Allan Cup
The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men’s ice hockey champions of Canada. It has been competed for since 1909. The current champion is the Clarenville Caribous hockey club of Newfoundland and Labrador.-History:...
final series. A 1931 game between the Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
and the Maple Leafs was filmed by the National Film Board of Canada
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
.
The building was also used for mass assemblies. An assembly was held for Sir Wilfrid Laurier in 1913 by the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
. On June 10, 1925, this building was used as the venue for the inaugural service of the United Church of Canada
United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada is a Protestant Christian denomination in Canada. It is the largest Protestant church and, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest Christian church in Canada...
, which united the Presbyterian
Presbyterian Church in Canada
The Presbyterian Church in Canada is the name of a Protestant Christian church, of presbyterian and reformed theology and polity, serving in Canada under this name since 1875, although the United Church of Canada claimed the right to the name from 1925 to 1939...
s, the Methodist Church of Canada, and the Congregational Union of Canada
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
. On October 9, 1936, it was the site of a mass assembly by the Communist Party of Canada
Communist Party of Canada
The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. Although is it currently a minor or small political party without representation in the Federal Parliament or in provincial legislatures, historically the Party has elected representatives in Federal Parliament, Ontario...
.
After the Maple Leafs left in 1931, the building no longer was a venue for professional ice hockey, but remained opened as a venue for sports and entertainment. Some of the other sports included bicycle racing, professional boxing and tennis. By 1934, revenues did not keep up with interest on bonds on the property, property taxes and the expenses of operating the arena. The bondholders made it known that the building was for sale. By 1937, with $200,000 of bonds in default, and the Arena in default of 1933 and 1934 taxes of nearly $16,000, and a similar amount estimated for 1936 and 1937, the Arena was listed for sale by the City of Toronto.
In 1938, the Arena was leased to William Dickson who turned it into a recreation facility offering ice skating in winter and roller skating
Roller skating
Roller skating is the traveling on smooth surfaces with roller skates. It is a form of recreation as well as a sport, and can also be a form of transportation. Skates generally come in two basic varieties: quad roller skates and inline skates or blades, though some have experimented with a...
in summer. The name was changed that year to the Mutual Street Arena. The Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
big band played at the Arena in January 1942, Miller's only appearance in Toronto. Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
made his first appearance in Toronto here in 1949. Roller hockey
Roller hockey
Roller Hockey is a form of hockey played on a dry surface using skates with wheels. The term "Roller Hockey" is often used interchangeably to refer to two variant forms chiefly differentiated by the type of skate used. There is traditional "Roller Hockey," played with quad roller skates, and...
was introduced to the Arena in the late 1940s. The city's first boat show was held in 1954. The Melody Fair theatre-in-the-round operated at the Arena in 1954.
Dickson bought the building in 1945 and it remained in the family for the next 43 years. The arena was renovated for $3 million in 1962, adding eighteen curling
Curling
Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area. It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called "rocks", across the ice curling sheet towards the house, a...
sheets, a parking garage and a new facade. The Arena was renamed The Terrace, a name it kept until it was sold in 1988. It closed its doors on April 30, 1989 and was demolished a few months later. The site was converted into a residential development with some of the site reserved for a city park. The Terrace name was retained for one of the residential buildings. In May 2011, the name of the city park on the site was changed from Cathedral Square Park to Arena Gardens.
Notable events
This list is incomplete.- October 7, 1912 - Grand opening
- March 14 to 19, 1914 - Toronto Blueshirts – Victoria Aristocrats Stanley Cup series
- March 20 to 30, 1918 - Torontos - Vancouver Millionaires Stanley Cup series
- March 30 to April 1, 1920 - Two games of Ottawa Senators - Seattle Metropolitans Stanley Cup series
- March 17 to 28, 1922 - Toronto St. Patricks - Vancouver Millionaires Stanley Cup series
- February 8, 1923 - First radio broadcast of an ice hockey game
- February 14, 1923 - First radio broadcast of an NHL game
- June 10, 1925 - Inaugural service of United Church of Canada
- January 23, 1942 - Only Toronto appearance by Glenn Miller and big band
See also
- Maple Leaf GardensMaple Leaf GardensMaple Leaf Gardens is an indoor arena that was converted into a Loblawssupermarket and Ryerson University athletic centre in Toronto, on the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto's Garden District.One of the temples of hockey, it was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the...
- Air Canada CentreAir Canada CentreThe Air Canada Centre is a multi-purpose indoor sporting arena located on Bay Street in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada.The arena is popularly known as the ACC or the Hangar ....
- Ricoh ColiseumRicoh ColiseumRicoh Coliseum is an ice hockey and agricultural arena at Exhibition Place in Toronto. It serves as the home arena of the Toronto Marlies, the American Hockey League farm team of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Toronto Triumph of the Lingerie Football League. It was formerly known as the CNE...
- Varsity ArenaVarsity ArenaVarsity Arena is an arena in Toronto, Ontario. It is located at 299 Bloor Street West and is primarily home to the ice hockey teams of the University of Toronto, the Varsity Blues, though it also hosted the Toronto Toros of the WHA from 1973–74 and the Toronto Planets of the RHI in 1993...