What Will Maple Leaf Gardens Look Like As A Loblaws?
Posted November 23, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
For now, the historic hockey shrine sits empty, waiting for its unlikely reincarnation, but representatives for Loblaws say the transformation will soon be underway, like it or not.
“Hopefully by the fall of ’07, we will have some activity,” states Elizabeth Margles, of the Loblaws corporation.
“There will be some sort of construction activity on-site. There are extra issues involved when you’re dealing with a protected heritage site.”
“A lot of people have just really expressed concern that we maintain the outside of the building. Some people have a real sense of what we should do on the inside, keeping the ice rink in the building. What if you put ice down the ice cream aisle of the grocery store. So we listened to everything.”
Die hard Leaf fans may have a hard time fathoming the idea of testing a tomato’s ripeness on the same grounds that so many Stanley Cups were hoisted, but even they seem resigned to the inevitable.
“I’d say if they are going to make it a grocery store, at least call it Maple Leaf Gardens foods or something like that. You know, keep the memory there at least,” said one.
Margles claims the company is sensitive to the historic significance of the site.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime property,” she said. “As anxious as we are and excited as we are just like everybody else in the city, we need to do it properly and there’s a lot that’s involved.”
Maple Leaf Gardens Timeline
Location: Carlton near Yonge
Built: 1931
Cost: $1.5 million
Property originally owned by :Eaton’s
June 1, 1931: Construction begins
November 12, 1931: Gardens opens just five months after construction started, an incredibly fast turnover.
Nov. 12, 1931: First Leaf game ever played at M.L.G. Leafs vs. Chicago Blackhawks. Leafs lose 2-1. Opening night attendance: 13,542.
April 9, 1932: Leafs win Stanley Cup in first year at their new home, downing the New York Rangers 6-4 in final game.
Feb. 7, 1976: Darryl Sittler sets NHL record with 10 points in a single game, in an 11-4 Leafs win over the Bruins.
Nov. 19, 1931: First wrestling match held.
Sept. 19, 1932: First world title boxing match fought in Gardens, when Panama Al Brown knocked out Emile Pladner in the first round.
March 29, 1966: Historic “Battle of Toronto” pits Muhammad Ali against George Chuvalo. Conn Smythe resigns from MLG board of directors over the boxer’s stance on the Vietnam War, complaining allowing Ali in was a case of putting “cash ahead of class”.
April 2, 1957: First concert ever held by Elvis Presley outside the U.S.
Sept. 7, 1964, August 17, 1965, August 17, 1966: Beatles play Toronto.
December 1982: The Who supposedly play their last concert ever at the Gardens. They’d be back.
1961: Harold Ballard arrives, beginning a tumultuous tenure that only ends with his death in 1990. Steve Stavro assumes control in the 90s, and starts an equally controversial tenure, before selling out to Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.
February 13, 1999: Final NHL game ever played at the Gardens. It ended as it started back in 1931, with the Leafs losing 6-2 to the Blackhawks.
Spring 2004: Loblaws beats out Home Depot to buy Maple Leaf Gardens. To the horror of fans, who consider it a shrine, the building will become a grocery store.
