TD Garden, the home of NBA basketball team the Boston Celtics and NHL ice hockey franchise the Boston Bruins, has said it is in the “final stages” of a $100m-plus (£80.2m/€90.4m) renovation project, with new seating and innovative viewing options in place for the 2019-20 season.
Delaware North, owner and operator of TD Garden, announced last November that a 50,000 square foot expansion of the 23-year-old arena would be taking place over the next two years. Nearly a year on from this news, TD Garden management has now reported strong progress on the project as the Bruins prepare to host their first preseason game on September 23, with the Celtics to follow on October 6.
“Through tremendous teamwork and round the clock efforts, our project teams are in the final stages of TD Garden’s ‘Legendary Transformation’, successfully bringing a whole new level of fan experience to life this season,” Amy Latimer, president of TD Garden, said in a statement.
“We are so excited for the Bruins and Celtics seasons to kick off, and for our guests to enjoy all-new seats, game presentation enhancements, expanded concourses, thoughtfully designed gathering areas and clubs, delicious food and beverage options, and a new level of Rafters seating for fans.”
The Rafters seating will be one of the most eye-catching elements of the new-look arena. Located on level nine of TD Garden, the new space has been designed as a high energy and communal party deck on the top floor of the arena.
Rafters features approximately 400 cantilever seats around the arena bowl, giving fans one of the most unique vantage points in the arena and providing a backdrop filled with Bruins and Celtics championship banners.
“When do you ever get to hang seats off the highest part of the building?” Latimer told the Boston.com website. “It’s just a place for people to gather. They’re in the building; they’re part of it.”
The arena bowl’s all-yellow seating, originally installed in 1995, has been replaced and upgraded with modern, ergonomic seating in an all-black colour scheme. TD Garden’s HDX screens have had a complete overhaul and have been replaced with 2.5mm 4K HDR capable modules, which will significantly enhance the clarity and quality of game presentation.
TD Garden’s expansion has also provided the opportunity to rebrand and redefine its premium club. Debuting last season, ‘Boston Garden Society’ features new, updated spaces and amenities that will be rolling out in 2019-20. Boston Garden Society is a membership-based model designed to offer flexible and customisable entertainment and hospitality options.
TD Garden will also now have an official front door with an entrance directly from Causeway Street through The Hub on Causeway. The atrium entry, featuring a glass canopy above, provides two new escalators, elevators, and stairs for guests to access TD Garden’s event entrance on Level 2.
An all-new level has been created just behind the last row of balcony seats to house the ‘Back Row Bar’. This bar offers an additional 57 fixed barstool seats overlooking the arena, along with three large TV screens along the back of the bar. Stretching across the space at 102 feet long, the bar has been made from the centre ice red line and two blue lines from the old dashboards that surrounded the Bruins ice.
Latimer has estimated that the renovation has increased the arena’s capacity by 500.
