Matthews Arena Summary and History
On April 16, 2010, the Matthews Arena will be one hundred years old. When she opened in 1910, the arena brochure boasted, “It is the most complete home of sport in America – the largest, most complete and most elaborate temple erected for the devotees of sport in the world.”
It is only fitting that the century-old emporium receive a special birthday present this year with a multi-million dollar renovation. A new roof, new locker rooms, new seats, new press box and a spectacular video scoreboard lead the list of improvements.
The arena is the world’s oldest multi-purpose athletic building and houses the world’s oldest artificial ice sheet. The arena is named after George J. Matthews, Class of ’56, and his wife, the late Hope M. Matthews. Matthews is chairman emeritus of the Northeastern Board of Trustees.
Perhaps more widely known as the Boston Arena, Matthews Arena is home to Northeastern’s men’s and women’s hockey teams and men’s basketball team. The building is one of the bastions of the country’s sporting history and a spectator’s dream for live athletic contests.
This renovation is the third since Northeastern took over ownership of the building in 1979. The last in 1995 expanded the ice surface to 200-by-90 square feet of skating surface and vaulting the arena from the smallest rink in Boston to the largest.
The old ice house that gave birth to the Boston Bruins, the Boston Olympics and the New England Whalers also was the cradle of high school and college hockey in Greater Boston. The hockey programs at Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, MIT, Tufts and, of course, Northeastern all had their geneses at Matthews.
Tournaments that brighten New England winters such as the Beanpot and ECAC had their start at the Arena, as did competitive figure skating. In 1994, Nancy Kerrigan graced the ice at Matthews with an entourage that included Paul Wylie and Scott Hamilton, continuing an 85-year tradition of figure skating that numbers Sonja Henie, Dick Button and Tenley Albright.
The Matthews Arena chronology reads like a Who’s Who in American sports, and starts with groundbreaking on Oct. 11, 1909. Legendary pugilists Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney and Joe Louis graced ringside, Finnish distance star Paavo Nurmi ran at the Arena in a BAA track meet, and Olympian Henie wove her magic-on-blades to phonograph music. The Boston Bruins played their first home game in the building and defeated the Montreal Maroons, 2-1, on Dec. 1, 1924. Less fortunate in their Arena debut were the Northeastern hockey Huskies, who lost, 2-1, to MIT on Jan. 17, 1930.
The Arena also has played host to such professional hockey teams as the Boston Olympics, Whalers, Tigers and Cubs. Even the great Babe Ruth, then a young left-handed pitcher for the Red Sox, was a frequent visitor to the Arena. The Sultan of Swat passed idle time in the winter by playing in hockey scrimmages with the Arena A.C. team. Chuck Connors, alias The Rifleman, jumped center and smashed the glass backboard in the first-ever Boston Celtics game on Nov. 5, 1946. And, the world famous Texas Rangers brought their rodeo in 1932, complete with outlaw horses and wild steers.
Through the years, the arena has hosted countless musical groups, including the first-ever appearance of the Motortown Revue starring Marvin Gay and the Supremes in 1962. Rock and rollers like Chubby Checker and Jerry Lee Lewis have graced arena stages. In the last two decades, Shirley Jones, Bob Dylan, Phish, Jimmy Eat World and hip hop artists Ludacris and The Roots have appeared.
Today, the stately Victorian lobbies that welcomed the modest and the mighty for nearly a century cater to the academic and athletic needs of Northeastern. Convocations, graduations and a large portion of the intramural docket are conducted at the Arena, whose walls once echoed with the podium entreaties of presidents Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy. Past Arena dignitaries include Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhardt, James Michael Curley, Reverend Billy Graham, Admiral Chester Nimitz and General Dwight D. Eisenhower. In the summer of 1993, the city of Boston and NU paid tribute to one of its heroes when it held funeral services at the Arena for Reggie Lewis, Class of 1988.
The Arena has survived two crippling fires, one in 1918 and another in 1948, to prosper as a stationary jewel of the community. Structurally, the Arena has undergone numerous renovations — most recently new seats and new locker rooms for the men’s and women’s varsity hockey teams.
Northeastern’s association with the Arena covers over 80 years, since hockey became a varsity sport at the University in 1929. Husky basketball adopted the Arena as its home in 1981, although the Huskies played a game there in 1936, losing to Rhode Island. For decades, the Arena has been home to countless scholastic hockey teams — particularly those in the Boston City League — and to its next-door neighbor, Wentworth Institute.
The Arena is also home to the Makris Varsity Club in its handsome headquarters, which includes a theater-style viewing box. The Varsity Club now hosts the NU Hall of Fame ceremonies at the Arena.
Neither time nor materiality has disrupted the daily patterns of Arena life, though. In quiet afternoons, there are special hours set aside for free public skating. As the ancient edifice improves by age, her sensitivity to the common good remains as high as ever.
What's new at Matthews Arena?
• Brand new videoboard at center ice
• Brand new locker room suites for men's & women's hockey
• Brand new locker room for men's basketball
• Brand new strength & conditioning center with adjacent sports medicine treament room
• Brand new seats throughout the arena
• Brand new 23-seat press box equipped with televisions and Internet access
• Updated lobby with new concession stands and high definition LCD televisions
Matthews Arena Timeline
April 16, 1910
Boston Arena opens
April 27, 1912
Theodore Roosevelt presidential rally
Dec. 1, 1924
First Bruins hockey game
Oct. 15, 1926
Arena Balcony opens
July 22, 1927
Charles Lindbergh reception
July 9, 1928
Amelia Earhart reception
Jan. 17, 1930
First NU hockey game
Feb. 12, 1930
Skating Club of Boston features Sonja Henie
Oct. 31, 1932
Franklin D. Roosevelt presidential rally
Sept. 3, 1946
John F. Kennedy appears at veterans rally with Admiral Chester Nimitz
Nov. 5, 1946
Boston Celtics first home game
Dec. 26, 1952
First Beanpot hockey game
May 4, 1958
Jerry Lee Lewis concert
Oct. 4, 1979
NU purchases arena
Nov. 14, 1982
Dedication of George J. and Hope M. Matthews Arena
Aug. 2, 1993
Reggie Lewis funeral service
Nov. 3, 1995
Rededication of Arena with renovated ice surface
Sept. 26, 2009
Women's hockey opens newly renovated arena with exhibition game |
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