This building has simply outgrown its usefulness. It is used for more than hockey and the community should appreciate that
JOHN HARRIS
From a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article in April 1954 addressing the need to replace Duquesne Gardens
The Casino – the birthplace of ice hockey in Pittsburgh – was destroyed by fire on December 17, 1896. The city would have to wait for three more years to have another indoor rink – Duquesne Gardens – for recreational skating and ice hockey.
• The Duquesne Gardens was the fourth ice rink in the world to use a Zamboni ice resurfacing machine
• The Gardens was the first hockey rink to use glass above the dasher boards. Developed locally by PPG, Herculite was first tested in Pittsburgh. Most rinks were using wire mesh before the shatterproof glass was invented.
Duquesne Gardens Seating Chart and Floor Plan
The Garden's ice surface was nearly 50 feet longer than today's NHL rinks and had state-of-the-art refridgeration and resurfacing technology.
The ice surface garnered the attention of hockey players all across Canada. Many top-notch Canadian players came to play in front of capacity crowds of 5,000 in Pittsburgh.
The rink was reduced to NHL standards for the Pittsburgh Pirates' first NHL game played on December 2, 1925, in which 8,000 fans paid $1 to see the 8:30 p.m. faceoff.
The "offical" capacity for the building was 5,657. Standing room only crowds swelled the capacity by thousands with approval from the Fire Engine House #14 that sat across the alley from the rink.
