Island Garden
Encyclopedia
Island Garden is an indoor arena
in West Hempstead, New York
, USA. The arena was built in 1998, and has a seating capacity of 5,000 people. It hosts a local youth basketball league. It was named for the original Island Garden, which stood just south of the present site.
The Original Island Garden Arena was built in 1957 by Arnold "Whitey" Carlson a descendent of Swedish Immigrants, Mr. Carlson's grandfather was Henrik Carlson, a noted San Diego sculptor who was the Foreign Art Director for the San Diego Exposition (now Balboa Park). Over the years many concert acts such as Cream
, Dave Clark Five, Tiny Tim, Louis Armstrong, The Dave Brubeck Quartet
and Bob Dylan
performed at the venue. In addition to concerts there were also boxing matches, circus, rodeos, stamp shows, midget car racing, and boat shows. The 5,200 seat arena also hosted the New York Nets of the American Basketball Association
from 1969 to 1972. One of the odd aspects of this arena was that the Nets were unable to play any home playoffs games in 1971 because the arena was booked. The arena was partially demolished in 1973, due to its inability to compete with the larger Nassau Coliseum. A shopping center is currently at the site of the original Island Garden Arena.
Arena
An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...
in West Hempstead, New York
West Hempstead, New York
Not to be confused with West Hampstead, London.West Hempstead is a hamlet in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 18,862 at the 2010 census...
, USA. The arena was built in 1998, and has a seating capacity of 5,000 people. It hosts a local youth basketball league. It was named for the original Island Garden, which stood just south of the present site.
The Original Island Garden Arena was built in 1957 by Arnold "Whitey" Carlson a descendent of Swedish Immigrants, Mr. Carlson's grandfather was Henrik Carlson, a noted San Diego sculptor who was the Foreign Art Director for the San Diego Exposition (now Balboa Park). Over the years many concert acts such as Cream
Cream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
, Dave Clark Five, Tiny Tim, Louis Armstrong, The Dave Brubeck Quartet
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
The Dave Brubeck Quartet is an American jazz quartet, founded in 1951 by Dave Brubeck and originally featuring Paul Desmond on saxophone and Brubeck on piano...
and Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
performed at the venue. In addition to concerts there were also boxing matches, circus, rodeos, stamp shows, midget car racing, and boat shows. The 5,200 seat arena also hosted the New York Nets of the American Basketball Association
American Basketball Association
The American Basketball Association was a professional basketball league founded in 1967. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976.-League history:...
from 1969 to 1972. One of the odd aspects of this arena was that the Nets were unable to play any home playoffs games in 1971 because the arena was booked. The arena was partially demolished in 1973, due to its inability to compete with the larger Nassau Coliseum. A shopping center is currently at the site of the original Island Garden Arena.