A Royal take on the Transformation of Madison Square Garden Phase One!

A View from behind the Goal

For those of you who don't know, Madison Square Garden aka the World's Most Famous Arena as it's known is in the process of undergoing a make over. In other words, they prefer to refer to it as a "transformation".

In today's ever changing world, everything is obsolete a lot faster than in the past. Technology has altered all of our lives in one way, shape or form.

With that being said, the people who run the Garden decided that building a whole new building was out of the question due to the ridiculous amount of money it would cost. Mind you, this transformation project isn't going to come cheap either but it makes more logically sense to me.

Instead they decided to "transform" the building to get it up to the modern standards of the 21st century.
It's a long term process that won't be completed until sometime in 2013. It will be done in three different phases.

During the summer, the Garden was shut down so they could start doing phase one of the project. By doing so, they have started to change the Garden as we used to see it.

For example, they have upgraded the locker rooms for the players so they can feel like their really playing at home literally and figuratively speaking.

As for the fans, they've redone different parts of the seating areas. On the lower level, they used to have seats separated by different sections of seats. Now they decided to make rows of seats that go back around 25 rows consecutively.

By doing so, they 're trying to make the sightlines better for the fans in the process. In addition, they've remodeled and widened the concourses and bathrooms downstairs as well.

For those of us who prefer or can only afford the upper bowl seats and/or the old "blue" seats, they've ripped out seats and redid the areas behind the goals on both sides where the old green seats used to be.
Furthermore, they've added an aerial view behind the net that hangs over the ice that's accessible for everybody who wants to stand and peak at the game while enjoying a beer at the newly created bar areas on this level. I personally think it's a cool addition. It reminded me of the old arena in Pittsburgh, the Civic Arena aka the Igloo where you were able to see the game from the top of the building behind the net. They also have a few rows of seats that are surrounded by big glass partitions so you can watch the game if you can afford the price of admission for these newly added perchs. They also have bar stool style seats in the row behind them with a ledge. They also come with a high price tag.

My overall take is incomplete just like the rest of the transformation. Needless to say, in order to enjoy and appreciate all of the new modern amenities, you're going to need a bundle of money to do so.

The bottom line is I'm glad I got to see the beginning of the new look Garden. Time will tell if I'll be able to see the finished version in a few years.

If you haven't had the privilege of going to the Garden then you won't know the difference. Right now, it's a work in progress and even regular visitors like myself will have a hard time navigating the ins and outs with all the different changes that are taking place in Midtown Manhattan high atop New York Penn Station.

With the NBA lockout ongoing and with no end in sight, the number of games played at the Garden are less than expected. With that being said, if you get a chance to go there I strongly suggest you do. That way you can witness firsthand what I'm talking about.

It's an old building and foundation so they can only do so much as far as fixing up the facility.

When it's all said and done, it should be an improvement for those people who are fortunate enough to experience it.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman