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addByline("Marc D'Amico", "Celtics.com", "Marc_DAmico");
BOSTON – Green and white balloons decorated the streets Monday morning at Boston Landing, where the Boston Celtics broke ground on their new, state-of-the-art practice facility. The building will be located at the edge of the Massachusetts Turnpike and between the old New Balance headquarters and the new Boston Bruins practice facility,
The team, in partnership with New Balance and the city of Boston, proudly announced at the groundbreaking ceremony that the facility will bear the name of team patriarch Red Auerbach.
Moments after gracefully outlining the impact Auerbach made both on the Celtics organization and in the national civil rights and equality movements, team co-owner and governor Wyc Grousbeck revealed the name of the new facility.
“This is your official welcome to the groundbreaking of The Red Auerbach Center at New Balance World Headquarters,” Grousbeck stated.
The naming of the facility was at the crux of the ceremony, which was held just a stone’s throw away from the construction site. Team president Rich Gotham revealed that New Balance, who will partner with the Celtics in the development of the building, proposed the name during a meeting between the two organizations.
“It was a bit of a mystery as to what was going to be presented in that meeting,” Gotham recalled, later adding, “Much to my surprise and happiness, when we walked in there they proposed that this building be named after the great Red Auerbach.”
Jim Davis, owner and chairman of New Balance Athletics, was the driving force behind the idea of naming the facility after Auerbach. He and Auerbach developed a deep relationship that dated back to the early 1980s.
“Over the years, we became friends. He was my mentor,” Davis said. “I marveled at the respect and admiration his players had for him.
“He was a master of teamwork. He was a master of inspiration,” he continued. “He was able to inspire a good, average player to perform at levels they never dreamed of obtaining.”
Davis, New Balance and the Celtics all understand that such teamwork and inspiration are born and bred on the practice court, and that they are keys to championship success.
“The banners might get raised down at the TD Garden when we win them,” said Gotham, “but they’re won on the practice court.”
The team’s new practice courts will be located inside a facility that will span approximately 70,000 square feet and place the Celtics ahead of the curve in terms of preparation, training and rehabilitation. The building will feature a 40-foot glass wall that will be highly visible to the hundreds of thousands of weekly commuters who pass by on the Turnpike.
“It will have 17 (championship) banners hanging there, visible to all,” Grousbeck said, “… with room for more.”
The Celtics have been practicing at their current facility in Waltham, Mass. since February of 1999. Mayor Marty Walsh is one of many Bostonians who is excited to end that streak and bring the team’s practice sessions back into its home city.
“Soon, they won’t just be winning in our city, but they’ll be practicing in it as well,” he said.
Davis added, “Thank you for being here today to celebrate the groundbreaking return of the Boston Celtics to their rightful home in the city of Boston – where they belong.”
The Celtics plan to open the Auerbach Center in the spring of 2018.