The Bruins yesterday "broke ground" on their new practice arena in Brighton, Mass., according to Jack Newsham of the BOSTON GLOBE. The Warrior Ice Arena, named after New Balance subsidiary Warrior Sports, will "replace the Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington, where the Bruins have practiced" since the late '80s. The facility is being built "as part of a larger development next to the Massachusetts Turnpike that will include" the New Balance's new corporate HQ. Developers said that the 75,000-square-foot arena "will be surrounded by offices, residences, and a hotel." Boston Mayor Martin Walsh added that it "will be open to public." Terms of the deal with Warrior "were not disclosed." Newsham notes throughout professional sports, teams are "upgrading their practice facilities to lure star players and to create new revenue streams." New Balance Development Corp. Managing Partner Jim Halliday said that construction of the arena, which was originally scheduled to start next year, "started earlier this month because the permitting process went more smoothly than anticipated." He added that construction is "planned to wrap up" in fall '16 (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/11).
MAKE WAY FOR THE PARQUET? In Boston, Donna Goodison cites sources as saying that New Balance also is "in talks about building a Celtics practice facility there." Sources said that New Balance has been talking with the Celtics about "relocating their practices" to Boston Landing in Brighton "for about a year." A source said that the new Celtics practice facility "would be connected to the track and field sports complex planned by New Balance, but the two could be built independent of each other." The source added that the Celtics are "doing an internal evaluation of recently built NBA training facilities and will regroup with New Balance after the analysis" (BOSTON HERALD, 12/11).
