Arena's Boss Threatens To End Hockey Season

Unless a Metropolitan District Commission offer to purchase the Boston Arena goes through, Harvard hockey may be without a home next season.

The M.D.C. proposal, made yesterday through State Representative Charles Patrone of Hyde Park, was intended primarily to save Eastern Massachusetts high school hockey. The Arena has been losing money heavily on school and college hockey for the past few years, and is currently for sale.

But added to the ominous warning of Walter Brown, president of the Garden-Arena Corporation, that "this is the last year we'll be able to sponsor schoolboy hockey" was the statement that, unless the Arena is sold, the current winter program will be curtailed so greatly that the St. Botolph Street building may be opened "only for special events."

A year ago, the heavy cost of keeping ice in both the Garden and the Arena 24 hours a day led to an announcement by Brown that a curtailment in practice time for both high school and college teams would be necessary. He also intimated at the time that, if the financial situation grew worse, the Arena and Garden would be able to take in only traditionally paying games, such as Harvard vs. Dartmouth or Boston College vs. Boston University.

But the ice palace owner managed to eliminate the crackdown this winter by moving most of his special events (Bruins, Celtics, Olympics, and Ice Capades) into the Garden, and keeping high school and college hockey in the Arena. All Harvard home contests this year are scheduled for the Arena.

The M.D.C. would be able to buy the Arena for slightly less that $400,000, the current assessment on the building, in order to operate it exclusively for the benefit of the schools in the Metropolitan District area. Patrone admitted last night that the M.D.C. purchase authorization stressed the "purpose of holding sporting and other events for the benefit of schoolboys," but promised the CRIMSON that he would include college hockey in the state bill.

"Schools and colleges would still have to pay for ice time," he added, "but the elimination of 'special events' would give them better times and longer hours for practice."

Brown was not available for comment last night