BOSTON — The Celtics are coming to Boston full-time.
The team, of course, plays its home games downtown at TD Garden, but it still practices in Waltham, Mass., about 20 miles outside Boston. But that soon will change, as the Celtics officially broke ground Monday on a brand-new practice facility at Boston Landing, a 15-acre plot of land in the city’s Brighton neighborhood located alongside the Mass. Turnpike.
The facility, which will be across the street from the Boston Bruins’ new practice facility, the Warrior Ice Arena, is scheduled to open in Spring 2018. It officially has been named the Red Auerbach Center at New Balance World Headquarters, a tribute to late Celtics coach and team president Red Auerbach.
Construction officially began Monday on the approximately 135,000-square foot complex, where the Celtics are set to begin practicing after the 2017-18 season. The state-of-the-art facility will include some pretty nice features, per the team, including the following:
— Two state-of-the-art parquet floor basketball courts where the team will practice
— Leading edge audio-visual technology throughout the facility
— Expanded strength and conditioning, training, and recovery facilities
— Best-in-class locker rooms and players’ lounge
— Physical therapy areas including hydrotherapy pools
— Sports science and nutrition facilities
Here are two renderings of the new facility, courtesy of the Celtics:
Celtics president Rich Gotham said the Celtics visited about 10 of the NBA’s newest practice facilities and some college facilities to “cherry-pick what we thought was the best of each and build that into the design here.” He believes the “state-of-the-art” facility will help make Boston a more desirable destination for the NBA’s elite talent.
“Players spend more time in the practice facility than they do in the arena they play in, and maybe more than they do at home,” Gotham said. “So, having a place where they feel comfortable, a place where they want to spend time, a place where they’re able to improve themselves across the board — strength and conditioning, nutrition, sports science — it’s all coming together in a pretty big way.
“And I think the best players know that and understand that it’s integral to their success, to make sure that support is there. So, we look at it as something that, when we’re out talking to a player, we’re going to be talking about this practice facility we’re building, because we do think it’s an important part of the story.”
