Madison Square Garden

The 1st building, leased to P. T. Barnum, was demolished in 1890 because of a leaky roof and dangerous balconies that had collapsed, resulting in deaths. 

The 2nd building was built by a syndicate that included J. P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, P. T. Barnum, Darius Mills, James Stillman and W. W. Astor. White gave them a Beaux-Arts structure with a Moorish feel, including a minaret-like tower modeled after Giralda, the bell tower of the Cathedral of Seville, soaring 32 stories, the city's second-tallest building at the time[citation needed] and dominating Madison Square Park. The main hall, which was the largest in the world, measured 200 feet by 350 feet with permanent seating for 8,000 people and floor space for thousands more. It had a 1,200-seat theater, a concert hall with a capacity of 1,500, the largest restaurant in the city, and a roof garden cabaret. The building cost $3 million. Madison Square Garden II was unsuccessful like the first Garden, and the New York Life Insurance Company, which held the mortgage on it, decided to tear it down in 1925 to make way for a new headquarters building, which would become the landmark Cass Gilbert-designed New York Life Building.

A 3rd Madison Square Garden opened in a new location. Built at the cost of $4.75 million in 249 days by boxing promoter Tex Rickard; the arena was dubbed "The House That Tex Built." The arena was 200 feet by 375 feet, with seating on three levels, and a maximum capacity of 18,496 spectators for boxing. Demolition commenced after the opening of the current Garden and is now the location of One Worldwide Plaza.

In February 1959, former automobile manufacturer Graham-Paige purchased a 40% interest in Madison Square Garden for $4 million and later gained control. In November 1960, Graham-Paige president Irving Mitchell Felt acquired the rights from the Pennsylvania Railroad to build at Penn Station. The original Pennsylvania Station's above-ground portions were demolished to make way for the new facility.The new Madison Square Garden was built above the platforms of an active railroad station, an engineering feat constructed by Robert E. McKee of El Paso, Texas. Public outcry over the demolition of the Beaux-Arts Penn Station led to the creation of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. The new Madison Square Garden opened on February 11, 1968. Yale architectural historian Vincent Scully famously remarked, "One entered the city like a god; one scuttles in now like a rat," comparing the old and new Penn Station.