Cincinnati Gardens' memorabilia will go up for sale

Dave Greene calls himself a collector by nature.

The 56-year-old Greene has spent 36 years accumulating just about anything you can imagine while working at the Cincinnati Gardens – programs, trophies, jerseys, ticket stubs. But soon, items part of his personal collection and those on display for years at the entertainment venue are now heading to the auction block.

Greene has a deal with Cincinnati-based online estate sale operator Everything But The House to auction off hundreds of items that have been part of his collection. A Walt Wesley Cincinnati Royals warmup jacket, a game-worn Cincinnati Mohawks jersey, and a 1954 Governor's Cup trophy are among the items planned in auction, which is expected to launch in late August or early September, he said.

Many of Greene's items have been on display in the Gardens' "Legends Museum" and shadow boxes in lower concourse hallways of the main arena.

But with the Cincinnati Gardens' new owner – the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority – planning to demolish the main arena and skating center, Greene decided to sell the items. The port expects demolition to begin in the first quarter of 2017 and have the site ready to market for future development later in the year.

The items have already been removed from the venue at 2250 Seymour Ave. The Gardens was built 67 years ago.

"If I can't display it, I don't want it," Greene said. "I want it to be able to be seen by me or somebody. If i just packed it up and brought it home, it would just be in the garage. Hopefully someone will appreciate some of it.

"I was just hoarding that stuff initially," Greene said. "Once ushers and ticket takers realized I was doing it, they would gather anything of value. There would be a shopping bag full of stuff; I'd bring it home and sort it."

He later began taking out advertisements in newspapers and passing out cards at the arena and elsewhere seeking memorabilia.

"As long as it says Gardens, I want it," he said.

Greene, who grew up in Tennessee, visited the Gardens for the first time in the late 1960s to see a Big Time Wrestling event. Greene was a child at the time and he recalls being awestruck by the venue's size.

Greene moved to Cincinnati in 1977 and later, he began working at events at Riverfront Coliseum, now called U.S. Bank Arena. One night, after a few years working at Riverfront, a woman was talking to people at the Coliseum about the Gardens' plan to reopen and that the venue owner needed workers, Greene said.

For a few years, Greene worked at both arenas. Greene said he eventually quit his job at the Coliseum because in the 1980s, events at the Gardens were plentiful. His first event (at least the one he can remember) working at the Gardens is a closed-circuit television boxing match. There have been countless more in his 36-year run at the Gardens.

"I started there in May or June of 1980," he said. "Within a year, the Gardens was hopping. We had a major event every week. It was just wild. We would have three events in a weekend – boxing, basketball, hockey, a concert, whatever. We couldn't slow down.  We had promoters that were beating down the door who wanted to have their event at the Gardens."

Since the port bought the building, Greene said many people have asked him about getting a seat from the famed venue. He can't help. But for collectors interested in programs from Bon Jovi, Iron Maiden and Motley Crue shows or a hockey stick signed by Garth Brooks, he can help.

Port Authority officials said Thursday that a plan is being developed to assess the cost, time and expertise needed to remove and sell items of high interest from the Gardens such as the seats. Details about those plans are expected to be posted on www.cincinnatiport.org, but no information was immediately available.

"The Port Authority recognizes the historic value of some items related to the building and is developing measures to have such items evaluated for removal prior to demolition," according to a statement posted on the organization's website. "The goal is to place the items in the care of a qualified not-for-profit agent or organization that has the resources and capacity necessary for their transferal, installation, exhibit and long-term maintenance."

Also among those historic items: the six 10-foot-tall bas-relief sporting figures flanking the main entrance on the building’s exterior, two each of a boxer, a basketball player and a hockey player. The designs resulted from a 1948 competition held by the Art Academy of Cincinnati and A.M. Kinney, the Gardens' architect and engineering firm. The winner of the competition was Henry W. Mott, according to the port.