Transforming TD Garden into a Professional Bull Riding Arena—And Back Again
When it’s your job to keep Boston’s TD Garden gleaming for the Bruins, Celtics, and countless special events each year, it’s hard to imagine turning that space into a rodeo arena with 750 tons of dirt for dozens of pawing, bucking bulls and their riders.
But our UG2 team not only met that challenge, they did so at the height of the NBA and NHL seasons, and returned the storied arena to prime condition in time for the Celtics to take the floor again just one day after the load out.
They did it all over a major holiday weekend, when TD Garden hosted New England’s first-ever Professional Bull Riding (PBR) event on January 2-3.
A Team with On-Point Expertise
As Senior Director of Operations for UG2, I understand that every one of our accounts demands unique expertise. I am grateful that the TD Garden team benefits from the leadership of employees with longstanding experience working at that very facility.
Licelot Montano has been at TD Garden for over 18 years, making her a tremendous resource as our Day Supervisor and as extra support for special events. Jaime Flores, our Account Manager, has spent eight years at TD Garden, building strong relationships with people on the customer side as well as with their partners and contractors.
In my own role providing regional support, I have a front row seat to how this team elevates those around them with clearheaded problem-solving, a can-do attitude, and an ability to meet the moment. All of those qualities played a role in the incredible success of the PBR event.
Our strategizing began as soon as the event was official. Jaime, Licelot, and I worked in close coordination with the TD Garden Operations Manager and the PBR event team, regularly meeting and communicating to review the task lists and timeline and determine how many staff we would need on site.
Bright and early on New Year’s Day, Licelot and Jaime met me at TD Garden with an expanded crew, to work the first of three critical shifts we had carefully planned out.
Our own “bull crew,” who regularly take expert care of the ice and parquet, were on hand to support the PBR team as they laid added protection on top of the Terraplas® and plywood we use when converting the arena from ice to flooring. Throughout the 755,000 sq. ft. facility, supplemental covers shielded vents and critical equipment. We brought in extra resources like a supplemental ride-on sweeper to extend our capabilities, and to avoid overburdening the equipment we rely on daily.
Then, Bobcats and front loaders rolled up to deposit 750 tons of dirt on our typically spotless arena floor. And, as the PBR team loaded in the dirt and set it down—a task that took a full day—our team was actively cleaning the entire time, to minimize the spread of dirt across the arena.
Once the facility was prepared, our special guests arrived via trailers. Fifty-five majestic animals weighing nearly two tons each were up brought up the ramps and into special holding pens behind the stage, waiting their turns to demonstrate their own athletic prowess.
An Attendee’s Point of View
The crowd was not the Garden’s typical gathering of fans wearing their favorite team’s gear. The two-day event saw a lot of flannel, boots, and cowboy hats—and the TD Garden team even invited our employees to don the same in recognition of this highly unusual opportunity.
In attendance was CJ Mello, UG2 Safety Specialist with our engineering teams at UG2, but he was not there in his professional capacity. He learned of the PBR event when his brother, who lives in Vermont, saw it on social media, and CJ decided to get him tickets as birthday gift.
“I am fortunate to have spent time at TD Garden conducting audits and getting to know the team there,” CJ said. “Having grown up in New England, this was an experience unlike any other. It was surreal seeing these massive animals, and people strapping themselves to them for fun. The place was full, including celebrities, and no one was looking at their phones. People were tuned in. From a UG2 perspective, I was very aware of the UG2 staff who were constantly circling and staying on top of all they had to do.”
The amount of effort that went into this event is impossible to describe, but our supervisors and their teams executed our plan flawlessly. The final bull riding event happened Saturday evening, and we had just one day where they loaded out while we swept and wiped every seat and surface in the arena, working through the night in time for the Celtics to arrive for Monday morning practice. The Celtics are very particular about their space, and every UG2 employee involved did a fantastic job exceeding expectations. We are fortunate to have such talent. As we like to say at the Garden, it’s all about the team.