This may distract them from the LRT debate.

Am I missing something? :slob:

This arena was built for an NHL team that never came. Why would rebuild it for another NHL team that's never coming? Is there some other reason we need a 17000 seat arena built to NHL standards?

As long as no public monies go into it, I couldn't care less.

For the amount the upper level gets used, and is likely to be used for a long while, a full renovation is not worthwhile. Minimal rehab and maybe replacement of seats might be required up there (and maybe there's an alternative to the black curtains, though they don't bother me much) but I'd rather see them focus on the concourses and lower bowl if any kind of major investment happens.

I think it makes sense to keep the upper level in usable condition. Copps/FOC may have been overbuilt, but it has hosted some large events the city may not otherwise have had a shot at hosting with a smaller building (tournaments, big concerts) and that capacity is nice to have available.

Agree though, any major investment should not include public money.

they should demolish the eatons center while they are at it.. it's been a ghost town of poverty since eatons left.

The Eaton's Centre is really nice inside, it's just too bad there's no reason to go in there...

I will admit when the lights on the arches along the ceiling are all on around christmas time it looks really cool - it just feels awful inside. Discount stores, businesses peppered here and there, a completely vacant food court...

I used to go there as a kid when eatons was still in there and it was PACKED. Maybe with the student residences going into the william thomas building across from it it will help it out? I personally think they really need to open up the exterior entrances.. the outside of the eatons center is like a prison almost.

the only thing that saved that building is the fact the city has offices on the second floor.

It is really nice - just needs work. Maybe opening it up to James Street.

I totally agree on opening it up to james st.

If I had a nickel! ;)

It's a white elephant but a demo would be a massive deal so...

unlikely, Hamilton City Centre is owned and run by Partners Real Estate Investment Trust which mostly runs garbage malls and plazas just like HCC.

city actually has offices on the 2nd and 3rd floors.

I stand corrected lol

I don't think it is worth spending $100 million to upgrade it for events like the Memorial Cup which is basically a one off.

agreed. the venue still gets its fair share of >10K concerts and those make more money than a Memorial cup once every 20 years at best.

so many other infrastructure issues to tackle with limited pot of money. First Ontario Centre is so far down the list. of course if a private donor wants to go in on their own, no one is stopping them.

having said that the elevator and escalator issues should be addressed as part of the ongoing annual maintenance budget.

Excerpt from CBC Hamilton, March 8, 2015:

Unconfirmed reports this weekend say that the Hamilton Bulldogs, a Montreal Canadiens farm team, are moving to St. John's, N.L.. The team wouldn't confirm or deny, but a media report says a deal could be reached this week.

Coun. Terry Whitehead, who chairs the professional sports committee, said it would be sad if the Bulldogs left. The committee's original mandate was to bring an NHL team to Hamilton.

The committee is keeping a close eye on developments, Whitehead said. But he's not worried that Hamilton will be without major hockey.

"I'm not nervous at all," said Whitehead, a Ward 8 councillor. "It's too big a market. It's too big of an arena to ignore." ....

If the Bulldogs move, Whitehead said, it would create "a catacomb" at FirstOntario Centre.

"You need a tenant," he said. "Without a main tenant, it's no different than having a stadium without the Tiger-Cats. Whether it's an OHL team or an AHL team, it's important that there is a high calibre of hockey that continues."

Wondering if this issue doesn't have the potential to pry an incumbent loose in 2018.

DRESCHEL: Arena reno report delayed until April

Hamilton Spectator
By Andrew Dreschel
http://www.thespec.com/opinion-story...d-until-april/


We're going to have to wait a little longer for the release of the much anticipated private sector report on options for updating the aged city-owned FirstOntario Centre.

The $240,000 study, which has been in the city's hands for several months, will now go before councillors April 5 instead of March 22 as planned.

The debate has been pushed back so Mayor Fred Eisenberger and Glen Norton, director of economic development, can attend the meeting, said John Hertel, director of strategic partnerships and revenue generation, who's now handling the file as part of the city's land development task force.

Eisenberger and Norton are expected to be away on a trade mission to Germany at the time of the original March date. Hertel says both men want to be present when staff finally presents the report laying out costed options for the 30-year-old downtown arena, formerly known as Copps Coliseum.

Council will likely have no appetite for committing itself to an immediate course of action given the city's deepening budget challenges.

But the fact the faded arena was an element in why Hamilton recently lost out on hosting the Canadian Hockey League's Memorial Cup tournament indicates the time has come to seriously discuss its future entertainment and economic development role.

The report by international venue experts Brisbin Brook Beynon Architects (BBB) includes both a technical analysis of every physical aspect of the centre and spells out two costly makeover options.

One involves turning the lower bowl into a state-of-the-art 8,000-or-so seat facility. The other is a full renovation, elevating the 17,000-seat building to current NHL and other pro league standards.

Though the report remains confidential, the first option is believed to be in the $70-million range while the second clocks in at around $250 million.

......

http://media.zuza.com/4/7/4785c99d-b....3_Gallery.jpg

I hope there's an option where $0.00 is spent...