Metro Centre
 

Council gives go ahead for Halifax Metro Centre to be sold, in name only

November 12, 2013 Updated: November 12, 2013 | 7:18 pm

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By Aly Thomson
For Metro Halifax

These are great upgrades that are needed, a new HD video screen will be nice and new seats. I think they should install some LED Ribbon board advertisements around the arena like a lot of the NHL rinks.

Replace the scoreboard? The friggin thing is only ten years old! It's out of date already?? I like the idea of new seats, and I hope washroom expansion means MORE washrooms. Whoever thought nine bathrooms for 10,000 people was adequate should be force fed beer and then have to stand in the lineups during intermission.

Halifax Metro Centre naming rights have been sold and should be announced at noon today.

Also Halifax is going after the International Men's Tennis Tournament Davis Cup.

Rename the thread:

Scotiabank Centre

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Scotiabank Centre. Hmm that's gonna take some getting used to. I'm no fan of corporate names on arenas but if it leads to more bathrooms and more concession options, I can't really complain.

Hey at least it's not the Emera Center....

Nice naming! Finally, they are spending money in Nova SCOTIA.

Could you imagine? PA Announcement: "Good Evening, and welcome to Emera Centre" *cue smattering/potential chorus of boos from those who have made it to their seats*

The renovations will be done over three years. It took about that long for Madison Square Garden to be completely gutted from the inside and rebuilt to look like a more modern (and less cool and unique) arena. The Scotiabank Centre - slowly getting used to it - renos will move at a snails pace by comparison.

Still SkyDome to me. If you know what I mean.

Yup, especially in this city I fully expect everyone will keep calling it the Metro Centre no matter what... it has always amused me hearing people born in the '80s and '90s still calling the Mackay "The New Bridge"!

Yeah I've actually had people question me before when I say MacKay or Macdonald bridge, they'll ask me if I mean the new or old bridge.

New signs are going up, official ribbon cutting is Friday (Mooseheads first Home Game).

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Maybe a mod could rename the thread Scotiabank Centre since it's official on Friday.

It'll always be SkyDome, er Metro Centre to me ;)

^Yeah it's one of those things, the words "Metro Centre" is pretty ingrained in everyone's mind.

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I think this might block the view...

Is Scotiabank somehow involved with the Metro Centre now? That sign is so subtle its hard to tell;)

I find it's kind of annoying how they used their regular "Scotiabank" wordmark but then went all out "CENTRE" ... it doesn't quite fit, it seems (coming from a professional design standpoint lol) They could've worked around lower case "centre" too. Oh well. I also think the building could use a decent paint job.. or at the very least- a good pressure-washing.

What is with the TR? It looks like something that would have been designed ten years ago.

I found this image of the Metro Centre under construction on one of the several news articles about the signage/name change today.

http://i.imgur.com/9gkadrR.jpg

More like thirty years ago :) It's a little bit like this

http://melaman2.com/startrek/images/st2-poster.jpg

or this

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...s_Logo.svg.png

:previous:

That's actually closer to 40 years ago. Star Wars came out in 1977. :eek:

What's old is new again I guess.

Scotiabank is becoming like Rogers, with their name on (or were on) so many arenas they all get mixed up (Rogers Centre Toronto, Rogers Arena Vancouver, Rogers Place Edmonton).


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Looks like it was pressure washed when you compare these two photos:


http://i62.tinypic.com/300wc9e.jpg

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I think a better comparison comes from the first photo you posted yesterday.

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Yep, she's definitely been power washed. The ice looks good too. Cutting out the parts of the H that stick out of the centre ice circle is an interesting look. All in the name of properly showing off who owns the name.

Looking forward to this season. I'm curious to see what Ducharme can do without any future NHL All-Stars on the team this year.

Wacky! I remember this photo. I was in grade 6 delivering the Mail Star afternoon paper, and this was front and centre. I remember walking from house to house looking at this picture, thinking how cool it was going to be when they opened.

Best photo so far with new TD tower in background:

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It really is an interesting building isn't it. From the Argyle direction it looks like such a massive building, and from Brunswick it practically blends into the surrounding areas. Anyone have any pictures from before the WTCC was built? I think I saw a couple once, or maybe it was an artists rendering, but it was a while ago. I seem to recall there was a patio or balcony of sorts that wrapped around that eastern side, up at concourse level.

I think we've discussed it before, but from that perspective in the first picture there that q12 posted, it really does look like the upper bowl could be extended around the north/Duke street end. It would probably have to hang slightly over the lower bowl seating, and couldn't be a full deck like the existing upper bowl seating, but it could be possible.

I still think the best way to expand the place would be to raise the roof, let the skyboxes rise with it, and put an upper deck at either end. Possibly easier said than done from an engineering standpoint though, and wouldn't address the problems with the undersized concourses, inadequately-sized washrooms and concessions, and steep, narrow staircases. It really is not in a spot that lends itself to major renovations.

I think this is the picture you are thinking of, from user "ALPS". He said it was a scan from a Sherman Hines picture book, hence the less than perfect quality. But it does show the outside walkway that it had prior to WTCC:

http://i.imgur.com/L1K0j.png

I suppose once the WTCC is no longer required in its present form and the city takes over ownership, other possibilities for expansion of the Metro, ur, Scotiabank Centre open up as some of that space could be taken over.

If the viewplane wasn't there they could raise the roof and add a couple thousand seats on the east side where the WTCC is, take down the box seats in the rafters and stack them above the 2nd tier on the Brunswick Street side like Pilips Arena - http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/med...lips-arena.jpg )

I'm curious about the viewplane here. Someone123 posted this pic a while ago:


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If you look at that, the buildings on either side of the arena are both taller than it is, it appears that the WTCC tower is slightly taller, and the bank towers as you go downhill towards the harbor are significantly taller and would appear to be in the same plane. I don't get it (not that I ever understood how the viewplanes made any sense).

That's the one!

I don't know what could be done for the concourse on the Brunswick side, but when the WTCC vacates there's a great opportunity to open the east side concourse up more into the building. Maybe they could re-do the stairs on that side of the building as well, so they're not so steep.

Was talking to an engineer a while back about the possibility of expansion of the metro center. He was saying that the smart thing would have been to build a new Arena and turn the current metro center into a large convention venue. Raising the roof of the metro center is not impossible but would be extremely costly and not worth doing for the gains that would be made. So basically we are stuck with what we have until 300-500 million comes up to build a new arena.

Wow. I always thought the Metro Centre and WTCC were built at the same time. I'll never look at the bar concourse the same way again. When was the WTCC built?

With the WTCC relocation, the option exists to completely rebuild the interior and flip the ice surface 90 degrees and build a proper arena with two decks all the way around and boxes/club seats on a level between the two inside the current shell of the two buildings. Something that can seat 15,000 for hockey, and potentially up to 20,000 for concerts and finally have a proper, permanent concert venue. That would also likely be in the 300-500mil range, sadly. For that $$ you may as well rebuild the exterior.

According to Wikipedia, 1984. I have a feeling though that what you suggest would not be economically feasible..probably cheaper in that case to demo both buildings and build a totally new arena on the site.

I'm OK with that :D. Any hypothetical related to that needn't be attempted until after the Forum renos are done. The Mooseheads would play there in the interim.

Whatever the cost (minimum $200M, especially by the point in time something like this would actually begin) a new arena stands a far better chance of recouping its construction costs and turning a long-term profit than an outdoor stadium would.

Announced today: New York Islanders vs. Carolina Hurricanes Sept. 26, 2015 at the Scotiabank Centre 2015 NHL preseason game.

Also both this weekends Mooseheads games are broadcast nationally on sportsnet.


And 10,000 plus new dark blue seats with cup holders to be installed before September.

Award Tender

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Those old seats were a big deal locally when they were new, as the lower bowl versions had a padded bottom seat, a first for arenas in these parts. Amazing that they lasted over 25 years. Glad to see the 1970s orange color depart.

I'm pretty shocked they'd go with a color more commonly associated with banks such as RBC and BMO, as well as hockey teams from Dartmouth and Bedford. Red is associated with both the Mooseheads and Scotiabank, seemed like an obvious choice.

I would have thought green for the team, as well as to match the current club seats. Red seats would look too much like the orange ones IMO.

I too was totally expecting red seats for Scotiabank... blue will look good. Will be very strange to see it without the so familiar orange seating though.

Yeah, that's funny. Those orange seats from the 70's lasting so long. That colour is almost back in style!

Is it just me or does the blue seat look slightly wider than the orange ones? If that is the case then the sections could wind up being 15 seats wide from the current 16. That would reduce overall capacity by a few hundred seats if that was the case. It's worth it though to have cupholders for every seat.

Based on the link provided by q12, the municipality is paying for 10,102 seats (8,765 fixed + 1,337 retractable) - http://www.halifax.ca/council/agenda...50113ca141.pdf. The award tender excludes loose arena floor seating and skybox seating so there doesn't appear to be a reduction in seating. According to the Hussey Seating Company literature, the seating width is selectable from 19" to 24 inches wide - http://www.husseyseating.com/storage...0Sel%20Web.pdf so it appears as though the seats can be selected to be a direct replacement in number.

Just as a comparison, the Air Canada Centre (home of the Maple Leafs) seats are 19 and 20 inches wide - http://www.theaircanadacentre.com/about/facts.asp. Based on drawing dimensions in this WTCC document - http://www.tradecentrelimited.com/si...s_May_2007.pdf, the current Metro Centre (aka Scotiabank Centre) seats also appear to be 19 - 20 inches wide (centre to centre) according to my calculations. The Metro Centre was also built with ample leg room (especially for back in 1978) with 32 inches per row width (32 inch "RUN").

I remember when the Metro Centre first opened in 1978 the seating capacity was around 9,600 and the reason given for it being less than the initially quoted 10,000 capacity was that seats were selected to be wider than was common at the time (probably standard width these days). Since then seats have been added in the skyboxes and perhaps elsewhere in the arena(?) since it is now listed as 10,595 for hockey - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotiabank_Centre

Fenwick is correct, the skybox seats bring the capacity up to 10,595. The "RED" club seats (shown on seat map) and extra seats above the zamboni entrances were also added a number of years ago. You used to be able to walk the entire concourse on the arena side before.

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http://www.scotiabank-centre.com/en/...p/default.aspx

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Scotiabank Centre Facebook

Great find. It appears as though they were getting ready to install the main roof trusses (which is surprising since it seems to have been so early in the construction phase).

There are probably quite a few construction photos that were taken prior to social media and image hosting that will never be shared on the internet (too bad).

I saw the Mooseheads games on Sportsnet and kept thinking how good the Scotiabank Centre (aka Metro Centre) looks on TV. I think the orange seats really stand out in the arena.

Does anyone have confirmation (a source) indicating that the seats shown in this picture (link posted by q12) - https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.n...30133663_o.jpg - are the same colour as what was selected? I am just wondering if this is the actual colour, or just a representative sample of the seat style? I am surprised that the Heritage Trust isn't demanding the same colour :). After all, the Metro Centre is certainly an important part of the heritage of Halifax (unquestionably, in my opinion).

I only assumed that was the colour however they aren't being installed till the summer so they may not have confirmed the colour?

Looks like it will be plush black or navy seats.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/metro/1...e-by-september