Quote:
Originally Posted by Oilkountry
Such a special building. Truly one of the most iconic arenas in Canadian sports history outshined only by maple leafs stadium and the forum.
Pacific Arena,saddledome,Pepsi colisee, Civic center and Winnipeg arena surely wont have the same legacy "rex" leaves behind. Although, when I'm sitting in rogers place I don't look around and think....Man I miss Rexall, It holds such a special place in my heart as an Oilers fan. One of the loudest most intimate arenas ever built.
Its So odd to me that arenas have lost that personality and specialness to the community. Arenas don't feel like they belong to the team like rexall did the Oilers and fans. A Modern arena like Scotiabank or rogers place, built in the right Location will last 100+ years, but will they share any sentimental value to the fans? Will their be a push to save scotiabank like their was maple leaf gardens? I doubt it.
I often wonder If a team like Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver or for that matter Winnipeg and Edmonton will ever play in a new arena again? These buildings will never crumble, They were build strong and flexible enough to reconfigure and expand, And with arenas costing upwards of a Billion, which canadian cities would even want to build?.
Lets be real the Only reason Ottawa is even pushing for a new arena is location. CTT could easily be rogers place with a 200M renovation. I remember watching an interview with melnyk when he said "these buildings aren't meant to last forever". I just laughed because they really are. Dry steel and concrete is really the recipe for longevity. Really they will just continue to get more structurally sound over time.
Calgary is a different story. Saddledome was built 10 years too early. It just missed the modern era of arena design.
Canada life Center is the Interesting one for me. 130M to Build, 130M to Renovate.....800M to Replace. Theirs no shot Winnipeg is ever gonna see another arena in our life time. We truly may be witnessing the end of Arena construction over the next decade or so. Whos going to construct an arena for 2 billion in 2040 that's not for downtown New York or LA?
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Rexall was the house that Gretzky built - that's the hook. Our attachment to a house is less of the house itself and more of the people and events who gave it soul.
Once one gets the right location and amenities to make some bucks, the soul might follow. Maybe not, though. Soul is about special moments, and genericized sport product is harder to get such moments from. Does the NHL see another dynasty on par with the Habs of the '70s or Oilers of the '80s? Does 'soulless' Skydome forget
Joe Carter?
I'm curious about the multipurpose stadiums that did have teams with dynasties. Do people mourn the loss of them, or does the newfangled stadium make the legacy of the old one fade, even if the team is now mediocre?
Anyway, the formula for a multipurpose arena is pretty set in stone for the time being. After Calgary's questionable-need new build and Ottawa's long-running relocation process, NHL-scale arena building is pretty much a dead duck in this country for at least another generation. Which is fine IMO - the Atlanta/State of Georgia model of 'Need new facility every 20 years' always struck me as wasteful and unfocused frivolity.