TD Coliseum | ? | 4 fl | Under Construction

[jonny24]

Originally Posted by BCTed

There will be two concourse levels post-reno. Is that correct? And where did you see this?

The company I work for is bidding on some of the work.

Level 1 is part concourse, part club area, part locker rooms etc.

Level 2 is concourse, with access to lower bowl at mid height.

Level 3 is concourse, as it is now, but with suites around the long sides of the bowl that block the current top-of-bowl access to the lower bowl.

[drpgq]

Saw this on Joey Coleman's Twitter feed:

OVG to break ground on FirstOntario Centre reno

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.co...oup-renovation

[matt602]

Reopen by fall of next year? lol doubt that

[TheRitsman]

Originally Posted by matt602

Reopen by fall of next year? lol doubt that

They're planning to reopen but not be done renovations is my understanding. 12 months closed then another 6 of finishing work while the arena is back open. I suspect finishing up exterior and street facing elements in the last 6ish months.

[ScreamingViking]

As long as the interior structural changes are complete and "safe" I'd think OVG will want to start hosting revenue-generating events.

While I hope to see some impressive exterior work, I can accept if it's just lipstick so long as the guts of the arena are vastly improved. More can be done later, if need be.

[JakeLRS]

WE FINALLY HAVE SHOVELS IN THE GROUND!
I never thought I’d see the day!

I was hoping we would have seen some new renderings though.

https://www.chch.com/major-renovatio...ntario-centre/

The official groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled to kick off renovations at the downtown stadium at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
Over the next 14 months, work will be done to strip the entire facility down to its core and carry out a $280 million renovation project that is expected to completely transform the arena.

Once complete, the venue will be able to host 18,000 people at a time and be decked out in premium features, including enhanced acoustics, improved sightlines, upgraded concourses, and new artist lounges.

[SteelTown]

https://www.hamiltonarenaproject.com/

[SteelTown]

[Berklon]

The planned exterior looks better than it does today, but it's not much more than just slapping a fresh coat of paint in 2 colors. It'll still have that outdated 80's look to it.
Underwhelming.

[king10]

Originally Posted by Berklon

The planned exterior looks better than it does today, but it's not much more than just slapping a fresh coat of paint in 2 colors. It'll still have that outdated 80's look to it.
Underwhelming.

Was never going to be about the exterior, though the spec article said there would be a new restaurant open on non event days. This was always about the concourses and arena bowl.

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by king10

Was never going to be about the exterior, though the spec article said there would be a new restaurant open on non event days. This was always about the concourses and arena bowl.

I am personally more than fine with it being primarily about the interior. The exterior does look dated, but I kind of like it, and it will be nice to see it cleaned up and at least have some fresh paint and working signage in front of the arena.

The restaurant is going to have a celebrity chef attached to it, and it might be Matty Matheson from The Bear. The announcement is apparently coming at some point in the next couple of months.

All of this said, I am confused about the concourse situation. My understanding is that there are three levels to the arena:
- The below-ground ice-level / event-level
- The street-level
- The current above-street-level concourse, which has up to this point been used to access the entire arena bowl (upper and lower).

Let's take the below-ground level out of the equation for a moment (though it looks like there will be some kind of lounges on that level).

I had understood that the current concourse might be re-done to access only the upper bowl, and one of the renders seems to suggest that (the one with people hanging out outside of sections 220-221). However, one of the other concourse images shows people going up the stairs/escalators to enter what also looks like the current concourse and it seems to have access to both the lower and upper bowls (outside of sections 108,109,211,212) ---[EDIT: Maybe that image only shows access to the upper bowl, while still having signage showing sections 108 and 109, but not access to them?]. The left part of the in-bowl concert image also seems to show the current concourse being used for both the lower and upper bowls. All of the pictures seem to be of the current concourse.

To me, one of the most exciting aspects of this whole thing is the possibility of two full (hopefully wrap-around) concourses coming into play and making things much more roomy during big events, but I can't tell if that will be the case or not. Does anyone understand this and can explain?

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by king10

Was never going to be about the exterior, though the spec article said there would be a new restaurant open on non event days. This was always about the concourses and arena bowl.

Yeah, I get that the interior was the main reason for the renovation - it's just that an aesthetically pleasing exterior goes a long way in improving the look of the downtown core.

[TheRitsman]

Originally Posted by Berklon

Yeah, I get that the interior was the main reason for the renovation - it's just that an aesthetically pleasing exterior goes a long way in improving the look of the downtown core.

Having downtown be busy regularly and encouraging redevelopment of the plaza, auto body shop along Bay and some of the parking lots will do a heck of a lot more than the exterior of FOC. Not that I don't want to see it updated, but the economic impacts of downtown being busy 2-4 days per week would be a lot more.

The arena can host 18,000 people. When that venue is full it nearly doubles the population of downtown.

[Innsertnamehere]

Re: Hockey:

Leiweke says he believes there are two or three OHL teams looking for a new home. He also mentions the Professional Women’s Hockey League. And the American Hockey League.

“You have some opportunities here,” he says. “The (Toronto) Marlies (are a) good example. They’re playing at the old Coca-Cola Coliseum. I think they deserve a better home so we’re paying attention to that.”

https://www.thespec.com/opinion/colu...aaf6c9d15.html

Perhaps AHL is a real possibility? Who knows. Looks like it'll be AHL or an OHL team (likely not the bulldogs) moving from another market.

That quote does confirm my suspicions that Leiweke is courting MLSE to pull the Marlies down the QEW.

[SteelTown]

With the white/light grey exterior, OVG could install some cheap, really cool LED lighting to spruce up the look.

[Innsertnamehere]

The exterior is going to be reclad so that it looks fresh and how the arena relates to the street updated including street level restaurants with patios, from my understanding. It'll be a massive upgrade.

I'm not overly fussed about how the upper levels will be clad.

[Innsertnamehere]

Early in the process there were talks of moving the Salvation Army, but I haven’t heard anything about that for a while.

The overall trend seems to be to push these services east outside of the downtown to “clean up” the downtown.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

The overall trend seems to be to push these services east outside of the downtown to “clean up” the downtown.

Yep. Won't be many places left to put them when the next cleanings occur... Hamilton mountain maybe? Because we know there won't be any moved to Ancaster or Waterdown.

[JakeLRS]

Originally it was stated a new video board would be installed.
Renders show it will likely be the same size as the current one however.

Just please make sure it doesn’t look like the hideous new one Sasktel centre got.

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by JakeLRS

Originally it was stated a new video board would be installed.
Renders show it will likely be the same size as the current one however.

Just please make sure it doesn’t look like the hideous new one Sasktel centre got.

That thing is an El Cheapo one million dollar job. I think they are treating it as somewhat temporary since Saskatoon is in the very early stages of planning out a new 16,000 seat arena.