Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[MonctonRad]

I'm cross posting this from the small town thread as not many people may have seen this there. This does concern the oldest surviving basketball court in the world. This is kinda like a stadium, right????

The oldest surviving basketball court in the world is located in St. Stephen NB. It is going to be preserved and venerated. This is the proposal:



The court dates from 1893, and was built by a fellow who played the first ever basketball game in Massachusetts with James Naismith only two years earlier.

Here is the link for the CTV news article:
https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/world-s-olde...l-basketball-experience-museum-1.6617167

The historic spot will soon be transformed into the Canadian National Basketball Experience Museum.

The project will be undertaken by architecture and exhibit design firm CambridgeSeven out of Cambridge, MA. The company has been the leader in a number of projects, including the Canada Sports Hall of Fame in Calgary. The firm most recently completed a multi-million dollar renovation of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield MA.

This is the room, with the original hardwood floor. You can see a peach basket mounted on the wall.



This is a tremendous project for St. Stephen, and is almost next door to the Ganong Chocolate Museum (a great facility in it's own right). Ganong invented the concept of the chocolate bar. Both these museums are also almost directly across from the international bridge to Calais ME.

[Djeffery]

Someone on a group chat took this pic of the Rogers Centre earlier this week.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

This is the room, with the original hardwood floor. You can see a peach basket mounted on the wall.

Reminded me of this:
• Video Link

[JakeLRS]

Originally Posted by elly63

What, no BC Place or McMahon Stadium

I didn't count BC place because I'm a firm believer this event should only be outdoors.

I didn't count McMahon because its a literal dump. A worser dump than what Ivor Wynne was. Also its calgary. Calgary in itself is a... dump

[SteelTown]

$280M deal signed in revitalization of Hamilton’s FirstOntario Centre

https://www.chch.com/280m-deal-signed-in-revitalization-of-hamiltons-firstontario-centre/

[WhipperSnapper]

I'll be checking out St. Stephen . Hmm, is the ball authentic to the year? I happen to watch The Mega Brand that built America the other day and Spalding commissioned by Naismith didn't invent the basketball until 1894.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

$280M deal signed in revitalization of Hamilton’s FirstOntario Centre

https://www.chch.com/280m-deal-signed-in-revitalization-of-hamiltons-firstontario-centre/

What does that include? How extensive of a reno?

Vote on Lasndowne 2.0, $420 million for a new 5.5k arena and half stadium happening this week. Can't help but wonder if a reno would be cheaper. Current proposal is a downgrade in my book, losing nearly half the capacity for the arena, some capacity at the stadium (2k roughly) and the stadium roof. Yes, fancy new facilities, but we're also losing interesting architecture and history.

[Coldrsx]

Commonwealth from last Sunday.

CMD_UW - used with permission

[thurmas]

fargodome $140 million renovation referendum dec 5th would add convention centre space and improved seating. Seems odd Ottawa for a new grandstand and arena half the size of current one is over $300 million.

http://www.bisonville.com/forum/showthre...election-for-Fargodome-expansion-remodel

[Dalreg]

Fargo are adding more bathrooms, no extra seating. As for the convention center addition it does little for the actual stadium.

[Oilkountry]

FACADE WORK, PREMIUM SEATING, IMPROVED ACOUSTICS AND ARTIST LOUNGES IN THE WORKS
Oak View Group has signed a deal to develop a $280 million renovation of FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, Ontario, that will see the 18,000-capacity arena that opened in 1985 revamped into a modern entertainment venue.

https://venuesnow.com/280-million-hamilton-arena-project-takes-shape/

[blueandgoldguy]

It is pretty amazing what they can build elsewhere for a fraction of what it would cost here and even the US. Take the Es Con Field Hokkaido in Japan - a 36,000 seat baseball stadium with a retractable roof and saunas in the outfield. Recently finished construction and it cost a $530 million US. Contrast that with the Texas Rangers new stadium which was completed a few years ago and seats only a few thousand more, yet cost double the amount at $1 billion US.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Es_Con_Field_Hokkaido

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Es_Con_Fie...%E3%83%89%E5%8C%97%E6%B5%B7%E9%81%93.jpg

This stadium would be right at home in the MLB baseball.

Changwon NC Park is a 22,000 seat stadium in Korea that was constructed only a few years ago for $100 million US. It's too big and grand to be a triple A baseball stadium but a little too small for MLB. Nonetheless it's very impressive.

https://populous.com/project/nc-dinos
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changwon_NC_Park#/media/File:Chanwon_NC_Park.jpg

Now compare that to Polar Park - home of the Boston Red Sox triple A affiliate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_Park_(baseball_park)#/media/Fileolar_Park_Stands.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_Park_(baseball_park)#/media/Fileolar_Park_3.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_Park...Polar_Park,_Worcester,_Massachusetts.jpg

The stadium cost $120 million US plus another $40 million for land acquisition. It seats less than 10,000 - less than half the amount as Changwon NC Park. Polar Park is a respectable stadium but it pales in comparison to the Korean baseball park.

South Korea and Japan are first world countries where labour would be paid a fair wage, similar to North American trades. I'm not sure how they are able to pay so much less for construction materials compared to Canada and the USA. Same thing applies to European countries. At a glance it appears they can build magnificant stadiums for significantly less than those in the US and Canada.

[J.OT13]

It's like that for everything. Transit, inter-city trains, any public project - hospitals, libraries, convention centres. Everything is ridiculously expensive to build in North America for some reason.

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

It's like that for everything. Transit, inter-city trains, any public project - hospitals, libraries, convention centres. Everything is ridiculously expensive to build in North America for some reason.

Japan’s GDP per capita is 57% of the USA’s—you just have a lower cost base to start with.

Since skilled labour and materials are so mobile between Canada and the USA we pay the USA price for things.

Then you have different accounting. Rolling everything into the project budget instead of having elements be ‘free’ but paid for with higher electricity and water costs over the next 40 years. Or elements being paid for by the city budget that is generally part of the project budget in Canada. Or elements that are part of the project budget that would be part of the undisclosed leasehold budget due to collective bargaining agreements which incentivize the most expense stadiums possible.

Add in lawsuits, consultations, studies, costs to avoid opposition instead of a ruthless focus on costs

[J.OT13]

Lansdowne 2.0 has been approved by Ottawa City Council. Civic Centre and North Side stands that date back to 1967 will be torn down and replaced with two twin 40 storey towers (up from 25 and 40 on the rendering) and new North Side stands. New 5.5k arena (down from 10k) will be build at the east end zone, taking up part of the park's hill.

[Coldrsx]

Very impressive and what a cool multi-purpose venue.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Lansdowne 2.0 has been approved by Ottawa City Council. Civic Centre and North Side stands that date back to 1967 will be torn down and replaced.

The proposed north-side stands reduces current seating capacity from 14,000 to 11,000 but includes standing room for an additional 900.

Also in the above press release

Council carried several motions to further refine the Lansdowne plan, committing the City to:
Work with OSEG to consider options for including a roof over the new north side stands.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Lansdowne 2.0 has been approved by Ottawa City Council. Civic Centre and North Side stands that date back to 1967 will be torn down and replaced with two twin 40 storey towers (up from 25 and 40 on the rendering) and new North Side stands. New 5.5k arena (down from 10k) will be build at the east end zone, taking up part of the park's hill.

I keep hearing Lansdowne 2.0 but there has been a stadium of some form there for about 150 years. This is more like Lansdowne 6.0 or 7.0.

[elly63]

So this is what you get for $419 million:

The $419 million Lansdowne 2.0 plan includes building a new events centre (4.7k seats - 6.5k capacity) and north-side grandstands (11k seats - 11.9k capacity) for the football stadium, along with two residential towers (40 storeys), a “retail podium” (two-storey retail building would include about 4,550 square metres of commercial space) and more underground parking.

[J.OT13]

Some more images of Lansdowne Live 2.0.