Lansdowne 2.0 (Northside Stands/Arena Redevelopment) | U/C

[AuxTown]

Originally Posted by HighwayStar

totally agree... but if there was a roof, it would block the view of the field for quite a few of the condos to the north...

I wonder if that is a factor?

I know two different groups of people who are long-time RedBlacks ticket holders and always have their seat at 50 yardline around row 20ish (the first or 2nd covered row). I love using their tickets when they are out of town and always knowing I will have some protection from rain/snow/sleet. It's not a deal-breaker, but it will likely make people think twice about renewing. Covered seats is the standard for new stadiums including Mosaic (Regina), IG (Winnipeg). The exception would be Tim Hortons (Hamilton) that is a horrendous place to watch a game in bad weather (very tall, exposed, no roof....).

[phil235]

Originally Posted by AuxTown

I know two different groups of people who are long-time RedBlacks ticket holders and always have their seat at 50 yardline around row 20ish (the first or 2nd covered row). I love using their tickets when they are out of town and always knowing I will have some protection from rain/snow/sleet. It's not a deal-breaker, but it will likely make people think twice about renewing. Covered seats is the standard for new stadiums including Mosaic (Regina), IG (Winnipeg). The exception would be Tim Hortons (Hamilton) that is a horrendous place to watch a game in bad weather (very tall, exposed, no roof....).

Completely agree. I had season tickets until this year and we deliberately kept them a few rows higher to be under the roof. Makes a huge difference when it rains.

[ponyboycurtis]

Originally Posted by Horus

Not keeping a roof over the North Side stands is a terrible mistake

I would imagine a good portion of that reasoning is the effect it would have on the south facing units up to whatever floor. Especially for the lower floors. You would effectively have a parking deck sized surface extending horizontally from your unit. It's not even a matter of "being able to see the game". It would just be terrible all around aesthetics for a certain number of units.

[Richard Eade]

There are so many towers in which the first several floors overlook a parking lot or structure that I doubt that overlooking a roof would be an issue.

I think that the real issue is that you can sell a condo with a view of the game for much more than a condo with a view of a roof. That and putting a roof over the stands cost money. It is a total win for the developer. Less cost and a higher payback. The City doesn’t care that it is a reduction in comfort for the people who own the stadium.

Hey, how about adding the roof, but make it strong enough to be a terrace for the condo building. (Cantilever it with the weight of the towers and/or tie it back to the towers with cables.) Yes, there would be a lot of extra cost, but think of the marketing for the condos. Even unit in the building can be priced at a premium because they would have access to watching the games from the terrace.

[AuxTown]

Originally Posted by phil235

Completely agree. I had season tickets until this year and we deliberately kept them a few rows higher to be under the roof. Makes a huge difference when it rains.

I remember a couple instances over the years where we were sitting in our seats during a torrential downpour and I jokingly asked the guys in front if they could sit forward a bit because the rain was splashing onto my knees from their heads

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Horus

Not keeping a roof over the North Side stands is a terrible mistake

They didn't even pretend they'd add a roof even early on with the renderings of an awesome buried arena.

Originally Posted by OTownandDown

I kinda agree, why the big bridges and things? If the arena is going to have pass-thru private boxes so you can watch the game, why not just wrap the stands and 'land' them on the corner of the arena? Could lower the upper deck as it wraps to 'open' it up a bit, but the sun doesn't come from behind there so shadows are not an issue. It would produce a more-or-less continuous concourse which would exit to what I assume is an outdoor walkway tacked onto the roof deck of the arena to pass to the South stands.

Cool concept, but that would make the stadium more expensive. They really just want to make the stadium as cheap as possible.

Originally Posted by HighwayStar

totally agree... but if there was a roof, it would block the view of the field for quite a few of the condos to the north...

I wonder if that is a factor?

Could they get more money for the rent of apartments with a view, or for covered season tickets? Depending on who builds the apartments, OSEG may not benefit (should be up for bid, so not necessarily an OSEG partner).

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

There are so many towers in which the first several floors overlook a parking lot or structure that I doubt that overlooking a roof would be an issue.

I think that the real issue is that you can sell a condo with a view of the game for much more than a condo with a view of a roof. That and putting a roof over the stands cost money. It is a total win for the developer. Less cost and a higher payback. The City doesn’t care that it is a reduction in comfort for the people who own the stadium.

Hey, how about adding the roof, but make it strong enough to be a terrace for the condo building. (Cantilever it with the weight of the towers and/or tie it back to the towers with cables.) Yes, there would be a lot of extra cost, but think of the marketing for the condos. Even unit in the building can be priced at a premium because they would have access to watching the games from the terrace.

These will probably be rentals, not condos. And OSEG may not be involved, as per my previous comment. Though last time, an OSEG partner conveniently won the bid.

I like the idea of having a roof that doubles as a terrace however, and this would be the only reasonable excuse to exclude a roof from the design (though we know it's only about money), they are leaving space for expansion between the apartment podium and the new stands, so building a roof could impact the feasibility of that expansion.

[J.OT13]

New renderings. Further value engineering. Just looks like basic bleachers, no better in design than the old south side stands. They could have made an effort to make it match with the new south side so we no longer have a Frankenstein Stadium.

Ottawa Redblacks facing two years of reduced capacity to accommodate proposed north stand reconstruction
By 3Down Staff -December 29, 2024











https://3downnation.com/2024/12/29/ottaw...ate-proposed-north-stand-reconstruction/

[Harley613]

Holy S*&t. That is absolutely horrifically stupendously abysmal. The RLA CharcWhite of Stadium Stands. So now it'll be this, with a fricking parking lot behind it, then two lonesome towers behind that aren't even integrated into the stadium?!?

After all this time and effort and money, in the end we get:
*A smaller uglier stadium
*A smaller uglier arena
*A smaller greenspace
*A cold sterile big box shopping mall that struggles to keep tenants
*A bunch of 'luxury apartments' and condos
*No mass transit connection on the horizon

There were versions of each of the various elements along the way that would have been outstanding, but each and every one of them has been hacked to death by every party involved.

[Harley613]

I made a thread on r/Ottawa about this and I got downvoted to oblivion and everyone was saying the new renders look great.

I deleted the thread.

Ottawa has zero taste. This is why we can't have nice things.

[DTcrawler]

Wow that's absolutely pathetic. I'm actually shocked, and that's saying a lot with the letdowns we've become used to in this city.

[AuxTown]

Man drop the top section of that stadium and complete the low wrap-around on the west end. It would do wonders for the feel/vibe of the stadium. This is looking more and more like Tim Hortons Field every iteration....my most hated stadium in the country.

[CanadaGoose]

But Goodlife Fitness will occupy 25 000 sq ft on the second floor of a condo tower. Looks worth it to me! #shitpost

https://www.trinity-group.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Ottawa-Lansdowne-Live-2.0-1.pdf

[elly63]

Personally, I like it, has a US college vibe to it but people gotta bitch.

[Har13]

Just looks like bleachers.

[Richard Eade]

And we are paying how many millions of dollars for these bleachers and a small stand-alone arena? This does not constitute a ‘replacement’ of what is currently at Lansdowne, in my opinion. I remember going to trade shows there where there were vendors in every corner. The shrinking of the facilities ensures that nothing but small-ish sport games will happen there.

It appears (to me, anyway) that there has been a deliberate and continual effort to downgrade Lansdowne as a public facility. It began decades ago when the City seemed to stop putting money into upkeep and improvement. The asphalt slab was breaking up, and the facilities became run-down. Long-time customers were being forced out. (For example, the ‘Super EX’ didn’t want to move from its central location at Lansdowne; they were told by the City that the facility would no longer be available to them.) It got to the point that the underused facility was costing the City $4M a year.

Miraculously, along comes a developer who offers to build private condominiums and stores on the property. And, it would build a cheap box near the airport to house any trade-shows that came to town – so that Lansdowne could lose any last vestige of trade-show revenue. The City, of course, jumped at the chance to add a few more nails to Lansdownes’s coffin.

This latest plan should complete the sequence of taking Lansdowne from a place of regional significance to a couple of local sport facilities and a small park, set among a few non-descript condos and stores.

[Horus]

This is much, much worse than what is presently there. Embarrassing

[zzptichka]

The Cheapskate Hill they are removing, from which you could watch the game, is one of the best things about the stadium. I'm not a football fan and don't care about the Redblacks, but I really enjoyed hanging out there on the grass during games a few times on my bike ride. It's pretty unique.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by Horus

This is much, much worse than what is presently there. Embarrassing

Depends what you mean by much worse. The arena will clearly be a significant upgrade, as what is there is in really bad shape and lacks even basic behind the scenes amenities like dressing rooms and suites. The new stadium will have proper concourses and washrooms, plus new gathering areas. From a fan amenities perspective it is an upgrade too, other than the loss of the roof for about half of the seats. With what we are spending on this, this is the kind of stadium you get.

If you mean the site layout with that weird parking lot behind the stands, I would agree. That looks really bad.

[OTownandDown]

I had thought that the new line of commercial and condos was to be connected to the stands in some way? With a similar 2nd floor pedestrian concourse layout to the existing, just integrating the new structures and shrinking the stands a tad. Same steel frame and all, just without the ridiculous parking lot??

Is it so hard to have one level of parking and loading docks shoved underneath buildings, with access points (i.e. garage doors) at either end? Loading docks are already hidden beneath the commercial buildings elsewhere on campus.

[J.OT13]

These was the early plans for between the stands; a public promenade that has now become parking. I think the idea is to leave space for additional seating however, that would really suck for the apartment dwellers who could one day have a view of bleachers 15 feet from their window with little to no sunlight.