[Moncton] Centre Avenir Centre | 26.65m |~6 Fl | Completed

[bridgeoftea]

Congrats to Moncton! A great series to follow along and happy they came out on top. Think they'll have a good shot at the Memorial Cup too with that roster and Gardiner behind the bench.

[MonctonRad]

Indeed, a solid performance by the team in game six, I watched the last half of the game on TSN and they acquitted themselves very well, Props to the Oceanic as well for not giving up, Those two goals in the third period gave me an ulcer.

Now on to the Memorial Cup. The Wildcats may be ranked #1 in the country, but, all four teams are highly skilled, and, in a tournament format event, almost anything can happen.

GO CATS GO!!!!

[MonctonRad]

WILDCATS Win!!!!!!!!

https://www.facebook.com/100074643673018/videos/pcb.2374697216249110/1326194708444887
https://www.facebook.com/100074643673018/videos/pcb.2374697216249110/1013764827528588
https://www.facebook.com/100074643673018/videos/pcb.2374697216249110/1618076832355348



Meanwhile, in Toronto:

<crickets><crickets><crickets>



Next up - The Memorial Cup

GO CATS GO!!!!!!!!

[MonctonRad]

To celebrate the upcoming appearance of the Moncton Wildcats in the Memorial Cup, here's a video tour of the Wildcats dressing room, clubhouse at the Avenir Centre:

• Video Link

[David_99]

I’m not sure if this is old news, but Ron McLean just announced Hockey Day in Canada 2026 will be hosted from the Avenir Centre.

[drewber]

Originally Posted by David_99

I’m not sure if this is old news, but Ron McLean just announced Hockey Day in Canada 2026 will be hosted from the Avenir Centre.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/moncton-to-host-hockey-day-in-canada-in-2026/

Just announced tonight. Should be a fun event!

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

This site plan shows the relative positions of parcel "A" and parcel "B".



Parcel B is the larger and more important of the two development opportunities.

- the city wants a residential tower(s) situated on a commercial/retail podium.
- construction won't happen until 2018 because the land is required by Bird Construction for their equipment for the events centre project.

I imagine the city will not settle for a substandard proposal. They realize that whatever is built here has to complement the events centre, and contribute to this area being the heart of the downtown entertainment district. I personally expect two towers probably in the 8-12 storey range. The podium will likely contain pubs and restaurants on the ground floor, possibly with a second level of commercial space.

Note the R.O.W. - right of way.

[OliverD]

Funny to see MonctonRad's commentary here years later:

I imagine the city will not settle for a substandard proposal. They realize that whatever is built here has to complement the events centre, and contribute to this area being the heart of the downtown entertainment district. I personally expect two towers probably in the 8-12 storey range. The podium will likely contain pubs and restaurants on the ground floor, possibly with a second level of commercial space.

Oof. Instead you got a suburban style hotel with a bunch of surface parking. What a wasted opportunity.

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by OliverD

Funny to see MonctonRad's commentary here years later:



Oof. Instead you got a suburban style hotel with a bunch of surface parking. What a wasted opportunity.

I also see that Development Parcel A on the map, is quite small as the ROW takes up a big chunk of the land adjacent to 1222 Main St. That telegraph building has to go.

[lirette]

Originally Posted by OliverD

Funny to see MonctonRad's commentary here years later:



Oof. Instead you got a suburban style hotel with a bunch of surface parking. What a wasted opportunity.

Meh, the surface parking isn't overly visible. A couple extra floors on the Hyatt would have been nice but I actually like the way this entire area is coming together including the Hyatt. I've never personally heard much negative commentary from Monctonians about it being too "suburban". Only really heard this from skyscraper forum types. The additions of the bunker and baton rouge have made a nice "town square" / city centre feel to this area, and it looked incredible with the patios full during the playoff run.

When I have friends who come in from Halifax they always remark how impressed they are with the changes in Downtown Moncton

Once the Crowne gets its exterior renovations completed its going to look much better.

[jonny golden]

Once the Crowne gets its exterior renovations completed its going to look much better.

From what I've seen, the Crowne is going to look really nice, much better than it does now.I remember us discussing the Hyatt Place at the time, and thinking that even 2-3 more floors would have made a much better impression on the block.

And finally, it looks like the elephant in the room is eventually going to be dealt with. In a way, I'm kind of glad the small Parcel A wasn't developed as is - as long as that ROW can be dealt with and included in a more significant development.

[MonctonRad]

I'm with lirette.

The only real disappointment so far is that the Hyatt is only four floors (instead of, let's say six floors). Aside from this I am very pleased with how the nascent "entertainment district" is turning out. There are four really nice restaurants in the area and three hotels. Residential construction in the area is booming. The only real large hole needing to be filled is the vacant lot between the Avenir Centre and the Terminal Plaza complex.

The sale of 1222 Main and 1234 Main may herald future redevelopment, but, only time will tell. Crombie however had no ambition, so, this turn of events is promising.

[bridgeoftea]

Originally Posted by lirette

Meh, the surface parking isn't overly visible. A couple extra floors on the Hyatt would have been nice but I actually like the way this entire area is coming together including the Hyatt. I've never personally heard much negative commentary from Monctonians about it being too "suburban". Only really heard this from skyscraper forum types. The additions of the bunker and baton rouge have made a nice "town square" / city centre feel to this area, and it looked incredible with the patios full during the playoff run.

When I have friends who come in from Halifax they always remark how impressed they are with the changes in Downtown Moncton

Once the Crowne gets its exterior renovations completed its going to look much better.

The improvements around the area of the Avenir centre have been great to see over the last few years. Definitely forsee lots of good infil and growth.

[OliverD]

Originally Posted by lirette

Meh, the surface parking isn't overly visible. A couple extra floors on the Hyatt would have been nice but I actually like the way this entire area is coming together including the Hyatt. I've never personally heard much negative commentary from Monctonians about it being too "suburban". Only really heard this from skyscraper forum types. The additions of the bunker and baton rouge have made a nice "town square" / city centre feel to this area, and it looked incredible with the patios full during the playoff run.

When I have friends who come in from Halifax they always remark how impressed they are with the changes in Downtown Moncton

Once the Crowne gets its exterior renovations completed its going to look much better.

To me it's less about the height of the Hyatt (though it is rather low) and rather the proportions of the building and how it's sited.

From the perspective of someone who went to an event at the Avenir Centre a few days ago, and then walked over to Antlers after, Moncton's downtown has a somewhat urban/suburban divide on either side of the train tracks bisecting Main Street. The new developments on the western end all feel a bit like suburban retrofits rather than truly urban developments. I think this results in a general improvement to the area but one that will look dated rather quickly as better developments arise over the next decade or so.

[felip_ars]

Article this morning on "Le Soleil" about the 2028 Memorial Cup, when asked about it, Robert Irving simply replied that he's "All In!", followed by a "Thats a great idea" from coach MacDougall,

The article stated that the nomination of Caleb Desnoyers for captain pretty much shut down the rumors that he could had been tempted at the NCAA next year and that he will be in Moncton next year, unless he managed to made it to the NHL right away.

So no rebuilding mode.

Against them for hosting the tournament, two teams: Quebec (hosted back in 2015, but never in the Centre Videotron) and Gatineau (got a new arena, and last hosted in 1997).

Theres also rumors that the format could change starting in 2027. Shorter and with more teams (no precision about the extra teams), with the possibility of having 2 games a day, in order to reduce the cost and helping smaller markets.

https://www.lesoleil.com/sports/hockey-j...emorial-2028-NYT7MV3MGVDHJFMKQBSNDGHNXA/

[MonctonRad]

Having a championship level team again in only three years is a lot to ask, but, I'm in too!

If MacDougall is all for it too, then this means he may stay in Moncton for the foreseeable future.

[lirette]

Under normal circumstances, I would say trying to rebuild to a contender in 3 years would be an incredibly stupid decision.

But these aren't normal circumstances.

- The Wildcats were able to win a championship while keeping several first round picks (26,27,28) and without trading their best player as a future deal

- *IF* Desnoyers would allow himself to be traded, which its possible he has a no trade clause and will only play for Gardiner. He would be moved for as many as 5 high value assets to Shawinigan, Chicoutimi or BBA.

-3 Import picks, if you are hosting the Memorial Cup you have another tool at your disposal to sway top europeans and with 3 draft picks thats a possibility of 3 impact players. You could work on getting a couple of 17 or 18 year olds in 2027 and then secure a one year guy at the 2028 import draft.

-Americans/NCAA bound Canadians, like with the import draft the league is going to get closer and closer to a recruitment model. We already are seeing the Wildcats secure some top American players (Weiner/Chudzinski), and that will only continue going forward and even more so if you are a memorial cup host

-Macdougall, based on his energy at the celebration he doesnt strike me as a guy who wants to retire yet. I am not going to assume anything but given he has a chance to work directly with his son to build a memorial cup contender from scratch (rather building off of what Thibeau built) you could see a path where he coaches and retires after the 2028 memorial cup, he'd be 68 at that point I believe.

-The junior cycle is changing, players may leave at 18-19-20 now if you can't convince them to stay. The top teams may skew younger than they have in the past, the cycle may legimitely move to a 3 year cycle with more parity in the league. Of course NCAA may be the shiny new thing and the landscape could swing back in a few years.

There has never been a better time for a 3 year "retool" to work, where the team may even be very competitive over those 3 years.

[felip_ars]

With Quebec City getting the Women's World Championship in 2027 and the World Juniors in 2029 (with Trois-Rivières), I doubt they'll have the time to plan for the 2028 Memorial Cup.

Which leads pretty much Moncton and Gatineau as the "rumored" frontrunners (according to the Soleil's article a few months ago). The only other possible other city I could think of is St-John's, since the tournament was never held in Newfoundland.

Also it will be interesting to see if the rumored new format will actually take place in 2027 to encourage smaller cities to bid.

[lirette]

In theory, monctons bid should be miles better than gatineaus when you factor things like arena size and quality, hotel, restaurants, bars, the Ian Fowler oval etc.

Gatineaus arena is new but it's actually quite bland and more suburban. It has everything you need to host, but the dynamic of Avenir centre being downtown and also 3000 extra seats the answer should be an easy one. Gatineau does have proximity to Ottawa as one benefit which is great for travellers, but the main reason I could see them getting it is because they've never hosted. Because of that reason alone I can't make a prediction.

[MonctonRad]

The QMJHL told Irving to not bother bidding the last time.

They owe him big time.

If Irving thinks he can have a quality team on the ice that year, then I think he will bid, and he will win by default.

Hopefully Gardner McDougall will still be the coach.