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Originally Posted by kwajo
Have you looked at the location of LBR on a map? It's very centrally located, adjacent to Harbour Passage, as well as being just off of the highway, and along a major transit route. In addition it is very close to two large hotels, and within walking distance of several more.
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It's in a great location, this can't be argued.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kwajo
How could it not help? A massive new investment in a sport facility would have no positive impact on the surrounding area?
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New facility or not the vast majority of children in the neighbourhood can't afford to play hockey to begin with. This is a non-starter. The new YMCA on Chuchill Boulevard will do much more to alleviate societal and financial problems than adding a few ice pads to the LBR.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kwajo
There have been events in the past that utilises both. I know it's not common, but perhaps it is something that could grow in the future with a project like this. Does East really have a higher hotel capacity? Given the hotels along Main Street, it must be rather close in room numbers (unless you count the unseemly motels out East as well).
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With the amount of time taken up at Harbour Station with the Sea Dogs/Millrats/Concerts/Trade shows there's not a lot of ice time available at Harbour Station, particularly for larger tournaments. I only know of a few that have a handful of ice times there to begin with. The Howard Johnson and the Fort Howe hotel adjacent to the LBR are handy, but hotels uptown, west, and east are also available.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kwajo
The parking lot demands would be minimized by choosing a more central location, and even if you have to incorporate underground or multi-level parking, those short-term costs would out-weigh the problems of having a massive parking lot supporting a car-access-only facility in the East Side (be it for road maintenance costs, lost opportunities for economic spin-offs to local businesses, flooding damage increases, lost transit revenue, etc.). I realize the lot isn't massive, but where are you going to find a huge piece of land out East that doesn't already have its own problems? There is room for more ice surfaces there, it has been looked at in the past. In addition, I don't think your comparison to giving bionic legs to a 90-year old is accurate at all, as an expansion could simply be in the form of an adjacent building that is connected so as to share certain facilities (such as ticketing for example).
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Nobody walks to hockey games to play. You have to carry gear. Like I said, children in the adjacent community can't really afford to play to begin with, and they'd be the ones walking. How much more would underground or multi-level parking necessitate in terms of funds rather than the costs of maintaining a larger open parking lot? I've never seen a hockey facility used on the municipal level with a parking garage, or underground parking. The costs associated don't make sense. Along with this, parking and carrying hockey gear isn't the same as just opening your car when you're at a mall parking lot. You need lots of room, particularly for those driving more than one hockey player. We're talking big trucks, vans, even buses. Neither Underground nor parking garages provide that much room and ease of movement.
Doing a real quick google maps check for the size of a lot needed you'll need 200x100 metres for four ice surfaces within a single complex and another 200x100 metres for surface parking (roughly the size of the facility in Moncton). The LBR property barely has enough space for the facility itself, let alone the parking.
Again, just looking real quick, the former Lantic Sugar Refinery site would be large enough to build a fourplex with all parking available. I'm sure the city and the port have better ideas of things to build there, however. The site where the current Gorman arena is currently located may be large enough, although there's lot clearing going on through much of the currently empty land, so I doubt the space will remain. My preference would be the Sugar Refinery Site as it's on the Uptown Peninsula, easy to reach, can be accessible by transit, has adequate space, and is an appealing location for those travelling from outside the city. That, and there's no sprawl involved.
There aren't a lot of locations where it could be built to be quite honest given size and nature. However, wherever it is built, it will provide economic spinoff. As long as you're bringing people into the city from away you're going to have an economic impact. They have to stay in hotels, they have to buy things to eat, and they have to drive around the city. These things usually occur on their own without direct planning involved (IE you don't have to build the fourplex in a heavily developed area and then surround it with stores. The horse(s) in this case can find water, and drink it too, without your guidance). If people are driving from anywhere more than an hour and a half away they aren't going to mind having to drive 5-10 minutes to their hotel/restaurant/mall/whatever. There are teams that pull one hour drives one-way weekly, a short drive to their hotel is the least of their worries.
When I was younger my Bantam B level provincials were held in Minto and all of the teams (8) had to stay in hotels in Fredericton and make the drive, and that's not a short drive. So, the hotels in Fredericton benefitted, the gas station(s) in Minto benefited, and the small family restaurant in Minto definitely benefited. Having to drive to and from was a pain but the local economy still gained even though we weren't actually staying in Minto. People have to make the drive from their hotel(s) to the rink(s) whether they like to or not. A five/ten minute drive within a city is nothing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kwajo
Don't get me wrong, I'm perfectly fine with not expanding the LBR, I just want consideration to be given to more central locations because it is better for the city in the long run. I'd be fine with any location provided it had transit access and could be easily walked or biked to. Building a nice new multiplex doesn't have to mean building on a nice newly cleared piece of land.
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I completely agree with your sentiment, I just don't see the LBR as a viable option. The fourplex should be built somewhere within the central area of the city, and accessible by transit, and etc. etc. I'd fight just as hard against a fourplex being built out in the woods on Loch Lomond/Latimer Lake/Golden Grove Road as I am against you re: expansion of LBR. The LBR is a fine arena as it stands and shouldn't be messed with.
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