Lansdowne Park Redevelopment Phase 1 | Completed

[ryan1]

Another great shot from aerialphotographs.ca.

[eternallyme]

The overall transit setup seemed to work well, but a few observations I could make:

* The 450 was definitely the least crowded, with many trips having less than half full buses. I think a lot of people went from the suburbs direct and didn't bother coming from downtown. As a result, some 450s should be removed and redistributed elsewhere.

* An additional route, the 457, should be provided from Riverview and Leitrim, which would maximize Park and Ride potential from the south end.

* In order to improve western connections, a 453 should be provided from Lincoln Fields to LeBreton, then on to Lansdowne, partially by removing some 450s.

* OSEG shuttles seemed to work quite well, although post-game crowding was to be expected.

* Double deckers should certainly be used in the post-game (and weekend pre-game) to speed up service by providing more space on Bank Street. They cannot easily be used on weekday pre-game due to peak period needs.

[EdFromOttawa]

Did anyone enter the stadium from the Bank street entrance? Just curious what became of the backside of the scoreboard?

Was kind of hoping it would be turned into a separate videoboard facing out to display things like sponsor commercials, team news, scheduled game ads, and other venue info akin to the giant video screen facing the highway outside Rogers Center down in T.O.

Anybody get a good look/have some pics?

[Kitchissippi]

I went to the Glebe this morning and it was gone. It's as if the sky fell and obliterated it. What a disaster.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

I went to the Glebe this morning and it was gone. It's as if the sky fell and obliterated it. What a disaster.

Well, we can't say we weren't warned!

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

So, what's the post-game situation? Is the Glebe still standing?

I was just there, and life is slowly returning to normal. #PrayForTheGlebe

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by ryan1

Another great shot from aerialphotographs.ca.

WOW! That is impressive.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by JFFournier

From that angle, it might also be because it appears to stop quite suddenly at the ends. Perhaps if the bottom boards were longer then they got gradually shorter as you got to the top it might look more finished. As it is, you almost wonder if there aren't end pieces missing.

Looking at older renderings, doesn't seem like it was supposed to stretch further, though I wish it had been longer to hide the stairs.

I wonder if they will eventually build this feature for the north side entrance.


http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/new-stadium-for-ottawa.604065/page-4

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Le-TanK-

Is there still a movie theatre going to be there?

Cineplex plans to open 10-screen Lansdowne Park theatre

Cineplex plans to open 10-screen Lansdowne Park theatre

CBC News Posted: Feb 24, 2014 10:13 AM ET| Last Updated: Feb 24, 2014 10:13 AM ET

Planners of Ottawa’s Lansdowne Park project have found another company to run its new movie theatre.

Cineplex announced Monday morning they’ll be opening a ten-screen theatre at the park late this yearthat can seat as many as 1,700 people.

■3 Ottawa Empire Theatres reopen under new management
■Ottawa's World Exchange Plaza theatre closes its doors

A news release said three of those screens will be “Cineplex VIP” areas, a licensed adult-only space with reserved seats, food delivery and alcohol choices including beer, wine and cocktails.

"Our theatre at Lansdowne will be one of the most impressive buildings of its type in Canada," said Ellis Jacob, president and CEO of Cineplex Entertainment in the news release.

"From the refinement and luxury of our VIP Cinemas to the incredible, immersive experience of our UltraAVX auditoriums — Cineplex Cinemas Lansdowne and VIP will take the movie-going experience in Ottawa to a new level."

"Cineplex is Canada's top theatre operator and today's announcement is a big win for Lansdowne and Ottawa movie-goers," said John Ruddy, part of the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group.

The status of Lansdowne Park’s movie theatre had been in doubt since original operators Empire got out of the movie business last year.

That same decision was a factor in the closure of downtown Ottawa’s only multiplex theatre at the World Exchange Plaza.

Until the Lansdowne Park theatre opens, downtown Ottawa’s only theatres are the Mayfair and Bytowne, which are single-screen and don’t always show first-run movies.

City officials have said the Lansdowne Park project, which is under construction, is on schedule. The first home game for the CFL's Redblacks is set for July 18.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/cin...-screen-lansdowne-park-theatre-1.2549106

[Cecca]

Originally Posted by ryan1

Another great shot from aerialphotographs.ca.

People really underestimate how dense Bank street really is. When on the 7 on my way to the stadium and even ordinary days bus drivers are constatly having to skip numerous stops with people due to busses being overcrowded OC Transpo should consider using articulated busses on Bank at least during peak hours and game day

[MountainView]

Here are a few of my thoughts from the game last night as I was there and sat North Side so these thoughts are strictly about North Side as I did not venture over to the South:

- When entering you enter onto the Arena level and it was really confusing where to go. There were no services down there, concessions were closed and it was basically a blank hallway. There should have been better signs directing people how to get to the Football concourse

- The lower North concourses was PACKED. Line ups for concessions were very long.

- The concession stands ran out of beer before the first quarter or they just didn't have any (I kept hearing different answers). So they gave out free food (I got a hamburger and fries for free).

- Some concession areas ran out of change. So you could pay for things but didn't get any change. Funny because the stadium is sponsored by A BANK!

- The only beer they had were from the people who walk up and down the aisles. Those people got bombarded from beer-craving fans as soon as they would walk out of their back room. Basically if you wanted a beer you waited by their backroom door and when they opened it everyone flashed $20 bills and wanted beer. I felt bad for them because people were yelling and wanting their beer.

- Washrooms were clean and large. I waited in a short line (maybe 8 people) and it went quick. The other time during the quarter when I used the washroom there was no line. Another posted said they heard the washrooms were dirty and flooding - I didn't see any of this, quite the opposite actually. Much better than CT Centre.

- I bused from South Keys and the station was PACKED. I waited 5-7minutes and a 400 came, filled up and left about 300 people still waiting for another one. I ended up busing to Billings and caught a 1 straight to the stadium which went very quickly. There needs to be more buses running from the south to the stadium along the SE Transitway.

- I kicked around in my seat for a bit after the game and then went to the after party, which was fun, so not sure how the buses were after the game. Seemed to flow pretty good to me though.

- The score board is nice and picture quality is clear. It's awkward to look at from the eastern part of the north side because of it not being centered. They should consider putting a smaller score board, even if it just showed the score and time behind the endzone on the east side.

- a person about 3 rows down from me had their chair/seat break. It basically came loose from the bolts that hold it into the ground so it rocked everywhere. He tried to get someone to fix it and no one ever did. Hopefully other chairs/seats didn't do this.

Overall experience was good. They just need to figure out their concession line problem and make sure they have beer on tap for the next game. I'll be at their next home game on the 2nd but sitting South side so I'll get to see how that side functions next game. Stadium looked great and the atmosphere was terrific!

[c_speed3108]

My observations.

-The back of the score board has TD signs and a smaller screen that was blank last night. Presumably will advertise stuff going on at some later point.

-the stadium looked really awesome.

-the busing system worked really well and I didn't really notice any traffic issues or parking issues (from the bus I could see spots available on various side streets)

-based on observation, the busing and shuttle system did better than expected in numbers. The bike parking did worse than expected. (I suppose that could be rationalized to who want to be sweaty for a night out)

-The Glebe BIA collectively made a huge effort to get involved. All sorts of samples and displays outside stores. They also organized musicians etc.

-All the lansdowne park will cause traffic and parking ciaos talk from locals residents really hurt the local businesses. Our group attended the same establishment as we had for years. The place had free tables....why? Almost everyone had season ticket lanyards hanging from them...meaning they had few regular customers, but had less football customers since parking/traffic talk chased people to shuttle buses which got people to the stadium rather than the neighbourhood if they had parked. People then did not walk back from the stadium to local businesses, they just headed into the stadium.

-At the stadium there were some glitches. Opening night there was going to be something. That will get fixed.

[eternallyme]

Re: more buses from the south, how I would reorganize it (requiring a net increase of 6 trips):

450 - Reduce service from 40 trips to 30 trips, reorganizing to elsewhere in the system. It seemed to not be too packed compared to other routes.

451 - Increase service from 7 trips to 9 trips.

452 - Increase service from 7 trips to 9 trips.

454 - Increase service from 9 trips to 12 trips, and start some of the trips at the Canadian Tire Centre for additional parking options.

455 - Increase service from 10 trips to 12 trips.

456 - Increase service from 10 trips to 12 trips, and start some of the trips at Nepean Woods (then via Chapman Mills to Marketplace) for additional parking options.

457 - Add 5 trips on an additional route, from Riverview via Leitrim, serving Riverside South.

An option is also to provide an additional route (453?) from Lincoln Fields along the West Transitway to LeBreton, but they already have a fast connection to the 450 from any of the main Transitway routes.

[c_speed3108]

Regarding the 450. It definitely had a lower load level than the others.

There was a fairly long wait at the 1/7 stop. I don't think they added any buses to those routes. I know when one showed it did not clear the stop. Also coming to the game on the 7 it ran nearly non-stop due to crowding (aside from a couple stops to let people off) from Bank and Laurier all the way to Lansdowne...and that was during rush hour. The 7 also remained serviced by 40 footers.

There is an interplay between the 450, the 1 and the 7. Unfortunately after the game they had them at different stops, so it was not possible for the load to self balance itself between the 3 routes (at least down to Rideau Centre where people can then transfer as required).

[AuxTown]

Originally Posted by Fatty McButterpants

With the stands full of people, there is absolutely no discernible difference between the north side from the 1960s, 70s, 80s & 90s and today's "refurbished" north side. Not on TV anyway. Every time the camera pans over to the north side, I cringe. Such a shame. The novelty of this mess will be wearing off very very quickly. You can bank on it. 8th best stadium in the CFL. Will be 9th after Calgary builds one. Shame.

Of course the novelty will wear off, but that doesn't mean the football fans are going anywhere. This park will draw even casual sports fans given its central location in a pleasant walkable neighborhood. Afternoon games will be very interesting as many will choose to stick around after for dinner/movie/shopping/pubs/etc. I think the naysayers can shut their traps now as the reaction to the new stadium/team has been overwhelmingly positive. The retail remains the big question mark, but the stadium and teams really don't depend at all on retail success. Well, off to join an NASL record crowd for our new and very popular pro soccer team.

[EdFromOttawa]

Originally Posted by O-Town Hockey

Of course the novelty will wear off, but that doesn't mean the football fans are going anywhere. This park will draw even casual sports fans given its central location in a pleasant walkable neighborhood. Afternoon games will be very interesting as many will choose to stick around after for dinner/movie/shopping/pubs/etc. I think the naysayers can shut their traps now as the reaction to the new stadium/team has been overwhelmingly positive. The retail remains the big question mark, but the stadium and teams really don't depend at all on retail success. Well, off to join an NASL record crowd for our new and very popular pro soccer team.

COME ON YOU FURY!

[gjhall]

Great game today, and I was really impressed with how well the transportation was managed. Many businesses in the Glebe had specials on for the game, and after bars and restaurants were packed.

On Friday night I didn't go to the game, but walked by Bank/Somerset area and even that far north the bars were packed with people clearly coming from the Redblacks game.

Great stuff.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by gjhall

Great game today, and I was really impressed with how well the transportation was managed. Many businesses in the Glebe had specials on for the game, and after bars and restaurants were packed.

On Friday night I didn't go to the game, but walked by Bank/Somerset area and even that far north the bars were packed with people clearly coming from the Redblacks game.

Great stuff.

Great game? I was impressed with the stadium, and particularly the big open areas by the entrance and at the concessions. Also thought the organization and the beginnings of the park looked great, but the soccer was pretty bad. Both teams seemed a bit nervous with the big
crowd.

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Originally Posted by phil235

Great game? I was impressed with the stadium, and particularly the big open areas by the entrance and at the concessions. Also thought the organization and the beginnings of the park looked great, but the soccer was pretty bad. Both teams seemed a bit nervous with the big
crowd.

You'd think they'd be excited to play for such a large crowd...

[Marcus CLS]

Originally Posted by phil235

Great game? I was impressed with the stadium, and particularly the big open areas by the entrance and at the concessions. Also thought the organization and the beginnings of the park looked great, but the soccer was pretty bad. Both teams seemed a bit nervous with the big
crowd.

I am a soccer fan but have no delusions about the type of game we will see. NASL is tier 2 not MLS. All the hype this past week was all about the Redblacks. The CFL has a long tradition and History in Ottawa but I am not aware of the same for soccer in the Nation's capitol. This is a new experiment and sport at the professional level for Ottawa. Despite having 3 CDN MLS teams and now 2 CDN NASL teams we have a long way to grow the sport at a top level in Canada. Rather then critique the caliber of play for the match I am choosing to attend as many games that I can to support the Fury and be patient that the team will grow along with the support they can get from the fans.

The attendance for today's game was fantastic given that for soccer in North America 15 to 20K is good. For a tier 2 team to get 14 k is a great start. If the Fury can maintain 10 k for the remainder of the season now that we are in TD Place we are sitting pretty.

I am old enough to remember going to Toronto Blizzard games at Varsity Stadium and watching attendance grow from 5K to 10K to 15k before the original NASL folded. I have had to wait 25 plus years for TFC to join MLS and a further 8 years for the Fury so I am just glad we have a team to support.

I have been in Ottawa for 17 years. Let's go Fury, All For One TFC. I will also be following the Montreal Impact in CONCACAF Champions league as the winners of the Voyageur Cup.