Surrey looking to build a Major Arena

[crazyjoeda]

Originally Posted by EastVanMark

Not joking at all actually. There are no bigger morons running a city than there is in Vancouver (other than possibly Burnaby). Road and neighborhood setups were inherited, not created by Watts. Most transit issues in least in part if not in whole are controlled by the provincial government. Watts has been active in aggressively trying to transform a troubled area which previous mayors largely only paid lip-service to and this arena initiative is yet another effort to improve both the quantity and quality of facilities available to residents of the regions second largest city.

She's been mayor for 6 years. I'm talking about the poor design of new roads. I agree transit is a regional issue involving Translink and the BC government but the city has not done enough to foster increased ridership; development around existing transit infrastructure has improved under Watts but is still disappointing. If the troubled neighborhood you're referring to is Whalley it still has a very long way to go and much of the trouble has simply spread to other areas. Newton and Guildford are not nice places to live.

[EastVanMark]

Originally Posted by crazyjoeda

She's been mayor for 6 years. I'm talking about the poor design of new roads. I agree transit is a regional issue involving Translink and the BC government but the city has not done enough to foster increased ridership; development around existing transit infrastructure has improved under Watts but is still disappointing. If the troubled neighborhood you're referring to is Whalley it still has a very long way to go and much of the trouble has simply spread to other areas. Newton and Guildford are not nice places to live.

You are not going to see drastic improvement in a few years like you could or would in a more established city like Vancouver (although that still doesn't stand in the latter's way of screwing everything up). It will be at least a decade or so before you even start to see anything changing. This proposed new arena (if built in or somewhere near the city center) along with the possibility of a new central library, and or city hall along with the Guildford mall expansion would go a long way to improving their respective areas. Her special business tax zone was a superb move that should be emulated by other municipalities (hello Vancouver). With that all being said, even if all this came to pass, Guildford and Newton wouldn't be "nice places to live" for another 10-20 years yet.

[Nutterbug]

The Chilliwack Bruins are moving to Victoria. That, and the fact that Manitoba might get an NHL team opens up some more possibilities. I'd say the A might work, as long as it's a Canucks farm team. The W seems like a possibility, with no other team in the Valley.

That said, the arena needs to be in Surrey Central, not in some far flung place like Cloverdale.

[go_leafs_go02]

Originally Posted by Nutterbug

The Chilliwack Bruins are moving to Victoria. That, and the fact that Manitoba might get an NHL team opens up some more possibilities. I'd say the A might work, as long as it's a Canucks farm team. The W seems like a possibility, with no other team in the Valley.

That said, the arena needs to be in Surrey Central, not in some far flung place like Cloverdale.

Thing is, Cloverdale is pretty much 10 km from the Langley Events Centre - to build something there would immediately reduce the impact on both buildings. Langley has the BCHL, Chilliwack is getting the BCHL back (Quesnel is moving there from what it looks like).

Either way, I really believe an AHL team anywhere else outside of Vancouver Proper will kill the Heat plain and simple.

Perhaps the best solution would be the WHL Giants to move to Surrey City Centre, with the AHL Moose or whoever moving to Pacific Coliseum. However, I really have no clue how much shelf-life for the Coliseum remains.

AHL in Surrey and Abbotsford will kill one of the franchises, depending on which team they represent (Canucks or Flames).

[twoNeurons]

With all the changes in Winnipeg and Victoria, does this say anything for an arena in Surrey or for the Abby Heat?

[EastVanMark]

Surrey may seek private partner to build spectator arena near Scott Road SkyTrain station

Vancouver Sun
June 15, 2015. 2:49 pm • Section: Sports, STAFF

The city of Surrey will vote tonight on a recommendation to seek private partnership to build a spectator arena near the Scott Road SkyTrain station.

The city’s Parks, Recreation and Culture Department is asking council to authorize city staff to issue a Request for Expression of Interest to find a private partner who would finance, design, build and operate a “spectator arena facility” adjacent to the two community ice sheets.

The city would provide the land to the arena developer at no cost.

A city report states that “respondents will be asked to demonstrate that a business relationship exists with a professional sports franchise and the facility will fulfill the requirements of the league in which the franchise operates.”

The size and seating capacity of the arena would depend on the particular league and sports team franchise that the proponents are able to secure as anchor tenant.

The South Surrey Arena, home of the B.C. Hockey League’s Surrey Eagles, is the city’s biggest arena with fixed seating for 1,242 fans. If an arena proponent wishes to attract a Western Hockey League tenant to Surrey, the new rink would need at least 5,000 seats to meet WHL standards.

http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2015/0...train-station/

[Tetsuo]

Wonder if they would try to aim for the Vancouver Stealth or Giants

[Denscity]

Half a million people with a 1200 seat arena?? That's gotta be the worst per capita ratio in the country!

[Henbo]

lol the Surrey Coyotes anybody?

[Whalleyboy]

As I said in the other thread I think it would be nice to see an ECHL team back in BC.
It could be a Canuck Farm team. ECHL is also technically a higher league then WHL. WHL is a junior league while ECHL is a mid-level professional league. There is also a lot of ECHL team on the west coast to so it wouldn't be like the AHL where Abbotsford had to pay for teams to come out. Then again AHL is moving like 4 or 5 teams to California so if that goes well maybe by the time the arena is built AHL will have a strong presence in the west that it could come back to BC as well.

[paulsparrow]

Originally Posted by Denscity

Half a million people with a 1200 seat arena?? That's gotta be the worst per capita ratio in the country!

Not to mention its Olympic sized so thats the first problem. As well the ice stays in year round so it can't be used for other functions. And it's on the White Rock border so it's not reasonable access for 80% of Surrey's population.

[paulsparrow]

If Surrey could lock in the the Giants to a long term contract then a 7-8,000 seat arena in North Surrey makes sense. Otherwise go smaller with 5,000 seat venue.

As a few people have pointed out Surrey for its size has no main arena. Considering Langley has the LEC and even their other arena beats anything Surrey has as well Delta has two nice arenas in Ladner and North Delta.

Having said that we also need a good 1000 seat arena in Cloverdale as the center of Surrey where minor teams can play. Yes we have lots of sheets of ice in Surrey but who wants to watch a game from a 3 level metal bleacher through glass or behind a dark net in the Cloverdale barn.

[EastVanMark]

Originally Posted by Tetsuo

Wonder if they would try to aim for the Vancouver Stealth or Giants

If they are smart that is exactly what they will do. Thats 2 anchor tenants right off the bat and the Stealth would be much more prosperous in Surrey than they are in Langley. Win-Win for both sides.

[Tetsuo]

Cloverdale is going to get new sheets, not sure if theyre keeping the barn or replacing it

[logan5]

Surrey baffles me. Why would they want to build the arena around Scott Road Station when Surrey is trying to build an energy and excitement in Surrey Central. Even if it cost more in the long run a major junior team would make downtown surrey much more attractive to developers and new businesses (that surrey desperately needs) catering to the gameday crowds. Nowadays the game day experience is an important conponent to success. An arena around Scott Road doesnt come close to providing that.

[Tetsuo]

I wouldn't be surprised Surrey's plan for Bridgeview down the road is elimination of industrial lands into something residential

[logicbomb]

Originally Posted by logan5

Surrey baffles me. Why would they want to build the arena around Scott Road Station when Surrey is trying to build an energy and excitement in Surrey Central. Even if it cost more in the long run a major junior team would make downtown surrey much more attractive to developers and new businesses (that surrey desperately needs) catering to the gameday crowds. Nowadays the game day experience is an important conponent to success. An arena around Scott Road doesnt come close to providing that.

-Parking
-Land is cheaper
-Decent connection to the Skytrain, SFPR, KGB, and Scott Rd.
-There have been plans to add office and residential developments south of Scott Road Station too in the past. This may kick start some development down there.

Ideally, yeah, you would want this in downtown Surrey beside Surrey Central Station, but land around there is so damn expensive now plus the road networks aren't handling today's traffic well. Imagine the traffic after a concert, festival or game? Yikes.

[logan5]

Hopefully they come to their senses on this. A major cultural building belongs downtown.

[sacrifice333]

Maybe just like Hamilton got the Predators, Surrey can get the Panthers.

[BCPhil]

Originally Posted by logan5

Surrey baffles me. Why would they want to build the arena around Scott Road Station when Surrey is trying to build an energy and excitement in Surrey Central. Even if it cost more in the long run a major junior team would make downtown surrey much more attractive to developers and new businesses (that surrey desperately needs) catering to the gameday crowds. Nowadays the game day experience is an important conponent to success. An arena around Scott Road doesnt come close to providing that.

It depends on how you look at it.

It's not like everyone is interested in the Game Day experience. Even at the Canucks game, most people arrive in the area right before the game and leave right after (just ride Skytrain or try to drive in the area on game night). I would say maybe 25% at most partake in activities pre/post game (most head straight to skytrain to beat the rush that the beat the rush rush causes). But for a large arena, that sells out every game, that is a lot of people.

People going to WHL games fall into 2 camps: either they love hockey so much they pay to see unpaid, grown up kids play (and aren't as interested in frivolous activities around the game) or are looking for less expensive things to do (and thus aren't going to drop a C-Note on dinner and drinks). So at most, what, 15% would hit the town around the game. And 5000 is the capacity, not the typical night's sales. So to build in downtown Surrey, your talking about spending millions of dollars extra to inject maybe 100 patrons into a bar? I don't know if that is really worth it.

Plus it seems like the main goal is to kill 2 birds with one stone: amateur and pro hockey in one place. Trying to build a large multiplex in the city center would be really expensive.

An arena in the downtown would be nice, but I don't think the money needed to buy land there, then give it away to the developer free, would be worth the extra cost.