Stadiums and Arenas of Canada part 2

[HomerSPC]

Originally Posted by SHOFEAR

those peoples ideas of sporting events are getting up at 4 in the morning to watch cricket and soccer, not participate in sports that are a cornerstone of the community.

I will get up at 4 in the morning to watch soccer, am the whitest guy you'll ever meet, and I was born and raised right here in Canada. I fail to see your point.

And it's incredibly offensive to call sports you aren't interested in "third world".

[Richard Lipschitz]

Originally Posted by bikegypsy

BC Place is simply stunning. An exemple for any stadium to be built in the future in any sizable city.

I would agree it looks pretty damn slick. However, I think you're getting carried away by saying it could be considered a model for future stadiums everywhere. The exterior, especially the roof structure, looks amazing. But the basic 2-tiered regular bowl arrangement is a little bland compared to what's being produced these days. The trend seems to be leaning towards more irregular layouts (Levi's Stadium comes to mind).

Actually nevermind I said anything. I love it. It's awesome.

[HomerSPC]

Originally Posted by Richard Lipschitz

I would agree it looks pretty damn slick. However, I think you're getting carried away by saying it could be considered a model for future stadiums everywhere. The exterior, especially the roof structure, looks amazing. But the basic 2-tiered regular bowl arrangement is a little bland compared to what's being produced these days. The trend seems to be leaning towards more irregular layouts (Levi's Stadium comes to mind).

Actually nevermind I said anything. I love it. It's awesome.

Levi's Stadium, Lambeau Field, etc. are all irregularly built because of the massive demand for press boxes. We don't have that here.

[Richard Lipschitz]

Originally Posted by ButterMcFattyPants

Did you just mention irregular layouts and not bring up TD Place? I don't even know who you are anymore.

Levi Stadium = irregular layout
TD Place = dog's breakfast

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Richard Lipschitz

I would agree it looks pretty damn slick. However, I think you're getting carried away by saying it could be considered a model for future stadiums everywhere. The exterior, especially the roof structure, looks amazing. But the basic 2-tiered regular bowl arrangement is a little bland compared to what's being produced these days. The trend seems to be leaning towards more irregular layouts (Levi's Stadium comes to mind).

Actually nevermind I said anything. I love it. It's awesome.

The basic 2-tier bowl is pretty good from a regular fan's standpoint. The newer buildings that give prime viewing angles to boxes and clubs means that regular ticket holding fans are sitting way up in the air.

I wouldn't say that BC Place is a model for new venues so much as it is a model for how to revitalize buildings that are only slightly out of date. It's a stark contrast with US cities where barely 20-year old perfectly serviceable stadiums get demolished and completely replaced (on the taxpayer's dime, naturally) with alarming regularity... e.g., the Metrodome, the Kingdome, the RCA Dome, the Silverdome, soon the Georgia Dome...

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by Acajack

So weird.

haha right.

Sho is just upset that he is not good at soccer.

[thurmas]

Perhaps long term the Alouettes might need to move back to the Big Owe. It could possibly work just because the lack of amenities and the charm off of Molson stadium is wearing off and it is squeezed in too tight to be renovated properly for long term success of the Als. Montreal does have a far stronger grass roots football infrastructure in the city then in 1996-1997. The Als have a richer and stronger ties in Montreal as well then back in the mid to late 1990'S.However if the Big Owe were to work it would need a proper reno to be a welcoming stadium. Currently the largest problems with the stadium is it is far too dark inside the stadium the crappy blue roof and the pitch black north endzone of nothingness under the scoreboard makes the place look like a tomb. The seats are 40 years old and dirty and the first tier of seats surrounding the field are still on the old school track setup going from baseball to football from the 1970's that makes it too far from the field for football. If a proper football reno was done it would need to go back to open air permanently rip that stupid Teflon roof off, replace all of the seats, re do the endzone under the scoreboard so its not so dark make it a party zone similar to the "RED ZONE" at the University of Phoenix stadium in Arizona. The biggest thing is natural light needs to be brought in instead of the dark half ring of roof surrounding the top of the stadium make it clear where light is brought in.

[king10]

Just don't see the Al's moving back to Olympic. Its far too big. And if Canada bids for the world cup it'll only get bigger capacity wise.

I think the Al's should focus on winning again like they did with Calvillo. Then fans will return.

[big W]

Originally Posted by Acajack

By Canadian and Canada-USA standards, though?

Which means it punches above its weight for north America but not on a world wide level.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by thurmas

Perhaps long term the Alouettes might need to move back to the Big Owe. It could possibly work just because the lack of amenities and the charm off of Molson stadium is wearing off and it is squeezed in too tight to be renovated properly for long term success of the Als. Montreal does have a far stronger grass roots football infrastructure in the city then in 1996-1997. The Als have a richer and stronger ties in Montreal as well then back in the mid to late 1990'S.However if the Big Owe were to work it would need a proper reno to be a welcoming stadium. Currently the largest problems with the stadium is it is far too dark inside the stadium the crappy blue roof and the pitch black north endzone of nothingness under the scoreboard makes the place look like a tomb. The seats are 40 years old and dirty and the first tier of seats surrounding the field are still on the old school track setup going from baseball to football from the 1970's that makes it too far from the field for football. If a proper football reno was done it would need to go back to open air permanently rip that stupid Teflon roof off, replace all of the seats, re do the endzone under the scoreboard so its not so dark make it a party zone similar to the "RED ZONE" at the University of Phoenix stadium in Arizona. The biggest thing is natural light needs to be brought in instead of the dark half ring of roof surrounding the top of the stadium make it clear where light is brought in.

This would cost a fortune, and for little gain. After all, the Als don't need the Big O's larger capacity... and the odd time they really do need more seats, the Big O is available to them in its current form.

I will say that the Big O should get rid of the baseball seating configuration. I hate the massive walls along most of the soccer/football sidelines... rip out the damn baseball moveable seating and just replace it with permanent seats all the way around that gradually taper down to the sidelines.

This is what I'm talking about, basically replace the temp seats on the sidelines with permanent ones:



Source: Globe and Mail

And yeah, that black curtain/wall thing in one end is a nightmare. Somehow it's less offensive for baseball but it absolutely stinks for soccer/football. I wish they could just rip it down and replace it with the original configuration:



Source: WBUR

Because this layout with a giant atmosphere deadening black wall is just horrendous:



Source: carpell.com

[Nicko999]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

Yeah and the Argos should stay in RC. Give your head a shake. Molson saved the Als from the cancer the team had...the Big O.... it was/is/will be a terrible place to watch football. You're basing a hunch that it would work on 1 game when the Stadium was brand new and people were there to see the stadium itself and not the game at hand. Corner cut end zones can be fixed easily (commonwealth stadium) Make no mistake their would be no Als without molson. And if the Als could have worked at the big O they wouldn't have left it behind in the 90s

If I remember correctly the stadium had its retractable roof closed at all times in 96-97. My suggestion for the Als coming back at Olympic is conditional to having the roof fixed.

[Nicko999]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

I have to disagree. This isn't the 70s and 80s anymore. HDTV's are the new age. either than the odd grey cup and a U2 concert when the heck do we need 50k+ seats in this country? We couldn't sell out commonwealth on a weekend in Canada's greatest sports city for the opener of a world cup with our own damn country playing for god sakes. 40k? yup I would agree with that. 50k Maybe 1 or 2 for big events like the WWC 60k? Absolutely not for any reason period. Their just isn't enough people who will see a live sporting event over a couch and a 60 inch TV. The blue jays could play in a 40,000 seat stadium comfortably either than their home opener. The big O doesn't even have a friggen tenant and how often do you need more than 40k seats in Montreal. The odd grey cup and a jays game once a year. Meanwhile your home CFL club plays in a university stadium hardly fit for a university team.
CWS Doesnt need 50k+ at all. Since the Oilers played there in 2003ish I can think of the 2010 grey cup ,U2 and the WWC home opener. That is the only time CWS has had 50k+ on deck that I can think of. That is not worth the atmosphere of your CFL club. BC place and rogers centre should be the only 50k+ venues in this country as they are the premiere cities in Canada. Montreal is too hit and miss to be put on a world stage. unreliable if anything. I get you older guys remember the good old days but those days are long gone in this country. If these venues were holding 50k 5 times a year I would completely agree but not for once every 2-3 years

Let's just look at 2015 for the Olympic Stadium:

April 3 and 4, 2015: 96,545 fans total for 2 baseball preseason games.
April 29, 2015: 61,004 fans for the CCL final
June 15, 2015: 45,420 fans for the Canada vs Netherlands (although not quite 50k but close enough)
June 30, 2015: The semi final of the WWC will get more than 50K

That's 5 times and I don't include potential MLS playoffs games later this year.

Montreal is a big enough city so there is occasionally demand for such a big stadium. And even if the attendance is not quite 50K, the atmosphere is still great. There were "only" 38K when Cameron Porter scored vs Pachucha but it was absolute diliria inside the big O. A stadium doesn't have to be full to be rocking.

[Coldrsx]

twitter/jforce1

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by Nicko999

If I remember correctly the stadium had its retractable roof closed at all times in 96-97. My suggestion for the Als coming back at Olympic is conditional to having the roof fixed.

The "summer" roof was used from 1987-1992. I can't remember when they stopped opening it but there was a patchwork of fixes to repair rips in the roof.

In 1992 through 1998 they left the winter cover on all year. In 1998 they removed the roof and there was one glorious season of open air baseball.

[cjones2451]

Does anyone remember when Canada hosted the 2007 FIFA U20 world cup, was the games played in Montreal and Ottawa on turf or did they get temporary grass.
I think Commonwealth still had grass, Swangard, Royal Athletic Park and BMO had grass, but can't remember on the other 2, but thought it had to be consistent

There were also some great players in that tournament, Sergio Aguero, Angel Di Maria, Jozy Altadore, Gio Dos Santos, Alexandre Pato, Arturo Vidal, Edinson Cavani, Juan Mata, Luis Saurez, Michael Bradley, Gerard Pique, Alexis Sanchez, David Luiz (over-rated in my opinion, but a big name) and a young guy Whitecaps fans may know, Kendall Waston (which may have sold him on being here)

With the support of that tournament, the Women's World Cup now, I think Canada could host the World Cup in 2026, but only with a moderate budget and not blowing the bank on venues

[elly63]

Having said all this, I think it is looking good at the WWC. That red bunting around the field looks pretty good. If they could do a go big or go home reno like BC Place, it would be great. Unfortunately, I believe there's just too much negative history and mistrust which is really too bad because it would really be something if they could get a new retractable roof and redo the interior. I wonder how many serious full scale proposals the OIB has looked at.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by cjones2451

Does anyone remember when Canada hosted the 2007 FIFA U20 world cup, was the games played in Montreal and Ottawa on turf or did they get temporary grass.
I think Commonwealth still had grass, Swangard, Royal Athletic Park and BMO had grass, but can't remember on the other 2, but thought it had to be consistent.

No it was mixed, they both had artificial turf as did BMO, IIRC

[osmo]

Originally Posted by HomerSPC

Levi's Stadium, Lambeau Field, etc. are all irregularly built because of the massive demand for press boxes. We don't have that here.

LEVIS Stadium is a example of aggressive luxury segregation that I hope never creeps into Canada.

[Oilkountry]

Originally Posted by king10

What the heck. I'm 25 and Montreal is a world class city. Its nightlife and culture is second to none.

The F1 race is one of the biggest yearly events period in Canada. The just for laughs festival, Osheaga music festival.

Ask people in Europe which cities are world class in Canada. Montreal will be on that list no doubt.

With the F1 race MTL is one of the ONLY cities in Canada that IS put on the world stage year in and year out. And it passes with flying colours. Fans and drivers praise it as one of their favourite stops on the tour.

Oh Jesus. I say Montreal is inconsistent for Sporting events...which it is. And that somehow translates into it's not a world class city and "the night life is great".

I'm just saying Vancouver has really stepped up as Canada's Premier sporting event city since the Olympics. And Toronto will always be The center of Canada weather we like it or not. Either way I'm Entitled to my own opinion.

It's funny though

I stick up for BC Place

I stick up for TD place

I criticize The big O

Wasn't aware this thread had a red patch boys mentality

[thurmas]

Esquire I agree with most of your improvement points. Ripping off the current Teflon roof at the Big O and keeping it open air should be minimal cost since they did it in back in 1998 before putting the hideous blue roof on. Having natural light makes the place feel less like a massive star wars space ship and more like an actual football stadium. We both agree with wrapping the stands around the field and getting rid of the moveable baseball stands. This helps make the stadium more uniform and like a football stadium again and not a 1970's cookie cutter baseball/football monstrosity. I disagree with adding the Olympic endzone seating back the Stadium doesn't need to be 70,000+ other than if it hosts the World Cup finals on a temp basis. What I would like to see is the scoreboard pushed back to it's original form from 1976-1991 it makes the stadium symmetrical and more uniform looking than the current one that juts out and doesn't mesh with the rest of the circular stadium's form. Instead of a black wall though give it some colour and have a blue blanc et rouge wall with a giant Alouettes logo and maybe have it as a party zone like THF field endzone to give it some more activity and life. The seats in the stadium do need replacing though if these things were done it could be in similar quality to Commonwealth Stadium since both stadiums are of almost the same age except Commonwealth was actually maintained properly and has aged gracefully.