Stadiums and Arenas of Canada part 2

[Nicko999]

Originally Posted by 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.

If you add that additional seating (like they did for the 2008 Grey Cup) and take away that black ugly wall, you're probably looking at 80,000 capacity.

Probably too big (although it would still sell out on huge events) but it is the only way Canada gets a WC without spending billions.

The country has only four stadiums that meet FIFA’s size requirement (60,000 capacity) to host a World Cup match – FIFA general secretary Jérôme Valcke has been quoted as saying at least 12 venues will be required for future World Cups – and none featuring the capacity of at least 80,000 required to host the opening match and final.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/10/10/race-canada-continues-plan-bid-2026-world-cup

[thurmas]

Current Big O capacity without temp seating is 56,245 factor in seat replacement with larger seats and wrapping the field with seats in a horseshoe leaving the north end zone alone and the capacity is a wash it would roughly stay the same.

[king10]

^^^^ ya the opening ceremonies in 1976 had over 76 000. If they revert back to olympic mode, but without the track and lowering the playing surface and adding seats where the track was, you can get 80,000 for a world cup final.

[Richard Lipschitz]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

I stick up for BC Place

I stick up for TD place

I criticize The big O

Have a snickers bro. You're a drama queen when you're hungry

[Oilkountry]

Originally Posted by Richard Lipschitz

Have a snickers bro. You're a drama queen when you're hungry

Oh piss off fatty. Everyone is well aware this is you.

Im just stating that Unless you argee with the masses people will gang up on you for having an opinion. The big O is looked at as some national treasure. A Big empty ugly money pit

Yet you cant stick up for TD place which has an actual purpose in a community and is purpose built for a CFL team

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by king10

^^^^ ya the opening ceremonies in 1976 had over 76 000. If they revert back to olympic mode, but without the track and lowering the playing surface and adding seats where the track was, you can get 80,000 for a world cup final.

Wouldn't this run into the issue that stops them from being able to just blow it up? The subway line underneath?

[Nathan]

Here's a little commercial spot that was made for the new Stadium in Regina by the naming rights-holder "Mosaic":

Follow the Link

[Richard Lipschitz]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

Oh piss off fatty. Everyone is well aware this is you.

is that the word on the street?

[elly63]

Originally Posted by oilkountry

unless you argee with the masses people will gang up on you for having a stupid opinion.

cyp

[king10]

Originally Posted by Nathan

Wouldn't this run into the issue that stops them from being able to just blow it up? The subway line underneath?

They wouldnt be digging that deep. Have a look at how they did it at ohio stadium home of the buckeyes, or the LA memorial colliseum. Lowering the field 10 to 14 feet is what is needed or around 4 metres. The pie ix station roof is at a depth of over 10 metres below ground. So they have room to lower the field.

Of course all this is dependent on if canada wins the world cup bid and the funding is secured. Renovating olympic would be the cheapest alternative to finding an 80,000 seat finals stadium. Especially if the province intends to renovate it in the next decade anyways. A brand new 80 000 seat stadium will run you close to 1$ billion if not more. A full scale reno of the Big O similar to BC place would cost you half that, plus saves the hundreds of millions it would cost to demolish the big O.

[king10]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

Oh piss off fatty. Everyone is well aware this is you.

Im just stating that Unless you argee with the masses people will gang up on you for having an opinion. The big O is looked at as some national treasure. A Big empty ugly money pit

Yet you cant stick up for TD place which has an actual purpose in a community and is purpose built for a CFL team

I like td place. Its a great venue. They need to touch up the conctete though.

Also olympic is a big empty money pit.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by Nathan

Wouldn't this run into the issue that stops them from being able to just blow it up? The subway line underneath?

The Metro doesn't run directly underneath, it runs alongside de Coubertin.

$220 million more budgeted for required repairs this year alone and it still needs a new roof.

I probably have a bigger attachment to the Stadium then anyone else on here. I worked for the Expos as a teen and spent most of the 90s roaming the entire stadium. Even 25 years ago the bowels where a rusting, dank place that smelled like old hotdog water and Export A greens.

A BC Place type renovation would cost a fortune as it is so much more cavernous everywhere and it doesn't benefit from being nicely integrated into anything like BC Place is.

It's time to take it down, $500 million would be a bargain.

[Daveography]

Rogers Place, Edmonton:

[Nicko999]

Originally Posted by Barnes

The Metro doesn't run directly underneath, it runs alongside de Coubertin.

$220 million more budgeted for required repairs this year alone and it still needs a new roof.

I probably have a bigger attachment to the Stadium then anyone else on here. I worked for the Expos as a teen and spent most of the 90s roaming the entire stadium. Even 25 years ago the bowels where a rusting, dank place that smelled like old hotdog water and Export A greens.

A BC Place type renovation would cost a fortune as it is so much more cavernous everywhere and it doesn't benefit from being nicely integrated into anything like BC Place is.

It's time to take it down, $500 million would be a bargain.

That's just not true. I think you are talking about this report:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/m...acelift-government-report-says-1.3016520

It estimates the Stadium need 220M in renovations over the next decade which we all agree need to happen. When you fail to take care of a 39 years old stadium, this is what happens.

The maintenance figure for 2014 was $1.4 million.

The other significant number from the report is $1.4 million.

That is the annual maintenance cost of the stadium which is double what it was in 2013.

http://www.cjad.com/cjad-news/2015/05/14/olympic-stadium-roof-full-of-holes

And no the stadium will not be tore down, it's a ridiculous idea.

[blueandgoldguy]

Watching the cars pass under the construction site in that picture really gives you a sense of the size of the pedway and new arena. Just massive.

[Oilkountry]

Originally Posted by elly63

cyp

Meh elly I consider the source and move on quickly

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

Meh elly I consider the source and move on quickly

As do the rest of us

[Richard Lipschitz]

IMO this is the main reason why the TD place renovation falls short (there are many reasons, but the root of the problem is this):


(photo by me)

The style and feel of this roof structure (cold, rigid, industrial) is a STARK contrast to whats on the other side of the stadium (warm, curvy, organic). I have a question. How hard would it have been to incorporate some curvature to these bulky steel girders? I`m picturing small curved trusses on top of the girders to build them up and give them some shape. The corrugated sheet metal deck could then have been replaced by the same wood as the other side. Wood accents could have been incorporated throughout. This would have mitigated almost everything else in terms of aesthetics.

I would find it very hard to believe that this idea was never at least tabled during design development. Any ideas why it never happened? It seems technically feasible and it doesn`t seem like something that would have broken the bank.

[king10]

I think it all falls back to money. They had a budget and had to stick to it.

If they were constrained by that budget I would've liked to see them take a couple million from the South Stand and use it on the North stand to have its finishings match that of the south stand. Similar to things you mentioned above, and of course my pet peeve the concerete restoration.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by king10

I think it all falls back to money. They had a budget and had to stick to it.

If they were constrained by that budget I would've liked to see them take a couple million from the South Stand and use it on the North stand to have its finishings match that of the south stand. Similar to things you mentioned above, and of course my pet peeve the concerete restoration.

Yeesh, if they had cut anything from the south stand budget there would be little more left than a lookalike of the barebones THF east stands.