Stadiums and Arenas of Canada part 2

[SaskScraper]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

As for soccer/regina/mosiac. Nobody gives a shit about soccer in Regina.

..I couldn't have said it better myself..

The elephant in the room is that Regina built a stadium any city.. & I mean any city (i'm looking at you too Toronto) ..would be proud and over-joyed to have. It's only people in other provinces that are jealous and point out obscure things like turf lines or exterior cladding at New Mosaic Stadium to make themselves feel better about the lack-luster new stadiums in their own cities. The more complaining I see about irrelevant issues with New Mosaic Stadium the more I know Saskatchewan has hit a real touchdown with their new stadium.
carry on with your complaints about NMStadium everyone *wink

Originally Posted by esquire

Good point, so what is coming down the line out there? Here's what I recall off the top of my head:

Almost Done
-New Mosaic Stadium
-Rogers Place
-Place Bell

Under Construction
-Moncton Arena

Planning Stages
-Calgary NEXT
-Ottawa's arena proposal

What am I missing?

FYI, in a recent Star Phoenix newspaper survey, only 40% of people in Saskatoon are interested in building a new downtown Arena/Coliseum in the city in the near future.

[king10]

New Mosaic is 10 times better than THF. Its also twice the cost. I'm not jealous. I understand available funding was vastly different in hamilton. Very happy we get another top of the line stadium in Canada. I can honestly say its the best outdoor stadium in Canada (im talking about in Regina)

Congrats Regina. Disagree with your turf decision(which has nothing to do with jealousy mind u as i would be just as livid if THF had permanent stiched in markings) but bang up job on everything else.

[Horus]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

Do You really think Ottawa would have gone bigger? They sell out every game and have the ability to add clubs like the log cabin to bring in further revenue as needed. I would say TD is the perfect venue for ottawa.

THF....$145M and sold out game in game out. Enough said

Ottawa will get a chance to test out a larger stadium next year. They'll be adding some 12k additional seats for the 2017 Grey Cup. I'm going to assume that the installation will be done well in advance of the Grey Cup, so they could try out the larger layout for some late season games and/or playoff games. Perhaps they may elect to permanently install some additional seating after that .

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Horus

Ottawa will get a chance to test out a larger stadium next year. They'll be adding some 12k additional seats for the 2017 Grey Cup. I'm going to assume that the installation will be done well in advance of the Grey Cup, so they could try out the larger layout for some late season games and/or playoff games. Perhaps they may elect to permanently install some additional seating after that .

Strictly from an appearance and atmosphere standpoint, TD Place would benefit immensely from some permanent endzone seating (maybe around 4,000 seats) in the end farthest from Bank St. Right now the layout is too much like the old-school CFL parks with two grandstands and wide open nothing in the ends... at least the other end has some buildings in the background.

[25grapes]

^ You're right, the south end doesn't look particularly great, more so on television but the most I could see them doing permanently is creating another party deck to bring the capacity to 25K + standing room. I think they are liking the selling point of selling out every night and being the "best party" in town.

[Oilkountry]

Originally Posted by 25grapes

^ You're right, the south end doesn't look particularly great, more so on television but the most I could see them doing permanently is creating another party deck to bring the capacity to 25K + standing room. I think they are liking the selling point of selling out every night and being the "best party" in town.

I can remember a few years back when TD was just being finished up the collective agreement between us was that they would gauge the needs for a few seasons and fill the endzones after. They have done one end and I have a feeling they will add something permanent for the grey cup in the other end. But I'm not sure 4000 seats is the answer esquire. Something more along the lines of what Regina has done with the loge seats may be more beneficial or another party deck, a combination of 2 or all 3? I think stepping up from 24,300 to 28,300 could actually hurt what they have going. One thing I notice on TV with RB games is that there is a ton of people standing in the endzones kind of behind a railing of some sort? I agree with grapes here another standing room area of 200 people with a few rows of loge seating to bring the total capacity to 25000 would be the sweet spot in my eyes

[esquire]

^ Yeah, fair enough... maybe 4,000 seats is too much for this point in time. Another patio/party level in Ottawa would eliminate that barren endzone look without raising capacity excessively.

[Innersoul1]

Originally Posted by Migs

By all means, concern yourself with lines on a field. To me it's as irrelevant as all the lines on McMahon Stadiums new turf.

I haven't read one complaint by the CSA or the local soccer organizations about the decision.

I don't want to flog a dead horse here...

Truly, kudos to Regina NMS is a great stadium. I, by no means am jealous in my critique of it, but personally it has a few too many things going on and one of the things that really bothers me is that gap in the roofline in the corner.

As for the lines. As it stand let's be clear about the lines at McMahon and say that really nobody is stoked about the soccer lines, but it is a facility on University land and they see that as a priority. Also, given the crown of the field it will never be used for a competitive FIFA sanctioned event.

Ultimately, I would agree that stitching the lines is a missed opportunity in terms of National friendlies or attracting international competitions. If you argue that you have the best stadium in the country you should be ambitious enough to want to draw big events to your stadium. I get that people don't give a shit about soccer in Regina.

I see NMS as being a true Football stadium, so I would suggest that if you really wanted to have that focus, lose the yellow lines. When you are hosting a community soccer event paint the yellow ones on. Just looks purer if you are going that route.

[Innersoul1]

Originally Posted by Marshal

What is the latest cost estimate on this?

What are the top 5 practical/political/economic factors holding Calgary back from spending this modest amount to get a facility that will satisfy the need for the next 50 or so years?

PLEASE, I don't want arguments, rather straight information.

Sorry to dig this one up, just thought I would respond to it:

1) Money - Flames/Stamps are trying to get the new stadium funded using money potentially alocated for a field house. THe ownership group also seem to want to spend as little money as possible.

2) Location - Current field is on University land. A new location needs to be found. Even if NEXT is dead there isn't a standout location for a stand alone CFL/Soccer stadium. The current Stampede grounds where the Saddledome is located is owned by the Stampede and thus the Flames don't benefit from parking. They want a downtown location with LRT access so they are limited by land.

3) Municipal Support - The Flames/Stamps seem to be set on the West Village site for the new Arena/Stadium. This site requires extensive remediation, they hope that this tab will be picked up by the province and they could come up with a land use/taxation agreement for the land in exchange for developing it (very simplified explanation)

4) City Support - With a struggling economy there isn't an appetite for public funds to go to professional sports.

5a) Eggs in a Basket - With the Flames owning the Stamps and the Roughnecks and throw the Hitmen in the mix there seems to be a fixation on putting all the teams into a a single building that would have a stadium and arena and shares a number of back of house services

5b) Olympic Bid - There is renewed interest in a winter Olympic bif. It's pretty common knowledge amongst anyone who has followed NEXT that it is dead. So there is a real thought that a new stadium and arena could be built with funds that could come from a successful bid.

[artvandelay]

Originally Posted by Innersoul1

It's pretty common knowledge amongst anyone who has followed NEXT that it is dead.

Actually the most recent news (council agreeing to a proper study, province going after WV polluter) suggests that the project finally has traction. Which is a great thing as the West Village is the best location for these facilities.

[Coldrsx]

https://twitter.com/RogersPlace/status/763471190685917184



https://twitter.com/tedgbauer/status/763476450536226816

[TownGuy]

Looks like the one at the ACC.

[Coldrsx]

Similar, but larger.

[tomthumb2]

What a behemoth Edmonton - is that going to be the biggest one in the league?

[Daveography]

^ All I know is it's about twice as big as my house. I measured.

[Coldrsx]

^^I believe so yes.

[Franco401]

Originally Posted by tomthumb2

What a behemoth Edmonton - is that going to be the biggest one in the league?

Probably not as big as Tampa.

[Brizzy82]

The big sides of Tampa's jumbotron are 28' high x 50' wide
Edmonton's is apparently 36' high and 48' wide

[sdimedru]

Originally Posted by Brizzy82

The big sides of Tampa's jumbotron are 28' high x 50' wide
Edmonton's is apparently 36' high and 48' wide

both are awesome... as a corner/end season seat holder in Edmonton I'm happy to see the sacrifice a bit one way to gain so much the other way

[Brizzy82]

Originally Posted by sdimedru

both are awesome... as a corner/end season seat holder in Edmonton I'm happy to see the sacrifice a bit one way to gain so much the other way

Absolutely.

That thing sure is massive. It's crazy how big these modern jumbotrons are when lowered down to ground level. I don't get that perspective as easily when they're suspended above the ice.