Stadiums and Arenas of Canada part 2

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Acajack

It's suburban for sure but the goal is for it to look like this eventually:

http://groupeplaneo.com/portfolio/40/la-cite/

Best of luck to them on that.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Best of luck to them on that.

The key to making these things work is always having lots of local residents. The (partially-built) area just to the north of there is to be filled with high to medium density residential. There is already reasonably decent foot traffic on La Gappe during weekdays. That and the arena should help bring it along and there is a retail, office and hotel complex that should begin construction within the next year on the exact opposite side of the white Library and Archives office building from where the arena will be.

http://www.journallarevue.com/Actualites...rojet-de-plusieurs-millions-a-Gatineau/1

[Oilkountry]

Man is this thread ever going to die lol either than the rest of the ice district and the opening of mosaic next season (among some minor league arenas out east) really what else is left?? The CFL and NHL are both pretty well done. hopefully Ottawa or Calgary get a solid plan soon lol my stadium/arena build itch is gonna go crazy lol.

Seriously though think about the last 5-6 years

BC place reno
TD place build/reno
THF build
Commonwealth stadium reno
Molson stadium reno
Investors group field build
New mosaic build
Rogers place build
BMO Reno
videotron centre build
Major renos to MTS,CTC,ACC,Bell centre ect

What a decade to be a (paying) sports fan in canada

[Oilkountry]

Some hopeful near future projects

-New flames arena
-New stamps stadium
-New Halifax stadium
-Major Rogers Centre Reno
-New sens arena
-Olympic stadium renovation
-Rexall place conversion

(honorable mentions)

-New montreal baseball stadium
-New whitecaps soccer stadium Vancouver

[eemy]

My guess is that the arena will be pretty early in the development process of Lebreton Flats, but we won't find out for awhile yet, as far as I know.

[red-paladin]

I don't think the Whitecaps are ever going to have their own stadium.
First of all, there is no need, with the new BC place set up.
They blew their opportunity in Gastown, and I don't see any other land around Downtown that could be used for a stadium of any type.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitecaps_Waterfront_Stadium
I guess they could build a stadium out in Surrey, but who would go to Surrey to watch a soccer game?

[isaidso]

MLB has indicated expansion to 32 teams is in the cards 2020-2025. Montreal seems to be in the driver's seat for 1 of those teams but Vancouver was mentioned as well. There are a huge number of people from BC who head to Seattle to Blue Jays games, there's a baseball culture in the lower Mainland, and Vancouver is the 2nd largest metro in Canada/US without MLB. Montreal is the largest.

If interest builds where could a baseball park be built? Port Moody?

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by red-paladin

I don't think the Whitecaps are ever going to have their own stadium.
First of all, there is no need, with the new BC place set up.

Yea, I've been hearing more and more how the Whitecaps and Lions need a new smaller stadium - which blows my mind. The massive renovation to BC Place would be a total waste without a primary tenant - even if they only use the lower level.

[esquire]

Considering BC renovated BC Place 5 years ago for over a half-billion dollars, there is not a hope in hell that there will be any public dollars for a new stadium in or around Vancouver. The only way it happens is if it's privately built, most likely involving a joint use by the Lions and Whitecaps. But even then, it seems like a foolish use of capital... a new stadium would cost at least $200 million, and would more than likely result in a new stadium being situated in a far worse location than BC Place, and probably nowhere near as nice in terms of facilities and venue quality.

I just don't see it happening... I think the Lions and Whitecaps will be in BC Place for some time to come, even though it's fair to say the venue is oversized for them. That said, the recent renos which included better lighting schemes and the curtain system to cover unused seats has resulted in a far better look for when only the lower bowl is being used.

[cjones2451]

Originally Posted by isaidso

MLB has indicated expansion to 32 teams is in the cards 2020-2025. Montreal seems to be in the driver's seat for 1 of those teams but Vancouver was mentioned as well. There are a huge number of people from BC who head to Seattle to Blue Jays games, there's a baseball culture in the lower Mainland, and Vancouver is the 2nd largest metro in Canada/US without MLB. Montreal is the largest.

If interest builds where could a baseball park be built? Port Moody?

No land in Port Moody. If it did happen it would have to be along the Skytrain but with the weather in the Lower Mainland, it would need to be a domed stadium. Can't see it happening here. I think there are a lot of Band wagon Blue Jays fans that go to Seattle. People here seem happy with the Single A experience at Nat Bailey

[cjones2451]

Originally Posted by esquire

Considering BC renovated BC Place 5 years ago for over a half-billion dollars, there is not a hope in hell that there will be any public dollars for a new stadium in or around Vancouver. The only way it happens is if it's privately built, most likely involving a joint use by the Lions and Whitecaps. But even then, it seems like a foolish use of capital... a new stadium would cost at least $200 million, and would more than likely result in a new stadium being situated in a far worse location than BC Place, and probably nowhere near as nice in terms of facilities and venue quality.

I just don't see it happening... I think the Lions and Whitecaps will be in BC Place for some time to come, even though it's fair to say the venue is oversized for them. That said, the recent renos which included better lighting schemes and the curtain system to cover unused seats has resulted in a far better look for when only the lower bowl is being used.

I think you are right, the only issue is the real grass issue, I think it does hold Vancouver back on getting some top notch talent, but otherwise they have done a good job incorporating BC Place to have CFL and Soccer configurations. Most CFL stadiums do not look good in soccer mode as the endzones are too far away.
I think BC Place needs to create a Party Deck of some sort to help get a younger crowd, but with a multi purpose stadium, that may be tough

[Rico Rommheim]

Originally Posted by isaidso

MLB has indicated expansion to 32 teams is in the cards 2020-2025. Montreal seems to be in the driver's seat for 1 of those teams but Vancouver was mentioned as well. There are a huge number of people from BC who head to Seattle to Blue Jays games, there's a baseball culture in the lower Mainland, and Vancouver is the 2nd largest metro in Canada/US without MLB. Montreal is the largest.

If interest builds where could a baseball park be built? Port Moody?

Seem's like the blue Jay's marketing gimmick of being "Canada's team" is about is about to end.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

Seem's like the blue Jay's marketing gimmick of being "Canada's team" is about is about to end.

But where would the Nouvos Expos de Montréal play?

[Rico Rommheim]

Originally Posted by Acajack

But where would the Nouvos Expos de Montréal play?

Everyone's talking about a prospective new stadium at the Peel basin, which is close to downtown, where a future REM station is being planned, where there will presumable be plenty of room to build in the future.


Personally I couldn't care less. Of all the sports that I've watched and played, never have I encountered such a snooze fest as baseball. There are surely tens of thousands of people in this city who care about baseball, but not millions. So I actually hope we don't get the Expos back.

[esquire]

I honestly wonder how much of the desire for a baseball team in Montreal has to do with nostalgia and civic status as opposed to a genuine interest in baseball. Considering how roundly Montreal ignored the Expos for at least the last decade of their existence, I'm not sure there is a great deal of passion there.

And unlike CFL/MLS where you can sustain a team with moderate levels of interest, a smallish-market Canadian MLB team with bills to pay in US dollars will require a comparatively massive amount of fan interest. It's one thing to attend an annual exhibition game, quite another to fill that stadium up 81 times a year... especially if your team isn't hot like the Jays and finds itself 15 games back in July.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

Everyone's talking about a prospective new stadium at the Peel basin, which is close to downtown, where a future REM station is being planned, where there will presumable be plenty of room to build in the future.


Personally I couldn't care less. Of all the sports that I've watched and played, never have I encountered such a snooze fest as baseball. There are surely tens of thousands of people in this city who care about baseball, but not millions. So I actually hope we don't get the Expos back.

Oh, I know they could find a site for a stadium. I should have been clearer and asked who would pay for it.

I agree with you that the base of baseball fans in Montreal, the area and the province is probably not very deep. Probably not deep enough that, once the initial honeymoon is over and tougher times set in, that it would be enough to sustain the team in the long-term.

If the Expos do come back, I can see a number of pretty good years initially, but somewhere down the road there will be another team "survival crisis".

Even during their worst seasons, the Blue Jays hovered around 20,000 a game as an average. I don't see Montreal supporting the Expos like that during tougher times, over 81 games a season. During the bad Expos years average attendance was about half of 20,000.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by esquire

I honestly wonder how much of the desire for a baseball team in Montreal has to do with nostalgia and civic status as opposed to a genuine interest in baseball. Considering how roundly Montreal ignored the Expos for at least the last decade of their existence, I'm not sure there is a great deal of passion there.

.

I am part of a fairly wide circle of Québécois dads in their 30s and 40s. This group almost never talks about baseball, I can tell you. The rare times it comes up would mostly be when we're waxing nostalgic about the Expos of the Andre Dawson, Gary Carter years.

Sports talk is primarily about hockey by a wide margin, then football, soccer, F1 and maybe even boxing, UFC and tennis. Baseball comes up less often than any of these.

I do think that if the Expos came back some members of this gang might be up for going to a game a year in Montreal as a boys' outing. But this would be an "event" thing, not a baseball fandom thing. And would quickly wane if ever the Expos came to suck enough for the in-person game experience to become dull.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by esquire

And unlike CFL/MLS where you can sustain a team with moderate levels of interest, a smallish-market Canadian MLB team with bills to pay in US dollars will require a comparatively massive amount of fan interest. It's one thing to attend an annual exhibition game, quite another to fill that stadium up 81 times a year... especially if your team isn't hot like the Jays and finds itself 15 games back in July.

The best summer and fall sports option for Montreal is probably to build up the Alouettes and L'Impact into powerhouse franchises for their respective leagues and sports, with consistent sell-outs at their right-sized stadiums, augmented by the occasional big game at the Big O with 50 or 60k in attendance.

This can be a lot of fun too.

Football and soccer are better fits for Montreal I think. (In spite of the baseball history of the city, Jackie Robinson, etc. which I also recognize.)

Football has more of a history in the province of Quebec in addition to having a much stronger grassroots network in high scools, colleges and universities.

And soccer is the up and coming sport, with global oomph of course in addition to huge popularity in the growing immigrant population. Plus it's the most popular participatory sport for kids.

[esquire]

^ I would agree... the Als/Impact are a good fit for Montreal's sports fan tendencies, and the economics of their leagues allow them to handle protracted periods of low fan interest when the teams are going through difficult periods on the field.

Of course, lest this all be taken as some kind of slight against Montreal, it isn't. I have no doubt that Montreal could support a MLB team if it wanted to... I'm just not sure that it actually wants to.

[elly63]

You guys are forgetting one thing, content. If Bell is behind a bid for the new Expos they get 160+ nights of programming with decent ratings. They will pay for that, especially now that Rogers controls the big properties.