Surrey Updates

[SurreyonTheMap]

Originally Posted by Blease

If the proposed stadium does actually come about, it will most likely be built next to Scott Road station.

Could work with Gateway station as there is plenty of space there, plus it has BC lions training area, baseball fields, plus the soccer fields and the chuck bailey recreation centre. So it would be a great place for a stadium in terms of sports.

[Blease]

Originally Posted by SurreyonTheMap

Could work with Gateway station as there is plenty of space there, plus it has BC lions training area, baseball fields, plus the soccer fields and the chuck bailey recreation centre. So it would be a great place for a stadium in terms of sports.

I honestly think that the very large chunk of land stretching northwards from Surrey Central right up to the river is probably the most viable space for any emerging large-scale projects within Greater Vancouver whether that means stadium or the new Amazon campus hub. I mean if Amazon actually wanted to move Vancouver, where else could they possibly set up a 50,000 employee facility next to skytrain and other urban amenities. One way or another there is great potential for that land.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by Blease

I honestly think that the very large chunk of land stretching northwards from Surrey Central right up to the river is probably the most viable space for any emerging large-scale projects within Greater Vancouver whether that means stadium or the new Amazon campus hub. I mean if Amazon actually wanted to move Vancouver, where else could they possibly set up a 50,000 employee facility next to skytrain and other urban amenities. One way or another there is great potential for that land.

Make Brownsville Great Again?

[tovan]

Could work with Gateway station as there is plenty of space there, plus it has BC lions training area, baseball fields, plus the soccer fields and the chuck bailey recreation centre. So it would be a great place for a stadium in terms of sports.

Gateway Station area has lots of potential and would be a great location to establish a sports hub.

[Shift]

You can look on cosmos.surrey.ca to see which parcels of land are city owned. They are coloured in Pink.

It would make sense to fit in around the area of the BC Lions training facility / baseball diamonds / soccer fields. This area is identified to be focused on sports/recreation in the City Centre Plan.

The pink city owned properties next just to the north of the baseball diamonds south of 108 / west of University will not be the site however. I know for a fact that 5 towers are being planned for this site right now.

I dont see any big city owned parcels around Scott Rd except for where the Ice Rinks are going.

The Soccer Stadium could go elsewhere in the City. Makes more sense in the City Centre or Scott Rd area though.

[iron]

If this is going on existing city-owned land, then I don't see any good spots in Whalley to plop this building.

[EhJay]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

He mentions "a few thousand" seats, so I don't think it would be 20. Only teams that could fill that would be the Whitecaps or the Lions, and I imagine they're both happy at BC Place.

Maybe it could house the rumoured Fraser Valley CSL team? There are also rumours of pro rugby making its way up here but that's still in the very early stages and I doubt they'd build a new stadium for that.

"Hayne said whether a Surrey stadium would be in the 8,000 to 10,000-seat range or 15,000 to 20,000 seats would depend on bids, but the city isn’t interested in contributing capital funds unless the province is involved in taking on some of the risk." From the Vancouver Sun article.

But, we'll see what happens.
Not sure I can see a CPL team taking off in Surrey right now, but we'll see.

[Envder]

Okay so did a little looking around at other teams for this and their stadium sizes

Confirmed
Winnipeg - 33,234
Hamilton - 24,000

Rumored cities
Calgary - 35,400
Regina - 33,000
ottawa - 24,000
Edmonton - 5,000
Halifax - 8,000

So out side of halifax and edmonton they have some large stadiums.
I wouldn't be surprised to see at least over 10,000 seats. It is possible they do go with 20,000 too after all we are the third largest metro in Canada. Add Surrey also could pull in from the fraser Valley

Oh I also notice Victoria was a possible city they are looking at. would be cool to see both Surrey and Victoria get a team could make for some nice rivalry and really drive up people watching and going to the games. not holding high hopes for that though

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by Envder

Okay so did a little looking around at other teams for this and their stadium sizes

Confirmed
Winnipeg - 33,234
Hamilton - 24,000

Rumored cities
Calgary - 35,400
Regina - 33,000
ottawa - 24,000
Edmonton - 5,000
Halifax - 8,000

So out side of halifax and edmonton they have some large stadiums.
I wouldn't be surprised to see at least over 10,000 seats. It is possible they do go with 20,000 too after all we are the third largest metro in Canada. Add Surrey also could pull in from the fraser Valley

Oh I also notice Victoria was a possible city they are looking at. would be cool to see both Surrey and Victoria get a team could make for some nice rivalry and really drive up people watching and going to the games. not holding high hopes for that though

The reason most of those stadiums are so big is because they already exist and there may not be a smaller alternative. I'd be very surprised if Surrey built a 20,000 seat stadium. Yes the team will draw from all over the Lower Mainland, but it's still a second-tier soccer team. They're not gonna draw as much as the Whitecaps are.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

The reason most of those stadiums are so big is because they already exist and there may not be a smaller alternative. I'd be very surprised if Surrey built a 20,000 seat stadium. Yes the team will draw from all over the Lower Mainland, but it's still a second-tier soccer team. They're not gonna draw as much as the Whitecaps are.

Also from what I remember the Whitecaps only use the lower portion of BC Place, so a bit shy of 30,000. Even the Coliseum is 16,000 and how much use does it get these days? Then there's the one in Abbotsford that's 7,000. I'd suspect if a stadium is built in Surrey it wouldn't top 10,000.

[officedweller]

I expect this will be an outdoor stadium, not an indoor arena.
So think Swangard Stadium or Thunderbird Stadium.

Swangard can seat 5,288.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swangard_Stadium

Thunderbird can seat 3,500 in the grandstand.
http://sportfacilities.ubc.ca/thunderbird-stadium/

[Envder]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

The reason most of those stadiums are so big is because they already exist and there may not be a smaller alternative. I'd be very surprised if Surrey built a 20,000 seat stadium. Yes the team will draw from all over the Lower Mainland, but it's still a second-tier soccer team. They're not gonna draw as much as the Whitecaps are.

Actually this is set to be a tier 1 league not tier 2.

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by Envder

Actually this is set to be a tier 1 league not tier 2.

Sorry I don't actually know how soccer tiers work, I just meant it's a step down from the MLS. Or is it not? I assumed it was at the same level as the NASL.

[Envder]

nope suppose to be same level as MLS

[GlassCity]

My mistake then.

[Envder]

So first a stadium
now an arena possibly

http://www.surreynowleader.com/news/surrey-considering-7000-to-10000-seat-hockey-arena/

With Surrey’s population rapidly increasing, is it time for the city to consider building a large arena?

Local investment banker Inde Sumal seems to think so, as he’s leading a group that’s expressing interest in bringing a large arena to Surrey.

Sumal is looking to bring a new 7,000-10,000 seat arena to Bridgeview near Scott Road Station. While Bridgeview is the main option, there are two other areas in Surrey that Sumal’s group is looking at.


If construction of the arena goes through, it would stand to be the largest arena and entertainment centre in Surrey by a wide margin.

“The purpose of the arena will be for a hockey team, with the ability to host concerts and community events.” said Sumal.

Sumal said that his group “has a team looking to relocate,” but he would not comment on which team is looking at moving into the proposed arena.

Aside from hockey, Sumal wants the facility to be an entertainment venue for concerts.

“If there’s an artist that is too small for Rogers arena, they could make their way out here,” he said.

One of the main attractions for Sumal’s group is the rapid population growth of Surrey. According to city estimates, Surrey’s population has grown by nearly 100,000 people over the last ten years.

“We look at population growth when we do our research,” said Sumal. “We thought that perhaps Surrey could be the next hub for a large sports facility.”

The other benefit of the Bridgeview area for Sumal’s group is that it’s right near a major transit hub.

“Surrey has the transit, enabling the residents of Greater Vancouver to make their way Surrey,” said Sumal.

“From a land value perspective, it’s also advantageous,” he said.

Both Sumal and Mayor Linda Hepner stress that discussions are in the preliminary stages.

“Sumal feels that the addition of a grade A calibre arena and entertainment facility would be a welcome amenity for a growing metropolis such as Surrey,” said Hepner.

“Discussions with the city are in the preliminary stages, but we’re encouraged with the responses that we are receiving from the city,” Sumal.

Currently, the largest seated arena in Surrey would be South Surrey Arena which is home to the BCHL’s South Surrey Eagles. That arena currently holds 1,240 people.

Aside from Rogers Arena, Vancouver has two large facilities with the Pacific Coliseum and Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Arena at UBC. The largest arenas outside of Vancouver are the Langley Events Centre with 5,276 seats, and the Abbotsford Centre which has a maximum capacity of 8,500.

Based on Sumal’s comments, Surrey could be home to the largest arena in the Lower Mainland outside of Vancouver.

[Ramsay]

Originally Posted by Envder

So first a stadium
now an arena possibly

http://www.surreynowleader.com/news/surrey-considering-7000-to-10000-seat-hockey-arena/

This is good news, hopefully pans out.
I'm not sold on Bridgeview location though, it makes me think of the Coliseum on the PNE grounds.There was nothing to do except drive home after the game.

Personally, I think a great location would be the old Best Buy site at the Central city mall. it is between two Skytrain stations and it would add lot buzz to the city nightlife after events, being in the DT core.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Ramsay

This is good news, hopefully pans out.
I'm not sold on Bridgeview location though, it makes me think of the Coliseum on the PNE grounds.There was nothing to do except drive home after the game.

There's nothing to do there *now* - that doesn't mean there will never be anything to do in the area. There have already been some development plans.

[Shift]

Originally Posted by Ramsay

This is good news, hopefully pans out.
I'm not sold on Bridgeview location though, it makes me think of the Coliseum on the PNE grounds.There was nothing to do except drive home after the game.

Personally, I think a great location would be the old Best Buy site at the Central city mall. it is between two Skytrain stations and it would add lot buzz to the city nightlife after events, being in the DT core.

By the time an arena is actually built down there, the area will start to change. The plan for that area is for Transit Oriented Village development. A stadium would make a lot of sense down there as a catalyst for development around it, and very central to the region.

The Best Buy site is too small for a stadium, but would be a good location too though if it were bigger. Scott Rd Station benefits in being closer for people coming from north of the river.

[Ramsay]

Originally Posted by Sheba

There's nothing to do there *now* - that doesn't mean there will never be anything to do in the area. There have already been some development plans.

Originally Posted by Shift

By the time an arena is actually built down there, the area will start to change. The plan for that area is for Transit-Oriented Village development. A stadium would make a lot of sense down there as a catalyst for development around it, and very central to the region.

The Best Buy site is too small for a stadium but would be a good location too though if it were bigger. Scott Rd Station benefits in being closer for people coming from north of the river.

Both valid points...I'm just impatient and don't want to wait another 20+ years for things to materialize.