Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[esquire]

Originally Posted by thewave46

He does have a certain Harold Ballard-ness about him.

Except Melnyk's team doesn't have the die-hard loyalty to keep the cash rolling in while he runs the team into the ground. When the locals start taking out billboards calling the owner out, it's a bad sign. It's rare to see such an incompetent, chintzy owner these days. It's almost like he wants the team to fail.

Another arena in Kanata! That'll fix it! Of course the demographics are shifting towards there - nobody else in the damned city wants to drive to the other end of it to sit in a suburban arena parking lot pre-game.

Anyway, I don't know why he doesn't try and unload the team to someone who actually wants to do something with it. Hubris or something, I guess.

At the end of the day he has more than quadrupled his investment in less than 20 years and I suspect that's all he really cares about here. Kind of like Ballard in that regard.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by thewave46

Suburban arenas have been colossal failures in the NHL. I think only a handful remain and unsurprisingly are home to struggling teams attendance wise - Phoenix, Ottawa, Carolina and the New York Islanders.

It's nit-picking but the last two aren't exactly suburban, or at least that's not the reason for why attendance has been an issue.

For the Isles, Nassau is incredibly old, and limited by its old features. Barclays, of course, isn't really Long Island, so it's not surprising that the fanbase had trouble getting there and didn't react well to playing there. I'm sure the crowds at Belmont will be fine.

For the Canes...at least from what i've read, there isn't really a good central downtown area for Raleigh-Durham to place a team. As it stands today the arena is in a pretty central location for the entire region as a whole, and is located between a couple of significant nodes, namely near the growing IT hub. Moving the team more 'downtown' in Raleigh would be at the expense of those further west (IIRC).

The third team in the terrible-suburban-NHL-arenas game you're missing along with Arizona and Ottawa is Florida.

[J.OT13]

And I believe the Canes are doing better now attendance wise (pre-Covid) since they were purchased by a new owner who gives a damn.

[AuxTown]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

What an ass.

I've been to a Sens game in Ottawa, and the location of the arena in Kanata is a big problem. A downtown location would be infinitely better - and he wants to build a new arena next to the old one?? Why????

Honestly, if he tries to build in Kanata or Gatineau and there isn't a massive public outcry from hockey fans (and really anyone who might use our city's major event centre) then we get what we deserve. Other cities in Canada have amazing downtown arenas and we are stuck with a greedy owner who's only significant asset is the team itself. He doesn't want to move downtown because he can't afford it! Not without selling the team first. Oh well, back to golf season for us Sens fans.

[Chadillaccc]

New soccer stadium proposed for Prairie Lands Park in Saskatoon…



https://twitter.com/LivingSkySport1/stat...l-group-unveils-latest-stadium-rendering

[esquire]

^ Wow, that proposal has evolved quickly. Wasn't it just a couple of months ago it was being presented as a bit of a franken-stadium that incorporated some run down existing grandstand?

This is a much better iteration. We are a G7 country for pete's sake, a city the size of Saskatoon should have a decent and proper professional soccer stadium.

Although that said, Saskatoon is going to have quite the collection of rectangular stadiums once this gets built. Prairieland Park, Griffiths Stadium, the Gordie Howe Bowl (or whatever it's called these days). Makes you wonder what kind of venue Saskatoon could have if they pooled the resources for all three of those to build one top-notch facility...

[thurmas]

I don't understand the point of building a new arena in Kanata? their current arena is the same age as the Bell Centre in Montreal and still in excellent shape and has plenty of suites. Why not spend some money on helping Ottawa build rapid transit to Kanata as that is the main issue with the arena?

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Wow, that proposal has evolved quickly. Wasn't it just a couple of months ago it was being presented as a bit of a franken-stadium that incorporated some run down existing grandstand?

There's been a few different looks so far. Seems like a fractured process.

Originally Posted by thurmas

I don't understand the point of building a new arena in Kanata?

There's no point to it.

Originally Posted by thurmas

Why not spend some money on helping Ottawa build rapid transit to Kanata as that is the main issue with the arena?

Melnyk wouldn't spend money on a dying relative if pressed.

[EpicPonyTime]

The absolute balls of Prairieland to continue to use the Marquis Downs branding after killing the province's horse racing industry.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by thurmas

I don't understand the point of building a new arena in Kanata? their current arena is the same age as the Bell Centre in Montreal and still in excellent shape and has plenty of suites. Why not spend some money on helping Ottawa build rapid transit to Kanata as that is the main issue with the arena?

That's it. Problem is the location, not the arena. If he wants to stay in Kanata, he could invest in some normal lifecycle maintenance, some upgrades similar to MTL, TO and VAN. Maybe redevelop adjacent parking to mixed use.

A brand-new arena will not help in the slightest. Even expanding the O-Train to Kanata would mean an hour/hour and a half+ one way for many fans. LeBreton would cut that down to 35-40 minutes from the edges o f town.

[MalcolmTucker]

^ It would be a game - in Kanata, they can try to capture 100% of the land value uplift especially if LRT is coming (eventually). In LeBreton, they need to fight for even the land they'd be gifted, and might not be 'recognized' in their mind (with cold hard cash subsidy) for the 'vibrancy' they would bring to the neighbourhood.

[SteelTown]

Councillors back deal for downtown Hamilton entertainment venues
https://www.thespec.com/news/council/202...ntown-hamilton-entertainment-venues.html

City politicians have backed a deal with a private consortium to undertake a multimillion-dollar revamp of Hamilton’s downtown entertainment venues.

But details of the master agreement with the Hamilton Urban Precinct Entertainment Group (HUPEG) won’t be made public until final approval at council next week.

After a confidential staff update Wednesday, councillors voted unanimously in favour of the deal to refurbish FirstOntario Centre, FirstOntario Concert Hall and the Hamilton Convention Centre.

“It’s taken some time, so I’m elated that it’s reached this point,” Coun. Jason Farr, who represents downtown, said in an interview. “Obviously, we have aging assets and we’ve addressed it here.”

....

A roughly $50-million renovation was envisioned for the York Boulevard arena that would include a new exterior, transformed lower bowl, expanded concourse level, and a flexible curtaining system for the upper-bowl balcony. A microbrewery, suites and hospitality clubs are also part of the project.

[esquire]

I like the concept for Hamilton... renovating the frequently used lower bowl while keeping the extra capacity of the upper bowl makes good sense. FirstOntario Centre is a big and useful venue in a good location that Hamilton would be wise to hang on to since it's already there and there is no team owner agitating for a pricy newer building.

That said, the rendering does not look promising at all. I think it has the potential to end up costing a pile of money for exterior renovations with an end result that doesn't look any better than what there is now.

[ericmacm]

I am glad to see that this is moving along. I am also quietly hoping that they are refining the design, I agree that what is shown in the rendering has the potential to look awful. The white cladding material above the black section looks like it will just end up being corrugated aluminum panels.

[J.OT13]

$50 million seems like a very low-ball number. I doubt this will cost anything less than $100 million.

In any case, good project for the City of Hamilton.

[isaidso]

Is that the old Copps Colisseum?

[esquire]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Is that the old Copps Colisseum?

Yes.

[SteelTown]

Yes, that's Copps aka FirstOntario Centre.

Next week once council gives the final approval to the master agreement more information will be released and perhaps new renderings.

[steve61]

Am I the only one who prefers the existing exterior to the new renderings? I find the proposal to be borderline hideous.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by steve61

Am I the only one who prefers the existing exterior to the new renderings? I find the proposal to be borderline hideous.

I totally agree. Give me the decent original 1980s design instead of an ugly 2020s one. If that's going to be the end result, they'd be better off just slapping a new coat of paint on what's there and redirecting the savings to more interior work. This has the makings of an Edmonton library-style reno disaster.