Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[elly63]

Originally Posted by esquire

BMO is fine for MLS, CFL, CANMNT and whatever else. It's well suited to those kinds of mid-major uses. But it is kind of a weird option for a prominent international event like the World Cup.

It would be like if the Prime Minister came to your house to make an announcement with media in town, and you hosted him in the basement rumpus room with tattered old couch and posters on the wall instead of in the living room with the "good" furniture.

But I suppose Rogers won't share Skydome, so what other choice is there?

Funny analogy that made me laugh

[thewave46]

Can we shift the World Cup matches to a not embarrassing city, like Edmonton?

With love,
An Ontario taxpayer.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by thurmas

Old exhibition stadium looked better than this lego awning monstrosity tim hortons field looks better than this

For reference, Old Exhibition:





https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhibition_Stadium

And Tim Hortons:

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by thewave46

Can we shift the World Cup matches to a not embarrassing city, like Edmonton?

With love,
An Ontario taxpayer.

Haha lolz.

Only if you continue to beat western NHL teams and lose in the first round.

Good deal la

[elly63]

Originally Posted by thurmas

Old exhibition stadium looked better than this lego awning monstrosity tim hortons field looks better than this

Have to stop you there, after the "renovation" Exhibition Stadium, hands down is one of the worst. I was just watching some footage the other day and thought my God that is about the worst.



But I guess Toronto, wanted to regain the title of worst stadium so...

[thewave46]

Originally Posted by elly63

Have to stop you there, after the "renovation" Exhibition Stadium, hands down is one of the worst. I was just watching some footage the other day and thought my God that is about the worst.

But I guess Toronto, wanted to regain the title of worst stadium so...

There's kludges and then there's that.

Every time somebody whines about SkyDome, someone should just point to this picture.

Or the picture of it snowing on the ballfield in 1977.

[niwell]

It looks a bit janky, but I'll take the temporary expansion of BMO over a purpose-built money pit that serves little purpose moving forward. We don't really have much need for a dedicated space that large, and anywhere we would put it likely isn't an ideal location. As it currently stands BMO has one of the better vibes of the Canadian stadiums I've seen events at - part of that is the crowd that goes to TFC games but it's a decent space.

At the end of the day people aren't watching the World Cup to see what the stadiums look like. Unless it were to negatively effect the energy of the crowd I suppose. I certainly can't remember what most of them look like.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

For reference, Old Exhibition:

The old main grandstand at the Ex was obviously a product of its time and would be considered functionally outdated by today's standards, but it had a certain architectural gracefulness to go along with its imposing enormity. To that extent it was far better than BMO.

The 1976-built J-shaped grandstand that hugged home plate was simpler and more utilitarian... it was more in the spirit of BMO Field.

[thurmas]

To me old exhibition stadium was so bad it was cool in some ways was the ultimate in frankenstadium design

[elly63]

Just for some context:

Lots of neat replies to my post about your favorite memory of old Exhibition Stadium. Here's how it looked before being expanded for baseball, in 1975, when the Argos were the lone tenant (1959-74). Capacity was 33,135. (Notice the track - elly)

[Hawrylyshyn]

Originally Posted by niwell

It looks a bit janky, but I'll take the temporary expansion of BMO over a purpose-built money pit that serves little purpose moving forward. We don't really have much need for a dedicated space that large, and anywhere we would put it likely isn't an ideal location. As it currently stands BMO has one of the better vibes of the Canadian stadiums I've seen events at - part of that is the crowd that goes to TFC games but it's a decent space.

At the end of the day people aren't watching the World Cup to see what the stadiums look like. Unless it were to negatively effect the energy of the crowd I suppose. I certainly can't remember what most of them look like.

+1. As long as the soccer is good, the crowd is energetic, the beer is cold, and the surrounding WC festival is well put together, who cares what the stadium looks like.

[thurmas]

Originally Posted by elly63

Just for some context:

Lots of neat replies to my post about your favorite memory of old Exhibition Stadium. Here's how it looked before being expanded for baseball, in 1975. When the Argos were the lone tenant (1959-74). Capacity was 33,135. (Notice the track - elly)

Was much nicer in this format and would have been great as a Argos and soccer stadium had this been kept instead of moving to skydome in 1989

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by thurmas

To me old exhibition stadium was so bad it was cool in some ways was the ultimate in frankenstadium design

I thought TD Place was bad with its 1967 grand stands atop an arena and 2014 modern south side stands, but Exhibition takes the cake.


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-redblacks-atletico-67s-vaccine-1.6150093

I agree with esquire, the 1940s grand stands had a certain architectural flair. The later additions made the place seem very incohesive. Like it didn't know what it wanted to be. Kind of looked like they were adding parts to demolish others, only they didn't (until the whole place came down).

[esquire]

It's interesting how those east stands didn't last long at the Ex. The first big east stand didn't even last 20 years (I'm assuming it was built before 1959, but not by much?). The second one was not even 15 years old when it ceased being used on a regular basis, and it was demolished before it turned 25.

I always thought the 1976 east stand was surprisingly modest and bare bones for the purpose it was meant to serve. For baseball there were hardly any seats behind the plate... for football, many of the seats were pointed away from the field and lots of benches were used (which I suppose was fairly standard at the time). The entire thing was uncovered. It was a very awkward setup compared to the more conventional cookie cutter stadiums in the US with their movable stands that would adjust to whatever field was in use on a particular day.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by thurmas

Was much nicer in this format and would have been great as a Argos and soccer stadium had this been kept instead of moving to skydome in 1989

Exhibition Stadium was old news in 1989, nobody wanted anything to do with it after the glitzy and impressive Skydome opened.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by thurmas

Was much nicer in this format and would have been great as a Argos and soccer stadium had this been kept instead of moving to skydome in 1989

Agree, to a point, but I think we are forgetting the impetus to build SkyDome and that it was pretty valid for the time. And there was a very short time span where SkyDome was hailed as the "Eighth Wonder of the World" before it was Wally Pipped by Camden Yards. Had Camden Yards not come along so quickly, I think SkyDome would be looked upon more fondly.

[itom 987]

Toronto would be better off building a temporary 60,000 seat stadium entirely out of scaffolding.

[thurmas]

Originally Posted by esquire

Exhibition Stadium was old news in 1989, nobody wanted anything to do with it after the glitzy and impressive Skydome opened.

It was funny I remember in 1998 on the score the blue jays threatened to move back to exhibition stadium as they were not happy with their arrangement at skydome after just 9 years

[elly63]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I thought TD Place was bad with its 1967 grand stands atop an arena and 2014 modern south side stands, but Exhibition takes the cake.

I don't have much quarrel with TD Place after the reno and the next reno should be even more interesting whether the North side has a roof of some sort or not (looking like not, so far) Speaking of which, I was thinking about TD Place the other day, I wonder if there is any new news?

Present



Proposed New

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by elly63

I don't have much quarrel with TD Place after the reno and the next reno should be even more interesting whether the North side has a roof of some sort or not (looking like not, so far) Speaking of which, I was thinking about TD Place the other day, I wonder if there is any new news?

Decision on whether or not the City is moving forward with this plan should come in November. All depends on the results of the municipal election.

Sutcliffe was clear that he was in favour as a journalist a few weeks before he announced he would run for Mayor. McKenney has also been pretty clear about their position, being in favour but wanting more consultation about the overall project. Chiarelli just said he would put in on hold, along with any other big projects (except for road widenings, I'm sure).