Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[Airboy]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Now that's different!

I remember last year they did some US stadiums.

[Djeffery]

I hope their estimates on stopping distance are correct lol.

[ScreamingViking]

She looks so good draped in white! Very neat.

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Neat.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/can...WnyPLiMQ%3D%3D

[Coldrsx]

The Iceteca!

[elly63]

That's a great shot of Commonwealth, I don't think I've ever seen that angle.

[Coldrsx]

Time to demolish Northlands Coliseum?

https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/digging-...-35m-1.6183733

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Time to demolish Northlands Coliseum?

https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/digging-...-35m-1.6183733

Would have been cool to see some sort of community use for it. City should have slapped a "for sale" sign a few years ago to gauge interest, or have a competition that included the sale of the place. Better than sitting around and brainstorming ideas for 5 years with no return.

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Would have been cool to see some sort of community use for it. City should have slapped a "for sale" sign a few years ago to gauge interest, or have a competition that included the sale of the place. Better than sitting around and brainstorming ideas for 5 years with no return.

Simultaneously the city wasn’t willing to subsidize any project nor willing to accept that the buildings was not useful.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker

Simultaneously the city wasn’t willing to subsidize any project nor willing to accept that the buildings was not useful.

It will be interesting to see what happens to the Corel Centre in Kanata, considering the team owns it. No doubt we'll see a much quicker resolution than we have with City owned former NHL arenas.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Would have been cool to see some sort of community use for it. City should have slapped a "for sale" sign a few years ago to gauge interest, or have a competition that included the sale of the place. Better than sitting around and brainstorming ideas for 5 years with no return.

I guess the City of Edmonton kneecapped itself when it gave in to Katz's demands to not allow the Coliseum to be used as a competing facility. Yet another way that it got fleeced in the Rogers Place deal.

Edmonton is arguably big enough, and the Coliseum still modern enough of a building that it could have been useful for another 20+ years as a secondary venue. But alas. Not sure what else can really be done with it unless an absolute fortune is spent repurposing the place.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by esquire

I guess the City of Edmonton kneecapped itself when it gave in to Katz's demands to not allow the Coliseum to be used as a competing facility. Yet another way that it got fleeced in the Rogers Place deal.

Edmonton is arguably big enough, and the Coliseum still modern enough of a building that it could have been useful for another 20+ years as a secondary venue. But alas. Not sure what else can really be done with it unless an absolute fortune is spent repurposing the place.

I can somewhat understand not wanting to compete with a similar sized arena, but they could have cut-down Northlands to 10k seats for now. That would have added a much needed mid-sized venue for Edmonton that would not be in direct competition with Katz. This could have been maintained in the interim until they figured out a permanent use for the building.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I can somewhat understand not wanting to compete with a similar sized arena, but they could have cut-down Northlands to 10k seats for now. That would have added a much needed mid-sized venue for Edmonton that would not be in direct competition with Katz. This could have been maintained in the interim until they figured out a permanent use for the building.

It's not like they needed some elaborate reconstruction or anything. Just tarp most of the upper bowl and that would have done the job.

Winnipeg went through a similar thing with True North, part of the deal was agreeing to demolish the old Winnipeg Arena. But by 2004 that building was very old and very out of date (it hadn't been a NHL arena for nearly a decade and it was not kept up to modern specs in any meaningful way). And Winnipeg was too small for two 15,000 seat buildings.

But Edmonton's situation was a bit different, the Coliseum was a NHL arena right up until the Oilers moved out so it was still in decent shape, it could have carried on without any need for massively expensive improvements. There could have been decent value realized from having a secondary venue in the city.

[WhipperSnapper]

A for sale sign?

Still this idea an aging arena without a major league tenant has any resale value. I think most cities settle with NHL teams on non competing facilities as they realize it's not in best interests, financially, to have two operating NHL sized facilities. Also, a facility of an ice surface surrounded by seating would cost more to renovate into a community centre than a ground up facility. It would be a complete waste as an as is community rink

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

A for sale sign?

Still this idea an aging arena without a major league tenant has any resale value. I think most cities settle with NHL teams on non competing facilities as they realize it's not in best interests, financially, to have two operating NHL sized facilities. Also, a facility of an ice surface surrounded by seating would cost more to renovate into a community centre than a ground up facility. It would be a complete waste as an as is community rink

Two NHL sized arenas within a few kilometers, sure, it's not in the best interest of anyone. But a two different sized arenas (10k and 21k), that could be beneficial overall.

I'm sure there are a lot of potential uses for Northlands if we gave the private sector the chance to come up with ideas. Le Forum in Montreal and Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto were both repurposed. Can't think of any other examples, but no doubt there are others. Or maybe a company in the private sector would have bought the place just to demolish it and redevelop. That's fine too. At least the City would not have been on the hook to maintain an empty building just to demolish it years later.

[elly63]

For a small city Moncton still has two large arenas.

[thewave46]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Would have been cool to see some sort of community use for it. City should have slapped a "for sale" sign a few years ago to gauge interest, or have a competition that included the sale of the place. Better than sitting around and brainstorming ideas for 5 years with no return.

The problem with large-scale infrastructure is that it's not generally useful once its raison d'etre is gone.

It's either so expensive to convert as to be a non-starter, or gets used as a secondary venue. I'm trying to think of ones that have survived, and Pacific Coliseum is the only one.

[esquire]

^ The idea wouldn't be to maintain the Coliseum for the long haul but rather to use up the remaining life that it has, rather than just tearing it down. To my knowledge, all the major components of the Coliseum were in operating condition (sound, ice plant, lighting, mechanical, etc.). I have a hard time imagining that the Coliseum couldn't have operated on a break even basis providing an important community asset for at least a decade. After 10, 15, 20 years major upgrades would be necessary at which point demolition makes more sense.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by thewave46

The problem with large-scale infrastructure is that it's not generally useful once its raison d'etre is gone.

It's either so expensive to convert as to be a non-starter, or gets used as a secondary venue. I'm trying to think of ones that have survived, and Pacific Coliseum is the only one.

I remember back when the Detroit Pistons announced that they were going to move into Little Caesars arena and the question was asked about what to do with the Palace, and the owner said "We have no intention to demolish it, it will be kept and treated with the respect it deserves". It was demolished within 3 years.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

It will be interesting to see what happens to the Corel Centre in Kanata, considering the team owns it. No doubt we'll see a much quicker resolution than we have with City owned former NHL arenas.

I heard mention on the Bob McCown Podcast last week that the CTC site could potentially fetch $300-400million in land value. I'm not local so I don't know if there is a huge demand for development out that way or not, but if that price is close, that will certainly soften the blow of what it will cost to buy the Sens.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

I heard mention on the Bob McCown Podcast last week that the CTC site could potentially fetch $300-400million in land value. I'm not local so I don't know if there is a huge demand for development out that way or not, but if that price is close, that will certainly soften the blow of what it will cost to buy the Sens.

I could see that. Acres upon acres of parking lots. Kanata is a high-tech hub, both offices and R&D. The site is also on the planned Stage 3 O-Train expansion route.