Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I think those were the first Olympics I kind of paid attention to. I was 6. Man, that was a pretty basic stadium. Reminiscent of any NFL stadium of the time. Instead of building the Georgia Dome and this, they could have just built this and moved the Falcons after the Olympics.

Originally Posted by J.OT13

They built two $200+ million stadiums within 5 years. They should have found a way to retrofit after the Olympics to shoe-horn some NFL football in there after the Olympics.

The Atlanta Olympic Stadium was what opened the following year as Turner Field after the temporary bowl beyond the outfield wall was demolished. It was designed as an MLB ballpark and not suitable at all for NFL. Keep in mind the Georgia Dome was already open for the Falcons (and was in fact planned and under construction well before Atlanta was awarded the 96 Games). It had about 50,000 seats for baseball and after renovation for Georgia State after the Braves moved out, it only seats about 24,000. They could open the upper level and go above 30k but they never have (even when the Panthers played in the Georgia Dome, their capacity was set to about 24k there as well).

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

The Atlanta Olympic Stadium was what opened the following year as Turner Field after the temporary bowl beyond the outfield wall was demolished. It was designed as an MLB ballpark and not suitable at all for NFL. Keep in mind the Georgia Dome was already open for the Falcons (and was in fact planned and under construction well before Atlanta was awarded the 96 Games). It had about 50,000 seats for baseball and after renovation for Georgia State after the Braves moved out, it only seats about 24,000. They could open the upper level and go above 30k but they never have (even when the Panthers played in the Georgia Dome, their capacity was set to about 24k there as well).

Oh. So they did have a conversion plan, but for MLB. I didn't realize Centennial Olympic Stadium and Turner Field were the same building.

I take back what I said then. Good on them for having a post-Olympic plan.

Interesting that the previous ballpark was right next door. It's a parking lot now, but they kept the shape and the ghost of the baseball diamond.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ce...878064!5m1!1e2

Disappointed to see the new stadium, Truist Park, 20 km outside of downtown. At least they built a mixed-use community (Battery Atlanta) around it with parking structures instead of acres of surface parking.

https://www.google.com/maps/search/A...m1!1e3!5m1!1e2

Some interesting history all around.

[esquire]

^ Atlanta's Olympic Stadium was possibly the world's first and only purpose-built hybrid of a large-scale baseball and track and field stadium. It didn't have the typical elegant curves and symmetry you normally associate with big Olympic Stadiums:

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by Airboy

Here is the progress of Edmonton's new Velodrome.

Another couple of years to go before some rubber on wood. This should make for a good circuit across Canada.

[IMG]PXL_20230124_174404839 by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos//url], on Flickr[/IMG]

https://cyclingmagazine.ca/sections/...breaks-ground/

She is going to be gorgeous!


https://dubarchitects.ca/coronation-...reation-centre

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Atlanta's Olympic Stadium was possibly the world's first and only purpose-built hybrid of a large-scale baseball and track and field stadium. It didn't have the typical elegant curves and symmetry you normally associate with big Olympic Stadiums:

It's amazing how basic it looks. It doesn't have an iconic design like nearly every other new build Olympic Stadium. But hey, did the job then and for nearly 20 years after.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

She is going to be gorgeous!


https://dubarchitects.ca/coronation-...reation-centre

Looks good. Where will this be in the city?

[Coldrsx]

^Coronation Park ie. about 10mins NW of Downtown at 111ave/138st next to Westmount Mall (transit centre) and a high school.

[esquire]

Does the Argyll Velodrome still exist or does the new one replace it?

[Coldrsx]

This will replace it... but the original plan was to address that facility, alas.

[Airboy]

Originally Posted by esquire

Does the Argyll Velodrome still exist or does the new one replace it?

I haven't talked with the club guys recently but the plan was to move to the Coronation site. Argyll will need some extensive work soon. Plus its a concrete track.

The athletic park, football and soccer fields and the arena currently on the site are going to be redeveloped as well. The arena is being removed and new racket courts are being installed. The track will be adjusted. It looks like the new access road cuts off the south end of the track.( back in the late 70s I ran high school track on it). Its a 400 yard cinder track.

There is going to be a tunnel from the velodrome to the Hemingway pool which is currently undergoing a major upgrade as well.

The club house at Argyll is quite the history of Edmonton Cycling. Lots of jerseys from the past. Tour de France, Olympic, Pan Am and world championships jerseys hang in there.

[Airboy]

Another local Cycling Venue gets an Upgrade this year as well. ST Alberts BMX Track gets an upgrade to a Super Cross track.

https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/it-s-rea...lity-1.6240560

And the MTB skills park is moving ahead in the River Valley.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Airboy

I haven't talked with the club guys recently but the plan was to move to the Coronation site. Argyll will need some extensive work soon. Plus its a concrete track.

It makes sense... might as well move into a new all season venue instead of trying to carry two venues, especially when Argyll is probably getting old and in need of serious upgrades.

[WhipperSnapper]

Venodomes are exceedingly rare. Most cities have none.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Venodomes are exceedingly rare. Most cities have none.

Yeah, Winnipeg built one for the 1967 Pan Am Games but I think that within 20 years it was all but out of service for cycling. Its main function was as a stadium for amateur football, but even that more or less stopped once old Winnipeg Stadium installed artificial turf in 1987.

Montreal had by far the most spectacular velodrome ever built in Canada at Olympic Park, but it barely lasted a decade... for the last 30+ years it has been home to the Biodome.

[Airboy]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Venodomes are exceedingly rare. Most cities have none.

There are 8 in Canada Cycling Canada literature.

Argyll Velodrome Edmonton, Alberta 333.33m Concrete Outdoor track. Built for the 1978 Commonwealth Games
Bromont Velodrome Bromont, Quebec 250 m 42˚ Wood Outdoor track. Built for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, and moved to Bromont in 2000.
Burnaby Velodrome Burnaby, British Columbia (near Vancouver) 200m 47˚ Wood Indoor track, built mid-1990s
Vélodrome Caisse Populaire de Dieppe Dieppe, New Brunswick
Forest City Velodrome London, Ontario 138m 50˚ Wood Indoor track, world's shortest permanent velodrome, built 2005 inside former hockey arena
Glenmore Velodrome Calgary, Alberta 400m 39˚ Concrete Outdoor track.
Westshore Velodrome (Formerly Juan de Fuca Velodrome) Colwood, Victoria, British Columbia 333m 28˚ Concrete Built for the 1994 Commonwealth Games
Wind-Del Velodrome Windham Centre, Ontario Asphalt track rarely used. No funds to Demo.
Mattamy Cycling Centre Milton Ont. National Cycling Centre World Cup Venue.

[MonctonRad]

The velodrome in greater Moncton (Dieppe) lasted for about 20 years, but was closed in 2018 due to senescence and costly maintenance requirements and was subsequently demolished.

It apparently held the national championships on four occasions. I remember the first time I saw it in St. Anselme Park and being very impressed that we had such a facility in southeastern NB.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-b...osed-1.4673379

I would think that any velodrome in Canada should be an indoor facility given our dreadful climate in this country.

[Harrison]

Originally Posted by Airboy

There are 8 in Canada Cycling Canada literature.
Mattamy Cycling Centre Milton Ont. National Cycling Centre World Cup Venue.

That Mattamy centre could not be in a more 'Milton-esque' location:





It is literally in the middle of farmers' fields.

[Airboy]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Venodomes are exceedingly rare. Most cities have none.

They are a specialized form of cycling. I will be trying it this summer. Have friends that ride as part of their training.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by Harrison

That Mattamy centre could not be in a more 'Milton-esque' location:



It is literally in the middle of farmers' fields.

Won't be long until it's in the middle of a subdivision or big box development lol

[JHikka]

The Milton Velodrome is probably the most frustrating sports venue i've ever been to. It's a great facility that is truly in the middle of nowhere. It should be in 'downtown' Milton.

On a sidenote, I was recently doing some reading and found that there really aren't all that many 400m indoor speed skating ovals in the world - only 42 to be exact. Eight in Holland, seven in China (including three built in just the past seven years), five in Russia. Canada only has three: Calgary (1987), Fort St. John (2009), and Quebec (2021), and the US only has two: Milwaukee (1993) and Kearns UT (2000). Canada and Russia are the only countries to ever decommission a venue, which Canada did with the Richmond Oval after the Vancouver Olympics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._skating_rinks