Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[cjones2451]

Originally Posted by thurmas

Looking back had CFL clubs renovated and maintained more often their stadiums they had back in the day the league would have been more sound and stable. The Lions would have been better with a renovated Empire stadium at 30 to 35,000 seats outdoors. A renovated Exhibition stadium would have prevented the Argos from being second fiddle at Skydome and given them more say in scheduling of dates ect… and staying at Autostade or Molson would likely have prevented the Alouettes from folding in the 1980's.

I have heard that argument before, but the Empire Location was not on a Skytrain Line, and as soon as we have 2-3 games in the pissing rain, there would be whining that we don't have a dome.
If you look at the Lions seating chart next year, they are turning the one end zone into a "party deck" type scenario, and there is also dedicated student section.
Bottom line is they need to win, have games on weekends (not Thursday or Friday nights) and lower ticket prices along the sidelines. $75-$100 is too much for the 20-30 yd line

[JMSRead]

Originally Posted by jonny24

I'm not going to share it. It's not a done deal, but the proposal I saw was to knock it down, rebuild it with a focus on tying into Maple Leaf Square, anchoring the other end of a "outdoor fan experience" along Bremner, and building a new residential development to the north with a skypark over the GO corridor. The residential aspect is what drives the profitability of it all.

For whatever it's worth, a friend of mine told me he heard from someone in the know that Rogers is looking at building a new baseball stadium directly south of the Rogers Centre. I dismissed it, because to the best of my knowledge not a single media member has hinted that is a possibility. But interesting to see pretty much the same suggestion floated in here.

@johnny24 - can you give any more details? Is it a complete demolition of the Rogers Centre?

[osmo]

Originally Posted by JMSRead

For whatever it's worth, a friend of mine told me he heard from someone in the know that Rogers is looking at building a new baseball stadium directly south of the Rogers Centre. I dismissed it, because to the best of my knowledge not a single media member has hinted that is a possibility. But interesting to see pretty much the same suggestion floated in here.

@johnny24 - can you give any more details? Is it a complete demolition of the Rogers Centre?

Now this isn't odd for a quote one bit....


I don't and won't buy the idea Rogers is going to dump almost one billion to build a ballpark when it got Skydome for peanuts. It doesn't even own the land, what ROI does it get for dumping an underutilized asset in Rogers Centre. It's a concrete hole but with some decent money that wouldn't total new construction costs you can have a great revamped facility.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by JMSRead

For whatever it's worth, a friend of mine told me he heard from someone in the know that Rogers is looking at building a new baseball stadium directly south of the Rogers Centre.

On stilts over top the Gardiner? lol

[ericmacm]

The Windsor Express have proposed a new redevelopment of Windsor Arena.

This is a major new proposal for a mixed-use arena in downtown Windsor, ON that has been sitting abandoned since 2013. Windsor Arena, commonly referred to as "The Barn" used to be the home of the OHL Windsor Spitfires until they moved to the WFCU Centre in 2008, and was used by the Windsor Lancers hockey team from 2008 to 2013. The Windsor Express have been playing out of WFCU since 2012, but they are wanting to seek a more downtown and urban venue. They intend to include retail and restaurant space to help revitalize the area. These lands also include an abandoned indoor water park next door that they will likely work with YMCA on to turn into a new branch.

This is honestly huge for Windsor. That section of downtown is entirely dead and needs some serious changes. Having a sports venue downtown again is going to help with ongoing efforts to revitalize Windsor's stagnant and decaying downtown. The Windsor Express have been working on this for 3 years, and intends to be playing here for the 2021-2022 season.

[Djeffery]

That looks like a great plan and that area of the city could use the boost. The Express have never drawn well at WFCU considering they are a multiple league champion. My only concern is the health of the league itself.

[EpicPonyTime]

Originally Posted by christopherj

One end zone for kids, the other end zone with discounted tickets for University students (especially in a city like Halifax that has a large number of University students). Same concept - get them in and build them as a fan.

Teams seem to think that party zones are the same as university sections. They aren't. University kids don't care about being able to stand in the endzone and move around, they care about the price of the ticket. Give them a healthy student discount, don't price beer like you're the Leafs, and students will come to the games. Giving them the opportunity on top of that to move around in a party zone is just gravy.

Originally Posted by Djeffery

That looks like a great plan and that area of the city could use the boost. The Express have never drawn well at WFCU considering they are a multiple league champion. My only concern is the health of the league itself.

I wonder if there is any chance Windsor could lateral into the CEBL if the NBL threatens to go under?

[ericmacm]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

That looks like a great plan and that area of the city could use the boost. The Express have never drawn well at WFCU considering they are a multiple league champion. My only concern is the health of the league itself.

Yeah, I was honestly surprised that the team was actually proposing this themselves. They say that it's financially doable, and they're probably going to get a decent grant from the Windsor downtown CIP for this.

NBL Canada doesn't seem like the healthiest of leagues, but now that all of Canada has basketball fever after the Raptors, it's probably looking better than it has in years.

[Dalreg]

Originally Posted by ericmacm

Yeah, I was honestly surprised that the team was actually proposing this themselves. They say that it's financially doable, and they're probably going to get a decent grant from the Windsor downtown CIP for this.

NBL Canada doesn't seem like the healthiest of leagues, but now that all of Canada has basketball fever after the Raptors, it's probably looking better than it has in years.

All of Canada has Raptor fever? Maybe some of Canada, at best....

Not even all of Ontario or even Toronto has Raptor fever....

[megadude]

Question. Where would the offices be for the Schooners? Where are the offices for the CFL teams? Are there any that aren't at the stadium?

I'm wondering because in many college stadiums, outside the big programs, they have offices at one end of the stadium which nicely encloses and creates the bowl effect. Even Oklahoma State's stadium has this.

Would the Schooners be actually leasing space nearby? Just wondering if it would ever make sense to build the offices as part of the stadium.


Another option is if they were to have a fieldhouse for practice, could they actually put that perpendicular to the endzone fairly close by?

Bowling Green, OH - 23.7k

https://www.collegegridirons.com/sta...perry-stadium/

[ericmacm]

Originally Posted by Dalreg

All of Canada has Raptor fever? Maybe some of Canada, at best....

Not even all of Ontario or even Toronto has Raptor fever....

I'm just saying that the Raptors win is going to do a lot for basketball in this country, just like the Blue Jays playoff runs back in 2015/2016 did for baseball.

We had a pretty lit Jurassic Park down here in Windsor. It's honestly the most packed I've ever seen any public space get down here (other than July fireworks on the Detroit River), and a lot of people were really excited for it. I'm sure many other places across Canada had a similar experience.

[EpicPonyTime]

Originally Posted by megadude

Question. Where would the offices be for the Schooners? Where are the offices for the CFL teams? Are there any that aren't at the stadium?

I'm wondering because in many college stadiums, outside the big programs, they have offices at one end of the stadium which nicely encloses and creates the bowl effect. Even Oklahoma State's stadium has this.

Would the Schooners be actually leasing space nearby? Just wondering if it would ever make sense to build the offices as part of the stadium.


Another option is if they were to have a fieldhouse for practice, could they actually put that perpendicular to the endzone fairly close by?

Bowling Green, OH - 23.7k

https://www.collegegridirons.com/sta...perry-stadium/

Depends on the team. A majority of teams have their offices in their stadiums (Eskimos, Bombers, Stamps, Riders, Redblacks), the Argos have theirs near BMO Field, while others have their offices in other locations (Als have theirs in downtown, Lions are in Surrey, Ti-Cats are in buttfuck nowhere). It really just depends on the facilities available in the stadium itself. I think the Stamps and Eskimos have a set-up similar to what you are describing, with their offices at one end of the stadium.

AFAIK where the Schooners' head office or training facilities will be located hasn't been discussed. The renders definitely suggest they would be located elsewhere; I'm unfamiliar with the alternative sites, so I don't know if they could build a head office near any of them. I imagine they'd rent an office downtown.

[megadude]

Acajack pointed out that in that old ass pic of Calgary that at least the endzone had a berm. And ya, McMahon still has it. I definitely favour that as opposed to nothing. The biggest stadium I can think of with one is Faurot Field at Mizzou, capacity 71k.

No idea how much it would cost to add that. Perhaps paint HALIFAX across.

[megadude]

Just thought of my high school in Brampton. Played soccer on this field and as you can see, on the north side there's a hill, which looks like a berm. I see they did some excavation judging by the marks and the field being longer now with much more space behind the goal. Of course field is new with field turf and not the patchy grass I played on. And it's a proper track and not asphalt.

On the west side is trees and bushes. It actually slopes down there towards the Etobicoke Creek. Lost many balls down there. A gold mine for any kid willing to go bushwhacking.

Those two features create a mini bowl effect and I recall even back then 20 years ago how much I liked our field compared to others because we had a better setting even if we only had two tiny grandstands that never had more than 20 people in them!

[EpicPonyTime]

Originally Posted by megadude

Acajack pointed out that in that old ass pic of Calgary that at least the endzone had a berm. And ya, McMahon still has it. I definitely favour that as opposed to nothing. The biggest stadium I can think of with one is Faurot Field at Mizzou, capacity 71k.

No idea how much it would cost to add that. Perhaps paint HALIFAX across.

Do the Redblacks allow people to sit on their beam for games?

I'm not sold on creating a beam out of nothing. I think the Ti-Cats' model of having a large plaza at one end of their field would be preferable, but it depends on the location.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by EpicPonyTime

Depends on the team. A majority of teams have their offices in their stadiums (Eskimos, Bombers, Stamps, Riders, Redblacks), the Argos have theirs near BMO Field, while others have their offices in other locations (Als have theirs in downtown, Lions are in Surrey, Ti-Cats are in buttfuck nowhere). It really just depends on the facilities available in the stadium itself. I think the Stamps and Eskimos have a set-up similar to what you are describing, with their offices at one end of the stadium.

AFAIK where the Schooners' head office or training facilities will be located hasn't been discussed. The renders definitely suggest they would be located elsewhere; I'm unfamiliar with the alternative sites, so I don't know if they could build a head office near any of them. I imagine they'd rent an office downtown.

The Alouettes have their offices at the Big O. They also train at the Big O.

[Djeffery]

Isn't the berm at McMahon as a result of the playing field being built well below grade level around it? The exits a third or so of the way up the stands appear to be ground level from looking at it online. Even the old pictures upthread appear to show this.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by EpicPonyTime

Do the Redblacks allow people to sit on their beam for games?

.

Pretty sure I have seen people sitting there during summer games. Not sure what the procedure is for getting access to it - if there is anything formal. It's definitely within the ticketed zone of the stadium so these people presumably have paid seats somewhere else.

This is actually quite common at Lansdowne - especially on the south side. There are lots of open areas from which you can watch the game so there are usually lots of people standing to watch. Even when the stadium is sold out there are patchy empty seats visible - on the south side mostly, as I said.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by megadude

Acajack pointed out that in that old ass pic of Calgary that at least the endzone had a berm. And ya, McMahon still has it. I definitely favour that as opposed to nothing. The biggest stadium I can think of with one is Faurot Field at Mizzou, capacity 71k.

No idea how much it would cost to add that. Perhaps paint HALIFAX across.

McMahon also has a building at one end that has a sign the says OLYMPIC VOLUNTEER CENTRE or something.

[jonny24]

Originally Posted by EpicPonyTime

Depends on the team. A majority of teams have their offices in their stadiums (Eskimos, Bombers, Stamps, Riders, Redblacks), the Argos have theirs near BMO Field, while others have their offices in other locations (Als have theirs in downtown, Lions are in Surrey, Ti-Cats are in buttfuck nowhere). It really just depends on the facilities available in the stadium itself. I think the Stamps and Eskimos have a set-up similar to what you are describing, with their offices at one end of the stadium.

AFAIK where the Schooners' head office or training facilities will be located hasn't been discussed. The renders definitely suggest they would be located elsewhere; I'm unfamiliar with the alternative sites, so I don't know if they could build a head office near any of them. I imagine they'd rent an office downtown.

I think Ticats football ops are inside THF, corporate/ticketing are down by the waterfront behind a Port Authority gate.