Stadiums and Arenas of Canada part 2

[GernB]

Originally Posted by Acajack

The old Alouettes logo was brutal as well.

Ah, the 70s. The Canucks logo was weird as well. So was (is) the Leafs, which also dates from that era.

[GernB]

Originally Posted by osmo

Expanding on this. Skydome does not have great air control. They mentioned the idea of growing lights which is used in many indoor facilities in the world (a example is Singapore and the nation stadium that stays closed most days with growing lights for the grass) and they found that it would heat up inside so much it would get to be 45 degrees plus in there and be a nasty humid mess.

The drainage is the biggest reason. Not many ways for water to get out. They botched it not thinking of Skydome as a outdoor facility as a roof, it was built as a climate stable indoor facility with a roof that opens.

You can think of crazy engineering fixes if you willing to spend the money. In a dream world Skydive would get drainage put in, the roof panels replaced with a clear type material and you could grow grass.

How much is Rogers willing to pay? All that work might costs $600 million and above. If Rogers goes down the road I would not doubt if they blow up the hotel and build condos/flip that land section, to try and re-coup some of those costs.

Sadly the original Skydome concept of a grass field was changed early on in the design process. Projected costs of maintenance was the reason IIRC. I suppose the idea of a multipurpose facility was a factor as well.

[osmo]

I honestly believe that the Jays have exceeded Rogers expectations. I only think get cold feet towards money as they are so heavy in other sports properties. Massive hockey deal that isn't that hot, massive money dumps in MLSE, etc. ACC will need a renovation soon in 5 years as well which will not be cheap.

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by osmo

I honestly believe that the Jays have exceeded Rogers expectations. I only think get cold feet towards money as they are so heavy in other sports properties. Massive hockey deal that isn't that hot, massive money dumps in MLSE, etc. ACC will need a renovation soon in 5 years as well which will not be cheap.

They've dumped more money in the Jays than in MLSE (the Leafs have at least been a steady profit engine), they just get more "programming hours" out of the Jays. IIRC, this last year was the first year they haven't lost money on the Jays, mind it's a little murky since they can hide losses by upping payments from Sportsnet for media rights. The value of the team has constantly gone up, but that's largely because it belongs to an American league and all that that entails rather than anything directly attributable to the profitability of the Canadian market (which is not great in terms of the large American league standards). We go all in on hockey, and as you say, that deal isnt that hot... even though it's far less than the deals South of the borders in more popular American leagues.

If that is their M.O. that's fine... But, financially, I can't see how it would exceed expectations. I would hope from a corporate point of view, their standards of profitability would be a little higher than that (especially considering their results in the Canadian telco marketplace)...

In terms of a massive investment into the SkyDome, I think they'd have a hard time convincing shareholders that it's a great idea. It would likely require a large input from one of the Rogers heirs rather than the company directly. Mobile profits can only go so far.

[FrankieFlowerpot]

Originally Posted by osmo

How much is Rogers willing to pay? All that work might costs $600 million and above. If Rogers goes down the road I would not doubt if they blow up the hotel and build condos/flip that land section, to try and re-coup some of those costs.

Rogers don't own the hotel or the land. They only own the stadium structure.

The land is still owned by the Crown.

[Horus]

Originally Posted by FrankieFlowerpot

Rogers don't own the hotel or the land. They only own the stadium structure.

.

But the hotel is integrated into the stadium structure. Clearly, Rogers does not operate the hotel (Marriott Renaissance does), but it's hard to think that they don't actually own the building.

Regardless...

In trying to find out about that, I came across this.

There had been a proposal to build a domed stadium in Mississauga, once upon a time. Behold the Trillium Dome!!






Story Here
The Dome Stadium That Was Going to Be Built in Mississauga

Development and population growth in the Greater Toronto Area during the 1950s and 1960s convinced many that the area required a large stadium to host sporting events and concerts. Starting in the late 1950s various proposals were put forward to build such a stadium somewhere in Metropolitan Toronto, including one jutting out into lake Ontario (1959), one in the Don Valley (1965), and one at the Downsview Airport (1971). None of these received government support, and were never built.

The demand for a stadium did not lessen, so in 1983 Ontario Premier Bill Davis decided to open a competition to design a stadium to be built somewhere in the Greater Toronto Area. Thirteen bids were presented, including submissions from Exhibition Place, Woodbine Racetrack, York University, Richmond Hill, Woodbridge, Downsview, and the City of Mississauga.

Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion appointed developer Harold Shipp to head Mississauga’s bid. He chose a site at Hurontario and Highway 410. Unlike the other submissions, Shipp's dome required no public funds because a ring of commercial and residential development around the dome would fund the entire project.

Mississauga firm DAF Indal designed a retractable roof, dubbed, "Star Dome." The site would include hotels, condos, office towers, a convention centre, restaurants, theatres, and recreation facilities for residents. The property would also include parking for 18,000, a Light Rail Transit (LRT) line that would stop under the stadium, and a bus repair and storage facility. The Trillium Dome bid was ultimately rejected in favor of Downsview, with that project eventually relocating to its current location next to the CN Tower in downtown Toronto. Opened as the SkyDome in 1989, it is now known as the Rogers Centre.

[esquire]

^ I remember reading about that in this forum, long ago... the stadium basically looks like the Big O minus the upper decks. I don't think it would have aged well... had it been built around the same time as Skydome, I'm sure it would be slated for demolition and replacement by now.

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ I remember reading about that in this forum, long ago... the stadium basically looks like the Big O minus the upper decks. I don't think it would have aged well... had it been built around the same time as Skydome, I'm sure it would be slated for demolition and replacement by now.

I think it would've looked dated at the time of it being built - as the Big O looked dated at that time. It's a good thing this never got built - because even though it looks smaller than the Big O, it looks just as cold.

[esquire]

Haha, funny thing is I was about to point out how the photo above reminded me of Japanese baseball stadiums where they really seemed to like the single-grandstand design.

Turns out that the photo above is not a rendering, but rather a picture of the actual Seibu Dome in Japan...



Source: NY Times

[FrankieFlowerpot]

The Raptors opened their new practice facility yesterday - it's not much to look at from the inside but the inside looks great

http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2016/02/biosteel-centre-officially-opens-ahead-nba-all-star-weekend

And the ACC got a new floor for the All-Star Game

[elly63]

The Trillium Dome
What The SkyDome Could Have Looked Like

[Horus]

Originally Posted by elly63

The Trillium Dome
What The SkyDome Could Have Looked Like

Thanks Elly! I guess I missed those discussions back then.

[elly63]

There's lots of good stuff on Part One of this thread. I knew I posted stuff about the Trillium Dome but when I searched I couldn't find it. Then I remembered this thread has a Part One Stadiums and Arenas of Canada

[esquire]

Originally Posted by elly63

There's lots of good stuff on Part One of this thread. I knew I posted stuff about the Trillium Dome but when I searched I couldn't find it. Then I remembered this thread has a Part One Stadiums and Arenas of Canada

Some blasts from the past in there.

Ah, to think that this could have been THF...

[FrankieFlowerpot]

https://twitter.com/sbrooksbaseball/status/697869657781317633?lang=en

[king10]

Originally Posted by esquire

Some blasts from the past in there.

Ah, to think that this could have been THF...

that was never going to be THF.

the developer never had track records of building stadiums. let alone retractable roof stadiums. that thing would have cost 4 times the amount of THF. No way the funding would have happened. Hamilton barely scrounged up enough money to pay for the 1/3 cost of $150 million THF

[elly63]

^Amen, before the revisonists start.

[Oilkountry]

What could have been commonwealth and rexall (although an arena would have been built by now) I'm 100% sure the eskimo's would still be playing here ...which you know??? might not have been the worst... funny thing is It would sit right by Rogers place today (CN tower in the backround) Actually I'm pretty sure the remand centre sits on the land that it was supposed to be built on.

[osmo]

Originally Posted by FrankieFlowerpot

The Raptors opened their new practice facility yesterday - it's not much to look at from the inside but the inside looks great

http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2016/02/biosteel-centre-officially-opens-ahead-nba-all-star-weekend

And the ACC got a new floor for the All-Star Game

Underwhelmed with the All Star court. I wish they would of used some different toned woods like they do in Minneapolis for the Wolves.

Maybe my expectations were to high... I envisioned them doing the whole skyline in the two-toned wood with the CN Tower/logo in the centre.

Practice court though, is a big deal. Raptors are finally a matured franchise now. Most teams practice in suburban wastelands, Raptors practice right beside downtown and a 10 min drive from the Arena. Kevin Durrant will like it a lot!

[Black Star]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

What could have been commonwealth and rexall (although an arena would have been built by now) I'm 100% sure the eskimo's would still be playing here ...which you know??? might not have been the worst... funny thing is It would sit right by Rogers place today (CN tower in the backround) Actually I'm pretty sure the remand centre sits on the land that it was supposed to be built on.

It does look cool. It looks as if it would have been on the land where the COE, hotel and plaza are being built now.