Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[esquire]

^ I admire the typically Edmonton can-do spirit of the times, but I have a hard time believing that would have worked out in the long run. Edmonton was better off with the Commonwealth/Northlands pair.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by thewave46

Outstanding world-class stadiums at the time of their construction in this country? Skydome. Olympic Stadium. BC Place.

I'm not sure about including Olympic Stadium and BC Place. The Big O certainly had the pedigree and panache but were the contents and guts of the facility, the greatest. IDK. As for BC Place, I think its gravitas has grown since its original construction. Back when it was built I don't see it as being any better than the various domes that were sprouting up all over the US, the roof and refurb have helped immensely. I have previously posted Merlin Olsen's thoughts about Commonwealth as compared to the NFL stadiums that he had seen, he was definitely a fan.

[J.OT13]

We could have an entire thread about what it means to be "World Class" and what actually qualifies. In Ottawa, I don't think we have anything that can be considered "World Class" except for maybe the sustainability aspects of Zibi. And now I'm getting off topic.

But certainly our sports facilities do not come anywhere near "World Class". An arena surrounded by parking 25 kilometers from downtown, another half century+ old arena with terrible sightlines, a Frankenstein football stadium and the pretty nice despite all the value engineering Slush Puppie.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ I admire the typically Edmonton can-do spirit of the times, but I have a hard time believing that would have worked out in the long run.

That kind of thing seldom works, one sport or another has to suffer. Interesting what/if though and cool they wanted to be forward looking (a trait we often lack in this country) That's one reason I was such a big fan of Regina. Best Premier announcement EVER

• Video Link

[elly63]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

We could have an entire thread about what it means to be "World Class" and what actually qualifies. In Ottawa, I don't think we have anything that can be considered "World Class" except for maybe the sustainability aspects of Zibi. And now I'm getting off topic.

But certainly our sports facilities do not come anywhere near "World Class". An arena surrounded by parking 25 kilometers from downtown, another half century+ old arena with terrible sightlines, a Frankenstein football stadium and the pretty nice despite all the value engineering Slush Puppie.

I think TD Place is a neat, quirky little stadium, may not be the greatest in the world but certainly no embarrassment. As another poster said it was the best they could do at the time and certainly better than no stadium at all. Had it not existed Ottawa wouldn't have seen games for the Women's World Cup of soccer or the "2nd and 25" touchdown.

• Video Link

[esquire]

^ I forgot about that play... hopefully Ellingson can relive that moment with the Bombers this year

[Friedrich Nietzsche]

The Mayor of Ottawa proclaimed TD Place as “world class” many many times. So did the local media. Now I know it’s their job to make such assertions, but many regulars on this forum were going all “cancel culture” (before it was cool) to anyone who levied reasonable criticisms against the project. Those criticism have been proven true. Look through the threads. It’s hilarious.

[elly63]

And there's also the possibility that the original poster was a wingnut?

[EpicPonyTime]

Originally Posted by esquire

We do better when it comes to arenas, all of the NHL barns are unarguably world class indoor rinks and then you have some others that could be argued to make the cut as well including Centre Videotron, SaskTel Centre and maaaaybe Copps Coliseum and Pacific Coliseum.

I don't think there's a Saskatoonian alive who would agree with you on this point.

I love Sask Place as much as anyone, but it's in no way world class. Cramped concourses, inadequate infrastructure for modern concerts, poor sound, and 30-year old plastic seats. We're going to have to wait for the next one before we can have a world class arena again.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by EpicPonyTime

I don't think there's a Saskatoonian alive who would agree with you on this point.

I love Sask Place as much as anyone, but it's in no way world class. Cramped concourses, inadequate infrastructure for modern concerts, poor sound, and 30-year old plastic seats. We're going to have to wait for the next one before we can have a world class arena again.

A little perspective is necessary. Maybe compared to T-Mobile Arena it's a little humdrum, but there are not many places in the world with comfortable 15,000 seat indoor arenas capable of hosting a multitude of sports and entertainment events.

SaskTel Centre was built to handle full NHL spec when it was opened as it was in the mid to late 80s, but I doubt the replacement will be... Saskatoon is probably not going to spend half a billion dollars on a rink for the NLL and WHL. So the replacement arena will be nice, but I doubt it will be world class in the same way as its predecessor.

[Dalreg]

Don't bet against Saskatoon and it's new arena. A lot of work is being done behind the scenes that we know nothing about. Don't be surprised that when the new arena is built downtown it will be at least as big if not bigger with a hell of a lot more bells and whistles than the old girl.

Kind of an unwritten status in Saskatchewan. Regina gets the football stadium and Saskatoon gets the arena. lol.

[craner]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

After going to many games at TD Place here are my observations:

The south side stands are nice, the concourse is huge (and a great meeting place) but the lower seats are terrible because you are so low and both teams are located on the one side that you cannot see over the players. That is why on TV it looks like nobody is there because most people are up in the concourse and party zones socializing.
I understand why they have all the players on one sideline (TSN has likely forced this, but the CFL should push back) but it leads to many incidents between opposing players and looks bush IMO.
As for the North side, well they should bite the bullet and just replace it.

I hate having both teams on one sideline as well - just stop it!
If I was in charge of TD stadium in Ottawa my first priority would be improved field lighting. It’s currently so dark for night games - at least on TV.

[HomerSPC]

Originally Posted by Friedrich Nietzsche

but many regulars on this forum were going all “cancel culture” (before it was cool) to anyone who levied reasonable criticisms against the project.

You keep throwing that phrase around but I don't think you understand what it is.

[Friedrich Nietzsche]

Originally Posted by HomerSPC

You keep throwing that phrase around but I don't think you understand what it is.

I’ve made 3 posts and used it once, but ok.

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by elly63

There is a guy on YouTube who has a hockey channel where he reads newspaper articles from 50 years ago describing what was happening in the league for that week 50 years ago. In this case it was November 15-21, 1970.

He has one that references the $32.5 million Omniplex (the planned combined hockey/football facility for Edmonton) It's kind of interesting to hear how close it may have come to fruition. It would seat 19,600 (variable) for hockey and 32,000 for football. In one of the articles, Bill Hunter stated that the Eskimos (for 8 home games) have a budget of $900,000 and average 23,000 fans per game, the budget for an NHL team was $300,000 for 39 home games.



Retrofutures: Edmonton’s Omniplex – Part 1
Retrofutures: Edmonton’s Omniplex – Part 2

The various proposals (including this) kicking around at that time were pretty incredible.

Sadly, this would have been demolished by now and we would never have got Commonwealth.

Cool, yes
Better in memory/spirit than reality, yes

[EpicPonyTime]

Originally Posted by esquire

SaskTel Centre was built to handle full NHL spec when it was opened as it was in the mid to late 80s

The original proposal for what became Sask Place was for a NHL-caliber arena, but that proposal fell through alongside the Blues' relocation. When Sask Place was built, it sat less than 8,000 people. It's capacity has been expanded multiple times since it was built, and this is part of the problem with it. It's clear that, while the amount of seats grew, the concourses and amenities didn't. It wasn't until the most recent expansion that they added a partial upper level concourse. It's never met the standards of the NHL.

I think it's reasonable to expect the next arena will be of better quality; at least MTS Centre or better. It's not going to be a NHL-caliber arena, either, but I don't necessarily think it has to be to be world class. Saskatoon is looking to use its next arena as the centre of its downtown entertainment district, so I think they will take the time to do it right.

[craner]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Cool, yes
Better in memory/spirit than reality, yes

I know you are right in hindsight but man I would have been excited for that at the time.

[elly63]

I think it would be neat to see the Edmonton OmniPlex design using modern technology and materials. As I said, usually these types of things don't serve all sports well, multipurpose stadiums almost never do, but it was a cool concept for the time. I love seeing concepts and designs that never made it. That started for me when they published the finalists for the SkyDome competition in the newspaper. I remember my favourite at the time was the third one (with the blue and red seats) probably because it exposed most of the field.

Pre SkyDome Toronto

In 1985, Toronto launched a design competition for what would eventually become the SkyDome. The 200 designers that entered the competition were narrowed to four with architect Robbie/Allen winning on December 12, 1985 (the first design below). The other three finalists are also shown below. The final SkyDome design differed from these early concepts.






1 RAN International (Robbie/Allen)
2 Webb, Zerafa, Menkes, Housden Partnership Architects
3 Bregman and Hamann Architects
4 Crang & Boake International

[elly63]

Trillium Dome Concept

This plan for a dome in Mississauga, Ontario was considered in 1983. The site was approximately 25 kilometers from Toronto. Plans were for a publicly financed, multipurpose dome that seated approximately 65,000. Due to land acquisition problems, the plan was abandoned and the SkyDome was eventually built.

[elly63]

1960's Toronto

Several stadium concepts were proposed in the late 60's and early 70's for Toronto. Common in 1960's stadium architecture, most were for round, multipurpose facilities.


1 This project was proposed in 1968 for a 1976 Olympics bid.


2 This concept would have been just to the East of where Rogers Centre is now.


3 This project was proposed in 1959 for a 1964 Olympics bid.


4 This project was a concept based at Toronto's North York area in 1971.