Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[esquire]

^ Those look like AI generated drawings

[EpicPonyTime]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Those look like AI generated drawings

Now that you pointed that out, the tells are obvious.

[Djeffery]

I thought the place really looked like that. I'm tired of being tricked online. First by all the big busted skinny waisted perfect skin women that follow me on Twitter and now Olympic Stadium.

[Oilkountry]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

I thought the place really looked like that. I'm tired of being tricked online. First by all the big busted skinny waisted perfect skin women that follow me on Twitter and now Olympic Stadium.

I'm just wondering the plan long term with the big elephant of Montreal. It's gotta be so embarrassing for a city to have a billion dollar relic rotting away with no prospects of tenants or really any general events while the skydome is peaking in life.

This whole tweet was kind of pointless. its portraying 2 different stadiums. I'm assuming this guy just found these pics on the internet and tried to create hype But I would say its more of a representation of Tokyo and Athens Olympic stadiums then ours. Probably AI took images of "Olympic Stadium" Montreal's would be last on that list

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

I'm just wondering the plan long term with the big elephant of Montreal. It's gotta be so embarrassing for a city to have a billion dollar relic rotting away with no prospects of tenants or really any general events while the skydome is peaking in life.

Isn't this the fate of quite a few Olympic Stadiums, though? Not many of them are in heavy, regular use. Montreal's was probably one of the most frequently used for its first 25+ years until the Expos left.

Although mind you Montreal's stadium went sharply from one extreme to the other almost overnight. It's been crickets in there for the last 15 years with no real prospect of any change going forward.

[WhipperSnapper]

The fate of any major league stadium without a major league tenant.

The level of disuse/ abandonment in Canadian cities is among the lowest globally. Probably why Montreal's Olympic Stadium gets so much attention.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

The fate of any major league stadium without a major league tenant.

The level of disuse/ abandonment in Canadian cities is among the lowest globally. Probably why Montreal's Olympic Stadium gets so much attention.

That's fair. The only other abandoned/semi-abandoned stadium situations I can think of in Canada was where the main users move on to a new facility leaving the old venue either heavily underused or not used at all. They lasted that way for a decade or so before eventually being demolished or redeveloped.

e.g., Empire Stadium in Vancouver, Clarke Stadium in Edmonton, Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.

[Oilkountry]

Originally Posted by esquire

Isn't this the fate of quite a few Olympic Stadiums, though? Not many of them are in heavy, regular use. Montreal's was probably one of the most frequently used for its first 25+ years until the Expos left.

Although mind you Montreal's stadium went sharply from one extreme to the other almost overnight. It's been crickets in there for the last 15 years with no real prospect of any change going forward.

I feel like the als would move back there if it was the right situation. 30,000 seat state of the art renovation at the low cost of 400M . Speaking of which any update on them moving to Saputo? I remember reading about it a few months back. What a dream situation that would be for that team. Im sure the FC fans would be thrilled

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

I feel like the als would move back there if it was the right situation. 30,000 seat state of the art renovation at the low cost of 400M . Speaking of which any update on them moving to Saputo? I remember reading about it a few months back. What a dream situation that would be for that team. Im sure the FC fans would be thrilled

Isn't the space for the field at Saputo too small for a CFL field?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by esquire

Isn't this the fate of quite a few Olympic Stadiums, though? Not many of them are in heavy, regular use. Montreal's was probably one of the most frequently used for its first 25+ years until the Expos left.

Although mind you Montreal's stadium went sharply from one extreme to the other almost overnight. It's been crickets in there for the last 15 years with no real prospect of any change going forward.

Correct. Just with Expos games the stadium has been used around 2200 times since the 1976 Olympics. I betcha few Olympic stadiums anywhere have gotten that much use.

[craner]

Originally Posted by esquire

That's fair. The only other abandoned/semi-abandoned stadium situations I can think of in Canada was where the main users move on to a new facility leaving the old venue either heavily underused or not used at all. They lasted that way for a decade or so before eventually being demolished or redeveloped.

e.g., Empire Stadium in Vancouver, Clarke Stadium in Edmonton, Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.

We’re still using our relic - it’s called McMahon.

[Dalreg]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Correct. Just with Expos games the stadium has been used around 2200 times since the 1976 Olympics. I betcha few Olympic stadiums anywhere have gotten that much use.

Considering Atlanta did the same thing with their Olympic Stadium I would image it was used quite a bit as well, though maybe for not as long. Curious with Atlanta the stadium has now be repurposed again, this time as a football stadium. So Olympics (track and Field), Baseball, and Football.

[blueandgoldguy]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Isn't the space for the field at Saputo too small for a CFL field?

Yes

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Isn't the space for the field at Saputo too small for a CFL field?

Was there any serious talk 12 or so years ago when Saputo was renovated to partner with the Als or at least build in the capability to retract seats at either end to expand the field size?

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by esquire

That's fair. The only other abandoned/semi-abandoned stadium situations I can think of in Canada was where the main users move on to a new facility leaving the old venue either heavily underused or not used at all. They lasted that way for a decade or so before eventually being demolished or redeveloped.

e.g., Empire Stadium in Vancouver, Clarke Stadium in Edmonton, Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.

What about NHL arenas? Maple Leaf Garden became a Loblaws and Sports Facility for Ryerson (Toronto Met U). The Forum became a weird cinema and entertainment venue. Rexall was abandoned and is about to get demoed. Civic Centre and Aberdeen Pavilion in Ottawa were temporary as they were never meant to be NHL arenas. Any others? I think Vancouver's is still around.

Originally Posted by Dalreg

Considering Atlanta did the same thing with their Olympic Stadium I would image it was used quite a bit as well, though maybe for not as long. Curious with Atlanta the stadium has now be repurposed again, this time as a football stadium. So Olympics (track and Field), Baseball, and Football.

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.

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

What about NHL arenas? Maple Leaf Garden became a Loblaws and Sports Facility for Ryerson (Toronto Met U). The Forum became a weird cinema and entertainment venue. Rexall was abandoned and is about to get demoed. Civic Centre and Aberdeen Pavilion in Ottawa were temporary as they were never meant to be NHL arenas. Any others? I think Vancouver's is still around.



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.

Still need a rebuild. The NFL fields aren't nearly as wide as CFL, and even a wider field, Commonwealth feels very set back given the track.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

What about NHL arenas? Maple Leaf Garden became a Loblaws and Sports Facility for Ryerson (Toronto Met U). The Forum became a weird cinema and entertainment venue. Rexall was abandoned and is about to get demoed. Civic Centre and Aberdeen Pavilion in Ottawa were temporary as they were never meant to be NHL arenas. Any others? I think Vancouver's is still around.

I was thinking of venues that carried on at least nominally in their original function... MLG ceased being a functioning large-scale arena after the then-ACC opened, although you're right, there is still that small TMU arena in there but it's not the same as original MLG. Same situation with the Forum.

Pacific Coliseum is the only ex-NHL arena in Canada I can think of that still carries on largely unchanged. It's interesting how Vancouver is the only place in the country where that happened. Especially given that Pacific Coliseum doesn't even have a full time sports tenant ever since the Giants decamped to Langley.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker

Still need a rebuild. The NFL fields aren't nearly as wide as CFL, and even a wider field, Commonwealth feels very set back given the track.

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.

Originally Posted by esquire

I was thinking of venues that carried on at least nominally in their original function... MLG ceased being a functioning large-scale arena after the then-ACC opened, although you're right, there is still that small TMU arena in there but it's not the same as original MLG. Same situation with the Forum.

Pacific Coliseum is the only ex-NHL arena in Canada I can think of that still carries on largely unchanged. It's interesting how Vancouver is the only place in the country where that happened. Especially given that Pacific Coliseum doesn't even have a full time sports tenant ever since the Giants decamped to Langley.

Interesting how Vancouver can support two NHL sized arenas to this day. Do they host different kinds of events? Do they both have regular events (100+ a year?)

[esquire]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Interesting how Vancouver can support two NHL sized arenas to this day. Do they host different kinds of events? Do they both have regular events (100+ a year?)

I defer to people from Vancouver with more knowledge than me, but Pacific Coliseum was a pretty busy place through the 2000s when it hosted the Vancouver Giants (they drew some pretty big crowds in those years) and then it was a 2010 Olympic venue.

I think now it functions mostly as a venue for concerts and other big one-off sports events. When I visited the PNE grounds last year I saw a number of concert posters promoting events at the Coliseum.

[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/