TD Coliseum | ? | 4 fl | Under Construction

[StEC]

Holy hell that's absolutely pathetic! I would be having a good laugh if this was April Fools day but I just checked the calander....

[Innsertnamehere]

While disappointing to see the exterior renovations scaled back, I'm not surprised. It's a lot of money to spend with no real return in investment.

The core aspects of the renovation, which seem to include extensive renovations and expansions of the interior spaces, still seems to be there.

Some of those facade changes may have triggered site plan approval as well, which delays the project. A strict renovation with no changes to the building floor area allow them to skip that approval process.

It's important to remember that the renovations have always been much more focused on the fan experience on the interior of the facility - exterior renovations are really just niceties. Disappointing for sure, but not a total let down. The functionality of the facility will still be greatly upgraded and I expect a much larger number of large-scale events to be scheduled here following the renovations still, and that's really what matters.

[ScreamingViking]

I was more relieved reading that news article. $280 million should pay for a lot of improvement to the interior, and if they're still waiting for architectural drawings perhaps that image is still mostly a concept and not final.

Current concept:


Previous concept:


Source from the previous page: https://twitter.com/ham_bicycleguy/s...0Z7eDa1yg&s=19

[BCTed]

That new render makes it look NHL-ready.

[TheRitsman]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

While disappointing to see the exterior renovations scaled back, I'm not surprised. It's a lot of money to spend with no real return in investment.

The core aspects of the renovation, which seem to include extensive renovations and expansions of the interior spaces, still seems to be there.

Some of those facade changes may have triggered site plan approval as well, which delays the project. A strict renovation with no changes to the building floor area allow them to skip that approval process.

It's important to remember that the renovations have always been much more focused on the fan experience on the interior of the facility - exterior renovations are really just niceties. Disappointing for sure, but not a total let down. The functionality of the facility will still be greatly upgraded and I expect a much larger number of large-scale events to be scheduled here following the renovations still, and that's really what matters.

My biggest criticism stems from the public realm aspect. The interior aspect was something I've been moderately interested in, and excited for. But York and Bay is a dead zone most days and nights and this new design that has been proposed continued to be, apologies for my French, but shite, for the public realm as it doesn't look to enhance that at all. The big selling feature to me was the reduced expense by the city and the restaurants and vendors facing the street when the arena isn't being used for an event adding vibrancy and life to an otherwise dead area of the downtown.

[TheHonestMaple]

That intersection will not have a good public realm until the homeless shelter is moved. Why would anyone want to hang out around there?

[Berklon]

Was never a huge fan of the previous concept, but it's better than the new one which does almost nothing to remove the outdated look of the arena. It will still scream 80's no matter how many screens you add to it.

This was a much better concept IMO:



I'd rather they only do renovations to the interior for the time being, and kick the exterior reno can down the road until they have a better plan and more resources.

[matt602]

Originally Posted by TheRitsman

My biggest criticism stems from the public realm aspect. The interior aspect was something I've been moderately interested in, and excited for. But York and Bay is a dead zone most days and nights and this new design that has been proposed continued to be, apologies for my French, but shite, for the public realm as it doesn't look to enhance that at all. The big selling feature to me was the reduced expense by the city and the restaurants and vendors facing the street when the arena isn't being used for an event adding vibrancy and life to an otherwise dead area of the downtown.

Agreed. The large dead zone at the corner is pretty much untouched in the latest rendering, big missed opportunity for some kind of fan zone or something. Really need more streetlife on that corner to combat the ugly strip mall on the other side.

[StEC]

Originally Posted by Berklon

Was never a huge fan of the previous concept, but it's better than the new one which does almost nothing to remove the outdated look of the arena. It will still scream 80's no matter how many screens you add to it.

This was a much better concept IMO:



I'd rather they only do renovations to the interior for the time being, and kick the exterior reno can down the road until they have a better plan and more resources.

Yeah this render is my fav.

[ScreamingViking]

I wouldn't mind a "box" if well-clad. In that render, to me, it looks like it should have a Costco sign on top. It would be the nicest looking (from outside) Costco in all the land, but still...

[Chronamut]

I'm tired of boxes. Bring on some more interesting stuff. Almost everything is a box. I liked the bulldogs render one - wavey - at least it wasn't literally like everything else. When all you know how to make is boxes and picture frame jutouts - you're not designing architecture - you're choosing from preset blocks.

[JakeLRS]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

A few details about what's planned via The Spec... Damn, Thistleclub beat me to it.
https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...ight-look.html

Summary:
- York Blvd side to have the most significant changes -- interior stairs removed, restaurants and shops extending the full length of the arena. They will be open to the street when the arena isn't in use; during events they’ll be accessible from inside with possible access right into the seating area.
- Above that the concourse will be extended out to the wall.
- Existing restaurant "The Lounge" will be opened up.
- Bay Street side of the concourse will be an open party zone overlooking the rink like Rogers Centre's Flight Deck or The Stipley at THF.
- Main entrance still off Bay, but "jazzed up.”
- Basement dressing rooms may move from the south side to the north, expanded into the existing convention space; public space or more dressing rooms on the south side.
- Currently hidden street-level concourse that wraps around most of the building, used as storage, to be opened up for public use.
- Lower bowl will be redone.
- New curtain system for upper level.
- Large video screen outside at York and Bay could create a smaller version of Jurassic Park in Toronto.
- Hope is that $50M will be a minimum spend, but previous studies (2016) put the cost of a redone lower bowl and other improvements at $68M.

Just gonna bring this back up for comparison and reminder sake.

Here is the presentation given to council: https://pub-hamilton.escribemeetings...umentId=378717

My phone isn’t liking flikr right now, but there is another render of the interior during a concert among some others…
Based on what I see:
- Only the King St side concourse will have suites, suites which appear to be over old existing seats instead of in the concourse… (so decreased capacity)
- The James St side lower bowl will not have entrances to the new concourse
- There will be no new curtain system to cover the upper bowl like in the previous render
- New scoreboard but same size as current…
- Luxury Restaurant/Lounge on existing concourse on the York side of the arena.
- Existing concourse seems to have a more luxury feel than a rustic feel (when comparing new and old renderings)
- Continued use of stairs to access upper bowl.

In short, it looks like all we’re getting is an exterior paint job, a cheap new scoreboard, new seats, a new concourse, a renovated concourse, a few box suites, and a premium lounge.

Not gonna lie, right now I’m kind of upset we didn’t go with Vancor, atleast they would’ve been well underway by now.

[Berklon]

Thanks for the link to the presentation.

The larger image of the render pretty much assures the exterior's nothing more than a paint job (or the equivalent result of one). And the inclusion of other recently completed arena projects makes FOCs reno embarrassing by comparison.

Weird they included a screenshot of a Globe and Mail article which happens to contain the image of the previous render. It just advertises what a disappointment the latest proposal is.

[BCTed]

So the exterior render looks pretty terrible and the presentation slides are pretty sloppily put together, but I am pinning my hopes on them spending in the stated neighbourhood of $280 million. That is not chump change and should pay for a lot of decent stuff.

I don't really understand how the whole arrangement and associated financials work, but let's hope this happens.

Aside: the presentation team did state that there would be no reduction in total spectator capacity (though a small reduction would probably not have been a huge deal).

[Innsertnamehere]

Considering that the full capacity in it's current state gets used only maybe once every couple of years when an unusually large event happens - it's not a bad thing to have reduced capacity.

It sounds like the interior renovations continue to be pretty extensive. I'm still pretty excited for this. I never really expected some A-level facility equal to the ACC in Hamilton - the market just isn't there to support it. This looks like it will be an excellent mid-sized facility for what at the end of the day is really a mid-sized city. Honestly, hard to complain.

The Spec Article also mentioned that the street activation is still there with the ground floor reconfiguration still happening, just without the expensive facade reconstruction above it.

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Considering that the full capacity in it's current state gets used only maybe once every couple of years when an unusually large event happens - it's not a bad thing to have reduced capacity.

It sounds like the interior renovations continue to be pretty extensive. I'm still pretty excited for this. I never really expected some A-level facility equal to the ACC in Hamilton - the market just isn't there to support it. This looks like it will be an excellent mid-sized facility for what at the end of the day is really a mid-sized city. Honestly, hard to complain.

The Spec Article also mentioned that the street activation is still there with the ground floor reconfiguration still happening, just without the expensive facade reconstruction above it.

It will be mid-sized in terms of number of suites (19), but it will continue to be pretty large-sized in terms of overall capacity (17,000 - 19,000), which many medium- and large-sized cities have, and which is necessary in order to get many big-name acts --- I am quite happy with that.

[BCTed]

And for reference, the entire cost of Tim Hortons field was something like $150 million. Even factoring into account inflation, if they spend $280 million in today's dollars on Copps, that is pretty darn massive. (The original $50 million number that was kicked around would have gotten us pretty much nothing).

And maybe the exterior will ultimately look better than in that crappy render.

I really wish I understood the mechanics of this whole deal.

[drpgq]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Considering that the full capacity in it's current state gets used only maybe once every couple of years when an unusually large event happens - it's not a bad thing to have reduced capacity.

It sounds like the interior renovations continue to be pretty extensive. I'm still pretty excited for this. I never really expected some A-level facility equal to the ACC in Hamilton - the market just isn't there to support it. This looks like it will be an excellent mid-sized facility for what at the end of the day is really a mid-sized city. Honestly, hard to complain.

The Spec Article also mentioned that the street activation is still there with the ground floor reconfiguration still happening, just without the expensive facade reconstruction above it.

Isn't the play going after GTHA wide events especially multi-day performances (like Blackpink) or split performances like Maiden and Rage that can't be wedged into Scotia when the Leafs and Raps are in season?

[craftbeerdad]

Don't think the issue is with the inside renovations (which yes is ultimately what matters) but the outside shots are awful. You could even argue the outside appearance is quite key to the renovation as well in regards to it's integration into a Distillery District vibe, spillover effect and making the corner of York & Bay more lively. That's not happening here and frankly where I assume most people's disappointment resides. However, maybe we will be pleasantly surprised. If it ends up like the most lipstick render, then it would be a let down.

[king10]

Edit. Nvm. Dated article