Stadiums and Arenas of Canada part 2

[thurmas]

I am not sure you can really do more renovations to Molson stadium with out just starting new and replacing the 2 grandstands altogether. It's so squeezed in the current parcel of land. You cant really replace the steel bench seating because that would reduce capacity to a level too tiny even for CFL football to be profitable. There is not enough space to expand the stadium temporarily to 35-40k to host a Grey Cup and the continuing deterioration of Olympic Stadium roof means you can't hold a Grey Cup in November in Montreal because potential snow can pose a safety risk.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

Something i'll never understand is why they decided to go with such skimpy upper decks yet doubled up on the endzone seating on 1 end.

Agreed... it's a little peculiar as far as seating arrangements go. Ottawa's southside upper deck is so small that it made me wonder why they bothered, but NMS takes it to another level. You'd think that they'd have wanted more seats along the sidelines instead of a pile of them in the endzone.

[Migs]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

Something i'll never understand is why they decided to go with such skimpy upper decks yet doubled up on the endzone seating on 1 end. It's a great stadium but I, again maintain my stance that IGF should be looked at as NMS's equal rather than second best. I actually like it better. My hope is that Calgary takes the best parts of these stadiums and makes a hybrid superior to both. Seriously beautiful work of art they have in Regina but as a bombers fan I feel very little stadium envy. (please spare me the lecture of how many more elevators it has)

all I can say is I'm honestly overwhelmed and impressed with this league's/countries stadium frenzy over the past 6 years

My hope is Montreal does a well needed reno/update and Calgary either breaks ground or guts McMahon and does something special within 3 years

Spare you?

[Migs]

Originally Posted by esquire

Agreed... it's a little peculiar as far as seating arrangements go. Ottawa's southside upper deck is so small that it made me wonder why they bothered, but NMS takes it to another level. You'd think that they'd have wanted more seats along the sidelines instead of a pile of them in the endzone.

There are roughly the same amount of endzone seats in NMS as there is in IGF so your argument makes no sense, just that at NMS all the endzone seats are in one end with 2 levels which gives more fans a better view of the field of play.

Also not quite sure what your issue is with the upper deck, there are 22 rows at centre field & given that the structure is an infinity bowl the numbers will decrease the further you get towards the end. It is still a significant number of rows as shown in this pic

[esquire]

^ IGF was designed to create a full seating bowl so the endzone seating was the price that had to be paid for that. NMS could have been designed to put the upper level endzone seating along the sidelines instead which would have been preferable from a fan standpoint. Not really a huge deal, just an odd design choice.

[Migs]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ IGF was designed to create a full seating bowl so the endzone seating was the price that had to be paid for that. NMS could have been designed to put the upper level endzone seating along the sidelines instead which would have been preferable from a fan standpoint. Not really a huge deal, just an odd design choice.

It's not an odd design choice if you want tiered party decks in one endzone. Wouldn't surprise me at all if the folks in Wpg eventually rip out the seats in one end & do something similar. Would make sence given the lack of concourse place in the end zones which always are bottlenecked with partiers.

[VANRIDERFAN]

So as part of my little tour of Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa and Montreal I attended games at THF and TD Place (Percival Molson was on the sched but I got a bit waylayed after the game in Ottawa).

To me THF is a nice little functional stadium without many of the bells and whistles but perfectly suited for area of the city it is situated in. I was with a good buddy of mine and his sons and we sat on the Grand stand side, lower deck, 40 yrd line about 10 rows up. Perfect seating for watching the game. First thing that struck me was the clarity of the video board, absolutely stunning.
The stadium is easy to get into and out of. Concessions and bathrooms well located and few line ups (it helped that The Hip had siphoned many fans away) I would love to go back again. My friend commented that he was disappointed that they didn't put the Hip on the video board during half-time and immediately after the game.

Took the train from Toronto to Ottawa. (loved the train, just get on and go with none of the bullshit you go through at the airport!)

TD PLACE
I was a hotel close to Parliament Hill and the staff told me to take the #1 bus to get to Landsdowne. The bus was full so I decided to walk. Due to the construction and traffic, I basically kept pace with the bus most of the way there.
As you entered the Glebe the local businesses really got into gameday and you definitely knew there was a game going on. There doesn't seem (to me at least) to be any residual hatred towards the redevelopment of Landsdowne by the local businesses at least.
Once I got into the district, man was I impressed with the place, lots of selections for food and drink and a real fun atmosphere. I still wish that Regina would have been able to put NMS at the railyards but that ship has sailed.
As for TD place itself, after I realised that I had bought a really crappy seat (30 yard line 2nd row, new side, south side?) and couldn't see over the heads of the Lions players I spent the rest of the game wandering around the entire stadium.
Really liked that open space from the concessions to the stands. You can purchase your food and drink and still be part of the game atmosphere. The second deck was the more traditional arrangement. The North (older side) was what I expected, a little dingy and cramped under the stands so everyone mainly stayed in their seats. Observed Ottawa's finest hauling a rather dishevelled gentleman away due to his unfan friendly behaviour. LOL!

The south side is really the young peoples place to be seen and socialize. I doubt if many of the young ladies saw much of the game at all! But as I chatted with Ottawa fans they all agreed that it brought a new dynamic to the place.
I think I spent most of the game watching from the stairway at the east side. Got a fantastic view and there was a parade of people coming by who would stop and chat for a bit. One fan told me that the first year, security would come by and shoo people away but they now let people stay and watch. The only place you cannot stay is the west side bridge. Also noticed that there were quite the bunch sitting on the west hill and many many people watching the condo on the east side.
Had a ton of fun at the game, and to the people that say the CFL is full of old farts should go to an Ottawa RedBlacks game.
Didn't get to Montreal until Saturday so I took a tour of McGill campus and got into Molson Stadium. The is zero room to do any more expansion at all.
As for the Campus, well I was a little sad that with all the students and their parents being there it meant that summer was on its last legs for sure. And that frosh week has sure toned down since I was at a university!

Now on the train back to Toronto to fly home. Did I mention that I love using the train?

[esquire]

Thanks for the review, VANRIDERFAN. It's funny that the stands on the new southside in Ottawa come down so low, as if it were a baseball stadium. I suspected that fans in the first few rows would have obstructed views and you confirmed that.

By contrast, the north side stands are well elevated so even a fan in the first row can have a clear view of the field. Although they did add several rows right at the front of the north stands and the RBs charge top dollar despite what I'm sure are absolutely terrible views from there.

Originally Posted by Migs

It's not an odd design choice if you want tiered party decks in one endzone. Wouldn't surprise me at all if the folks in Wpg eventually rip out the seats in one end & do something similar. Would make sence given the lack of concourse place in the end zones which always are bottlenecked with partiers.

I'm not talking about the horseshoe configuration, that makes perfect sense. What I find odd is that the upper end zone seating wasn't just placed along the upper sidelines instead.

[Migs]

Originally Posted by esquire

Thanks for the review, VANRIDERFAN. It's funny that the stands on the new southside in Ottawa come down so low, as if it were a baseball stadium. I suspected that fans in the first few rows would have obstructed views and you confirmed that.

By contrast, the north side stands are well elevated so even a fan in the first row can have a clear view of the field. Although they did add several rows right at the front of the north stands and the RBs charge top dollar despite what I'm sure are absolutely terrible views from there.



I'm not talking about the horseshoe configuration, that makes perfect sense. What I find odd is that the upper end zone seating wasn't just placed along the upper sidelines instead.

Horseshoe configuration is irrelevant when talking about the lower bowl. Like I said, don't be surprised if the folks in WPG rip out all their endzone seats in one end & do something similar.

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by esquire

Thanks for the review, VANRIDERFAN. It's funny that the stands on the new southside in Ottawa come down so low, as if it were a baseball stadium. I suspected that fans in the first few rows would have obstructed views and you confirmed that.

By contrast, the north side stands are well elevated so even a fan in the first row can have a clear view of the field. Although they did add several rows right at the front of the north stands and the RBs charge top dollar despite what I'm sure are absolutely terrible views from there.



I'm not talking about the horseshoe configuration, that makes perfect sense. What I find odd is that the upper end zone seating wasn't just placed along the upper sidelines instead.

Thanks, its been fun.

Forgot to mention that Ottawa has to update its video board to meet the THF standard. The Ottawa board is nowhere near the clarity of THF.

[BretttheRiderFan]

I do like the minor renos that happened this season for Commonwealth Stadium. The relocation of the wall of honour to the sidelines and the LED screens along the upper deck on both sides gives the stadium a more big-league feel. The new banners highlighting Eskimo legends in the concourse also adds to the spectre. Edmonton really does a better job of highlighting the club's history than any other stadium I've attended.

[SaskScraper]

Originally Posted by Migs

It's not an odd design choice if you want tiered party decks in one endzone. Wouldn't surprise me at all if the folks in Wpg eventually rip out the seats in one end & do something similar. Would make sence given the lack of concourse place in the end zones which always are bottlenecked with partiers.

That's what I thought too, also the design of the NMS was also to deflect not only East and West winds but also Northern.. Winds plague IGF from all directions.
Another nice thing about having seating in the one end zone at NMS instead of exact same amount of seats in two end zones such as in IGF is that half the seats are upper deck and higher/better vantage point to see the entire field plus having one huge triple sized video screen for everyone in stadium to enjoy instead of two mediocre sized ones in both end zones like at IGF.

End zone concourse at Northern side of NMS is huge plus also for other events like endzone staged concerts it will be better suited with full seating. I too have a feeling IGF will eventually drop seating below 30,000 and have tiered party deck at one of its end zones.

[Oilkountry]

Originally Posted by Migs

There are roughly the same amount of endzone seats in NMS as there is in IGF so your argument makes no sense, just that at NMS all the endzone seats are in one end with 2 levels which gives more fans a better view of the field of play.

Also not quite sure what your issue is with the upper deck, there are 22 rows at centre field & given that the structure is an infinity bowl the numbers will decrease the further you get towards the end. It is still a significant number of rows as shown in this pic

What argument are you referring too? I wasnt comparing the stadiums endzone seating. I'm just making a comment on why they wouldn't want more sideline seating vs end zone which are typically the last to go. I'm not sure any other stadium in north america has built a 2 teared endzone seating area and smallish upper decks from design

[Oilkountry]

Originally Posted by speedog

Aww, no love for McMahon what with it's pretty much open to the elements concession stands in many areas, it's lovely bathrooms, etc, etc. One needs to spend some time behind the scenes in this stadium to really truly appreciate it's greatness, I jest. Maybe not?

Actually I love McMahon. It's the only CFL stadium I would rather see reno'd then replaced. But to include it in my posts would have been counter productive because it's really the same stadium it was in 2010 either than some porta potties and a new screen lol I hope Calgary next fails I would like to see the flames in a new arena and 150M put into McMahon. with so much room avaible in the endzones they have countless options to expand washroom facilities and and also add any clubs ect that would be included in a new stadium. The NFL had a few old relics brought up to 2016 standards and they seem to do
fine

Originally Posted by BretttheRiderFan

I do like the minor renos that happened this season for Commonwealth Stadium. The relocation of the wall of honour to the sidelines and the LED screens along the upper deck on both sides gives the stadium a more big-league feel. The new banners highlighting Eskimo legends in the concourse also adds to the spectre. Edmonton really does a better job of highlighting the club's history than any other stadium I've attended.

It does look pretty good. I think the answer for commonwealth is to lay a new pre cast over the existing lower stands. essentially stretching out the lower deck by separating it into 2 parts bring the stands closer to the field. It would give them a few opportunities to #1 add a row of side line loge seats between the split of the new lower deck. #2 lower the capacity by a couple thousand seats and #3 re configure the end zone seats into standing room, also bring them closer to the feild and lose that hideous running track for good

[Nathan]

Also, throwing the second tier endzone seats up into the upper deck sidelines would have increased the cost of those seats by quite a bit; the higher the seats, the more expensive they are to install. Then you'd likely need to add height to the exterior walls to take into account the increased height of seats along the corners of the bowl and also the height of the roof/its angles... It wouldn't have been a simple process at an equivalent price.

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

I would like to see the flames in a new arena and 150M put into McMahon. with so much room avaible in the endzones they have countless options to expand washroom facilities and and also add any clubs ect that would be included in a new stadium. The NFL had a few old relics brought up to 2016 standards and they seem to do fine

Those old NFL stadiums that were brought up to today's standards - didn't that cost them a shit-tonne of money to do that?

If you're going to spend 150 million - you may as well build a new stadium. Why spend that much just to renovate something as outdated as McMahon?

[Oilkountry]

Originally Posted by Berklon

Those old NFL stadiums that were brought up to today's standards - didn't that cost them a shit-tonne of money to do that?

If you're going to spend 150 million - you may as well build a new stadium. Why spend that much just to renovate something as outdated as McMahon?

150 million dollars wont get you much in Calgary. You also have to account for land ect. A new stadium in Calgary would be 250M minimum and you would end up with a THF. Even 100M could go such a long way with McMahon. Calgarynext is essentially an 890M building which would be part of an 1.4 billion project

[trueviking]

I think they should have used two different seat colours in regina's stadium.

Migs....go....defend it!

[king10]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

150 million dollars wont get you much in Calgary. You also have to account for land ect. A new stadium in Calgary would be 250M minimum and you would end up with a THF. Even 100M could go such a long way with McMahon. Calgarynext is essentially an 890M building which would be part of an 1.4 billion project

100 million spent on mcmahon is just prolonging the inevitable. Throw that money in a GIC and use it as a downpayment on a new facility.

No point putting lipstick on a pig. Calgary needs a brand new stadium. Not a cosmetic reno.

They dont need to go all out like winnipeg or regina. Something in between thf and igf/nms would do them just fine.

[Migs]

Originally Posted by trueviking

I think they should have used two different seat colours in regina's stadium.

Migs....go....defend it!

Nope, that's a valid argument.