Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[NewIreland]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Some new Lansdowne 2.0 renderings. Gets worse every time.

Why not incorporate the podium of the towers into the stands? Fill the podium with CRU's, fan amenities, entrance gates, restaurants etc... separate doors and entrances for residents. Do that, and it'll be fine. The only issue I have is the skeletal look of the back. Incorporating the podiums will fix this.

[Djeffery]

Lots of football, and even baseball stadiums in the US have exposed structure for the upper tiers like that. It does look a little strange considering the finishing touches done to the other side of the stadium. It is very plain jane BMO looking. I'm even less of a fan of the arena though. I wonder what they are going to actually make that look like in reality considering the lessening of the images over the last few years.

[ericmacm]

I don’t like it. As the design process moves on, it looks incredibly piecemeal and very non-cohesive. A really great example of piecemeal stadium development done right is BMO Field where the end result has a unifying design despite being put together over the course of a decade. This is absolutely not it. The previous design iteration of the north stand at least made an attempt to mirror the configuration/layout of the south stand even without the matching roof/facade. I don’t mind having the bare minimum regarding facade treatment for the stadium exterior, but consistency matters. I do think expanding the size of the northern grandstand is a good idea, but if they’re worried about seating capacity, it might make a lot more sense just to start over with an entirely new stadium.

I also still think having the new rink right up against the stadium is a bad idea. It really limits options if the city ever wants to add seating on the east side in the future without repeating this exact process over again. Makes absolutely no sense to me why they didn’t decide to move it over to the easternmost side of Lansdowne or go with a site outside of Lansdowne for a new arena.

[Djeffery]

I agree, the arena is just in a bad spot and those pics make it look very out of place. I think they are really going to wish they had the ability to put more seating at that end.

[craner]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Some new Lansdowne 2.0 renderings. Gets worse every time.

Thanks J.OT13, it really does remind me of THF - I too wish it matched the new south grandstand more. Doesn’t need to be an exact twin but more cohesive.

[savevp]

I actually enjoy when a stadium looks to be comprised of different components from different eras. I find it adds character, and is more or less the standard for outdoor stadia. Certainly in soccer and especially cricket grounds, where each stand has a unique character. Look at the evolution of storied old football grounds like Anfield or St James' Park - totally asymmetrical.

I suppose we are less accustomed to it in Canada, as it's much more difficult to build piecemeal with roofed/indoor venues. The Aud in Kitchener might be the best example for an arena, where modernity and history coexist.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

Wow! That is uninspiring to say the least. No jacket on the exterior of the new stand, so it looks a little like Hamilton's stadium but worse. In fact, it looks incredibly cheap. At least the other side had an interesting architectural feature of the wood curtain. What is the cost of the new stand by itself?

The arena and stands combined will cost just short of $500 million (expect it will be more at the end of all this). Can't find the exact figures, but I think the arena was around $300 million and the grandstands $200 million.

Originally Posted by NewIreland

Why not incorporate the podium of the towers into the stands? Fill the podium with CRU's, fan amenities, entrance gates, restaurants etc... separate doors and entrances for residents. Do that, and it'll be fine. The only issue I have is the skeletal look of the back. Incorporating the podiums will fix this.

The gap between the grandstands and the residential development is supposedly for future expansion of the seating capacity, which is fair, but why advertise that area as a walking promenade for the first few years, and all the sudden have it as surface parking? I don't know.

Originally Posted by ericmacm

I also still think having the new rink right up against the stadium is a bad idea. It really limits options if the city ever wants to add seating on the east side in the future without repeating this exact process over again. Makes absolutely no sense to me why they didn’t decide to move it over to the easternmost side of Lansdowne or go with a site outside of Lansdowne for a new arena.

Yeah, not sure what the plan is if we ever want to host the Grey Cup or another NHL Classic.

[J.OT13]

I would prefer a plan that preserves the Civic Centre. It was designed by Raymond Moriyama and opened during Canada's Centennial in 1967. It hosted numerous political conventions, with Pierre Trudeau, John Turner, Brian Mulroney, and Kim Campbell all winning their respective Party Leaderships at the arena. It was home to the returning Ottawa Senators between 1992 until the end of 1995. It's where the campaign to save the Francophone Montfort Hospital (SOS Montfort) from the Mike Harris cuts was launched in 1997.

The building has been front and centre to Ottawa's and history over the last 57 years.

Towers could still be added on each side of the Civic Centre, along with a mid-rise where the new arena is proposed if necessary.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I would prefer a plan that preserves the Civic Centre. It was designed by Raymond Moriyama and opened during Canada's Centennial in 1967. It hosted numerous political conventions, with Pierre Trudeau, John Turner, Brian Mulroney, and Kim Campbell all winning their respective Party Leaderships at the arena. It was home to the returning Ottawa Senators between 1992 until the end of 1995. It's where the campaign to save the Francophone Montfort Hospital (SOS Montfort) from the Mike Harris cuts was launched in 1997.

The building has been front and centre to Ottawa's and history over the last 57 years.

Towers could still be added on each side of the Civic Centre, along with a mid-rise where the new arena is proposed if necessary.

I don't know enough about the place to know how feasible it is to save the Civic Centre but that is certainly the best spot on the property for an arena.

[elly63]

"Saving" the Civic Centre is a terrible idea. There are no cost certainties when refurbishing and the building already had roof issues that popped up when the stadium was overhauled. Best to start anew.

As one of the few to like the new design, I have a few thoughts about some of the comments here:

It was suggested the proposed new arena was in a bad location to prevent an end zone seating expansion. End zone seats are the worst selling tickets for football and aren't much better for soccer unless they are very near the action.

Why would you add more bad seats when the teams are not selling out what they already have?

And if necessary, the technology for adding temporary seats for things like the Grey Cup has come a long way as was shown in Hamilton where it was basically wrapped around the scoreboard IIRC.



When all the TFC trolls cried about the Argos going to BMO they conveniently forgot that city council had in its minutes that the facility was meant to be adaptable for football.

Ottawa had a similar "throwaway" line that few seem to have noticed.

Council Approves Lansdowne Renewal Plan (Dead Link)
ottawa.ca November 9, 2023

- Work with OSEG to consider options for including a roof over the new north side stands.

Would that change any opinions on the new stands?

Cost breakdown in 2023

Experts pen letter of concern about Lansdowne 2.0
5 experts in governance and finances ask Ottawa mayor to open up process
Giacomo Panico CBC News June 27, 2023

The major Lansdowne 2.0 revamp calls for a new $183-million arena and new north-side stadium stands that are estimated to cost $139 million. I sit corrected (likely) if this has been revised since then.

[J.OT13]

The cost was revised several times, from $330 million, to $419 million and now $491 million. AG thinks the City's estimates are still $74 million short, despite continued value engineering.

What was initially a "revenue neutral" project has ballooned in cost while we've been losing key aspects that could actually attract more people to the Park, such as a music venue (Live Nation, independent from the arena) and RecRoom. The retail component has been reduced to the point where no new attraction could go in.

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

The cost was revised several times, from $330 million, to $419 million and now $491 million. AG thinks the City's estimates are still $74 million short, despite continued value engineering.

What was initially a "revenue neutral" project has ballooned in cost while we've been losing key aspects that could actually attract more people to the Park, such as a music venue (Live Nation, independent from the arena) and RecRoom. The retail component has been reduced to the point where no new attraction could go in.

Trying to reduce costs has instead been a falling knife. Decisions can't be made fast enough to realize savings, instead it results in a less for more situation.

[Djeffery]

Putting temporary stands around a scoreboard is much different than an entire arena out there.

[Coldrsx]

'Rink of Dreams'

[bridgeoftea]

Any progress updates to the Calgary arena?

[craner]

They are still digging out the monstrous 2-block+ pit.

[jonny24]

Originally Posted by bridgeoftea

Any progress updates to the Calgary arena?

Steel tenders are in, supposed to be awarded imminently (next week). On site in the fall.

[Calgarian]

Should start pouring concrete in the spring.

[Airboy]

Should be interesting to see what the prices come in at. Have talked with a vendor he was mentioning price increases this spring. That was before Trump. I have a meeting with an American supplier tomorrow morning and see what he says.

[craner]

Non-US materials being sourced for Calgary Event Centre project

http://https://livewirecalgary.com/2025/02/13/non-us-materials-being-sourced-for-calgary-event-centre-project/