[Moncton] Centre Avenir Centre | 26.65m |~6 Fl | Completed

[felip_ars]

Originally Posted by lirette

I have access to a presale being an American Express Gold holder, so could be that.

Thats the Amex Presale, pretty much every concert anywhere has it. A lot of scalpers are using it to get first dibs on the tickets. Venue Presale means that either you register with the Centre, or the promoter. I wouldnt be surprised if tomorrow morning, member of the Evenko mailling list will receive a link for the Moncton show.

Also looks like stage will be set in front the two benches, so more than half of the suites will be unused/boxes.

[Sunnybrae]

I'm wondering whether some of these conversations in this thread recently should be under another thread like Atlantic Canada Concert Scene since they have nothing to do with the construction of the events centre or is the thread about anything regarding the events centre?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Sunnybrae

I'm wondering whether some of these conversations in this thread recently should be under another thread like Atlantic Canada Concert Scene since they have nothing to do with the construction of the events centre or is the thread about anything regarding the events centre?

I think you're right - eventually.

Right now though, there are some interesting points being made about the mechanics and operations of the concert strategy for the events centre which are quite interesting and pretty specific for the downtown centre.

When we get to the point of simply making announcements of upcoming events, then this is probably when the chatter could move over to the concert thread.

[Taeolas]

Probably after the first few events happen and we see the impact, this thread will basically close (or die naturally) and further discussion would be in a Sports or Concerts thread.

Until then, we're seeing events show up at the new Centre, and we're looking at how they set up, the prices they are establishing, and (when they happen) the traffic and parking and transit impact they cause.

[flyer99]

Originally Posted by felip_ars

Thats the Amex Presale, pretty much every concert anywhere has it. A lot of scalpers are using it to get first dibs on the tickets. Venue Presale means that either you register with the Centre, or the promoter. I wouldnt be surprised if tomorrow morning, member of the Evenko mailling list will receive a link for the Moncton show.

Also looks like stage will be set in front the two benches, so more than half of the suites will be unused/boxes.

I thought stages for a show like this would be set up in the south end where the retractable seating is. Wasn't that the purpose of the retractable seating, for stage setups, so there would be more seats with a view of the stage?

[HanSoloCup]

They've removed the interior webcam for the Event Centre.

[felip_ars]

Originally Posted by flyer99

I thought stages for a show like this would be set up in the south end where the retractable seating is. Wasn't that the purpose of the retractable seating, for stage setups, so there would be more seats with a view of the stage?

I cant confirm, but judging by the VIP tickets listed, the show will be at the other end of the retractable seating (tickets were available in section 117-120).

For some weird reason, they haven't released the seating plan yet.
And on top of that, the Evenko presale is not working.

[MonctonRad]

Robert Irving on behalf of the Moncton Wildcats has just announced a $1M contribution towards the plaza in front of the new events centre.

A CTV reporter asked Mr. Irving at the announcement whether he was interested in naming rights for the new events centre too. Irving seemed a little taken aback by the question but said that this contribution (to the plaza) was all that he was willing to commit to.

As such, I wonder if Irving (and related companies) are now out of the running for naming rights. If so, who's the frontrunner now? TD Bank? RBC? National Bank? Blue Cross? Molson/Coors???

[ScoutDog]

Frank McKenna is on their fundraising council. My guess it will be 'The TD Bank Centre'.

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Robert Irving on behalf of the Moncton Wildcats has just announced a $1M contribution towards the plaza in front of the new events centre.

A CTV reporter asked Mr. Irving at the announcement whether he was interested in naming rights for the new events centre too. Irving seemed a little taken aback by the question but said that this contribution (to the plaza) was all that he was willing to commit to.

As such, I wonder if Irving (and related companies) are now out of the running for naming rights. If so, who's the frontrunner now? TD Bank? RBC? National Bank? Blue Cross? Molson/Coors???

[flyer99]

Originally Posted by ScoutDog

Frank McKenna is on their fundraising council. My guess it will be 'The TD Bank Centre'.

I second that guess. It's very logical especially with them moving into Champlain Mall and all of the jobs being created. Perhaps they already got the naming rights as part of the package to get them to locate in the area.

[Mattyyy]

All construction trailers have been removed from the Events Center site. I guess this means construction of the new hotel will get underway shortly.

[PEI highway guy]

Originally Posted by Mattyyy

All construction trailers have been removed from the Events Center site. I guess this means construction of the new hotel will get underway shortly.

At a recent council it was mentioned by the Mayor, Maybe in a tweet, that the property would be turned over to Corey Craig Enterprises around this date. More trailers will be showing up soon I assume when the Hotel gets going.

[MonctonRad]

The large metal trellises that will surround the Ian Fowler Oval on the plaza in front of the events centre are currently under construction at Apex Industries. Apparently they will be installed in early-mid June. This will have a huge impact on the appearances of the plaza.......

[HanSoloCup]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

The large metal trellises that will surround the Ian Fowler Oval on the plaza in front of the events centre are currently under construction at Apex Industries. Apparently they will be installed in early-mid June. This will have a huge impact on the appearances of the plaza.......

I saw one of the trellises laying outside APEX yesterday.

[felip_ars]

Article about the parking situation.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-br...ntre-1.4673485

They raised a good point concerning the 1,035 of the free spots on the street. A lot of those spots are probably already used by people living there, plus given that they are free, you can bet that a lot of people will hurry up and search for those instead of paying, which could lead to some dangerous situation (people will not want to miss the show/game).

I see similar situation (but at a bigger scale), every year in Quebec City during the Summer Festival; People driving fast in small street, near the street closure, hoping to get a free parking, instead of paying the 10$ for all day parking.

Finally, I laugh a little when she used the "All the Hip Cities are walking" strategy

Come on Moncton! Arent You Cool?!?

A good way to start would to be extend the transit hours later than 10h30-11PM

[Scarface]

Originally Posted by felip_ars

Article about the parking situation.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-br...ntre-1.4673485

They raised a good point concerning the 1,035 of the free spots on the street. A lot of those spots are probably already used by people living there, plus given that they are free, you can bet that a lot of people will hurry up and search for those instead of paying, which could lead to some dangerous situation (people will not want to miss the show/game).

I see similar situation (but at a bigger scale), every year in Quebec City during the Summer Festival; People driving fast in small street, near the street closure, hoping to get a free parking, instead of paying the 10$ for all day parking.

Finally, I laugh a little when she used the "All the Hip Cities are walking" strategy

Come on Moncton! Arent You Cool?!?

A good way to start would to be extend the transit hours later than 10h30-11PM

a few lines did run unti'll Midnight but there was no riders after 9, or 10. If there are no riders at those times the service running causes money to be hemoraged out for no good reason.

[MonctonRad]

The situation certainly isn't as rosy as the city originally predicted six months ago.

If I recall correctly, the city originally confidently predicted about 4200 parking spaces within a 10 minute walk of the events centre. Now the city is cautiously optimistic about 2900 spaces within a 15 minute walk of the arena. That's a pretty big downgrade in expectations. The main difference seems to be that the private lot owners aren't playing along with the city's plans.

The 2,982 parking spots the city said are within a 15-minute walk are:

- Spots in city-owned parking lots: 545
- Metered spots on the street: 638
- Free spots on the street: 1,035
- Spots reserved for people with reduced mobility near centre entrance: 24
- Spots in private lots reserved for season ticket holders for the Wildcats: 300
- Spots in private lots reserved for SMG suite holders: 40
- Spots in private open to the public: 400

CBC

Of course the city is still trying to present an optimistic face on the situation, happily talking about how many people will ride the bus, walk or bicycle to the centre, but this issue will not go away. Moncton is a sprawling decentralized city (something I'm not particularly happy about BTW), and as such, the motor vehicle is the main conveyance around the city and merely wishing this simple fact away will not make this problem disappear. The chickens are about to come home to roost.

Parking will be a huge issue for the events centre and will remain so until some of the existing surface parking is upgraded to multilevel parking structures.

The city has dealt with the booters, now it is time to deal with the major issue of parking availability itself.

[pierremoncton]

I keep shaking my head at this. How exactly would parking garages alleviate sprawl and reduce car dependence? I would expect the exact opposite: instead of having patrons of the centre roam about downtown before and after events, our downtown would keep hollowing out daily at 5 PM as it currently does.

Saying that we need the centre as a catalyst, then in the same breath saying that public transit and taxis aren't cool is a contradiction that boggles the mind. How about suburbanite-dwelling downtown boosters putting their money where their mouth is and moving downtown? For all the complaints we read against nimbyism on this forum, there's some people who hypocritically demonstrate the same attitude towards their comforts of the city's status quo.

The centre is not built ready for today's car culture and that will piss off a lot of people, but it can't be a catalyst for change if it comes with an attached parking garage for 10,000 cars.

If we want to see more hotels built downtown (as opposed to the flurry of highway-hugging ones built over the past decade), limiting downtown parking space is a good strategy that will encourage tourists who come in for specific events to make their stay downtown and walk about (as opposed to making their stay in the suburbs, drive in, park, attend, drive out). If we want to see downtown businesses flourish, then we need those tourists as well as more residents hanging out all the time. If we want downtown employees to live downtown, then limited parking is a good strategy to incentivize more residential buildings.

What's cheaper: parking garages or a small change in attitude?

Parking will be an issue and I really don't care because that's kind of the point. The centre is built and it's not going anywhere. Most of us have functioning lower limbs and a few extra minutes for public transit or a few extra bucks to pay a cab for a drop-off at the door.

The parking situation won't be addressed this year anyway, and that's great because it will force people to deal with it!

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by pierremoncton

I keep shaking my head at this. How exactly would parking garages alleviate sprawl and reduce car dependence?

You're always going to have to provide parking no matter what size your Downtown is. One parking garage can remove four or five surface parking lots. It's the lesser of all parking evils.

I agree that attitudes need to change and people need to get used to walking, biking, and taking transit more, but it's a chicken & egg scenario. Moncton hasn't quite hit the size yet where it's too long to commute in from the suburban edges. Once that point is hit urban living will be an easier sell. It'll take a generation to change views on transit and walking.

[Taeolas]

One of Moncton's biggest problems as well, is that while it has a lot of surface parking, a lot (if not the majority of it) is private reserved parking. Which means that visitors to downtown need to look for needles in a haystack trying to find a safe parking spot in a sea of dangerous ones. (made extra difficult if the visitor is from out of town and/or out of province and not familiar with the area).

Ideally, a city should NOT have much private parking, for residents or for workers. Workers should be using transit to go to and from work, and leaving their vehicles at home. Downtown residents ideally should be more transit oriented as well and not own their own vehicles in the first place.

That would leave the actual parking downtown open and available for visitors, for the people who don't (or can't reasonably) use transit but have business in the downtown area. And their parking options should be obvious and somewhat convenient across downtown. Parking garages help in this respect, by providing a lot of parking in key points across the downtown fabric, ready to accept visitors and be handy to the businesses. This is one thing Fredericton's downtown garages manage to do; they're spread out across the downtown enough that if all surface parking were removed, most places are still only a block or so away from a public garage.

For Moncton, as noted, they have a public parking problem at the moment, and that realization seems to only now be sinking in with the city council. Building a garage near the events centre would solve multiple problems; by providing handy public parking to the centre, and beginning to shift and concentrate parking options in the core. It does also need to be combined with transit shifts and other projects, but it would still be a key component that will be needed sooner rather than later.