Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[Acajack]

The Gatineau Olympiques played their final game at Robert Guertin (Le Vieux Bob) yesterday. I believe it's one of the oldest rinks in the CHL.

For those who can read French:
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle...s-hockey-lhjmq

There has been lots of media coverage here about this, but among the better anecdotes:

- The arena used to host rock concerts, for example: Supertramp, Motley Crue, Pearl Jam. After a Pearl Jam show, they found actual bull's eyes in the stands.

- It also was a regular wrestling venue in the 70s, 80s and 90s. At one point Quebec had its own wrestling circuit. Which later merged with the WWF. André the Giant (known then as Le Géant Ferré) made his North American début in this circuit. According to Vieux Bob legend, for wrestling cards the booze requirement in the dressing room would be: one case of beer for the good guys, one case for the bad guys and one case for Le Géant Ferré.

[esquire]

^ Coverage of the Bob's closure has been spilling into my Twitter feed with some great stories and pictures, and I am now feeling a tinge of regret that I never made it there to see a game in person.

I love that story of Le Géant Ferré... I recently saw this picture where he makes Bobby Hull look like a child

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Coverage of the Bob's closure has been spilling into my Twitter feed with some great stories and pictures, and I am now feeling a tinge of regret that I never made it there to see a game in person.

Vieux-Bob was one of the last vestiges of 70s-90s CHL. It's been long dead but it will be sorely missed. Playoff games in that building during late playoff runs were great.

[Tg11]

Here in Toronto apparently you will be able to attend Maple Leafs, Blue Jays, Toronto FC and Raptors games if you are fully vaccinated but if not vaccinated or partially vaccinated, you are denied entry

[Coldrsx]

WHOA - SFU


https://www.linkedin.com/company/per...On1S%2Fw%3D%3D

[esquire]

^ That is really nice. I can't believe it took them this long to build a proper grandstand to replace the grassy hill that they've been sitting on for decades on end.

[craner]

That’s a beautiful grandstand.

[Tg11]

IG Field is the best looking field not just there but go to Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton

[someone123]

A recent shot of the Wanderers Grounds in Halifax.


Source

Apparently there are ongoing talks around upgrading this to a permanent 10,000-12,000 seat facility. In the long run I think this site could be reconfigured to fit a larger stadium in the 20,000-30,000 capacity range. A lot of the stuff around the stadium is pretty easy to relocate (one "hard" boundary being the natural history museum building itself, but even that could change; their building is quite old).

[thurmas]

it's been almost 50 years Halifax talking about building a CFL sized stadium. It will never happen they just don't want to build it.

[elly63]

Never say never, who would have predicted the stadium building boom that happened in Canada. We're still in uncertain times, nobody can predict what will happen, pro sports may never be the same again or some could see growing sports as a return to normality.

[Tg11]

Originally Posted by thurmas

it's been almost 50 years Halifax talking about building a CFL sized stadium. It will never happen they just don't want to build it.

Halifax would have to get a CFL team and we know that that's not happening any time soon

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Tg11

Halifax would have to get a CFL team and we know that that's not happening any time soon

You won't be seeing a large permanent soccer stadium (that isn't made of bleachers) without a CFL team.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by elly63

You won't be seeing a large permanent soccer stadium (that isn't made of bleachers) without a CFL team.

Starlight in Langford proves this logic wrong.

Wanderers Grounds could theoretically be a permanent 10-12K facility in 5-10 years and they won't need the CFL to provide any incentive otherwise.

[elly63]

I would hardly call that "large"

[Coldrsx]

Rogers and the ICE District.


https://twitter.com/digitaltea/statu...77704865792003

[SteelTown]

Former MLSE boss now part of Hamilton’s downtown arena renovation project

https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...-district.html

For a couple years now, the proposed budget for a private-sector renovation of FirstOntario Centre has been pegged at $50 million or so.

That just got considerably bigger.

The local consortium that won the right to redevelop Hamilton’s downtown entertainment venues has partnered with Oak View Group (OVG), a Los Angeles-based arena development company headed by former Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Tim Leiweke who says his organization will be making a significant financial contribution toward the arena.

“(The building) needs an upgrade,” Leiweke says. “It needs some tender loving care. It needs an investment. It needs to be brought up to the standards that now are pretty traditional in arenas ... We’ve got to put some real money into that building and fix it.”
How much more money?

Jasper Kujavsky, Hamilton Urban Precinct Entertainment Group (HUPEG) partner and director of the arena project, says the new budget will be “at least $80 million.”

This will lead to a far-more impressive venue than initially planned with greater amenities and a vastly improved experience for users, says HUPEG president PJ Mercanti.

The specific improvements haven’t been determined yet. Those details are still being worked out. A final budget should be announced in a month or so, Kujavsky adds.

[esquire]

I'm curious to hear what the planned upgrades for FirstOntario Centre will be. I think the building has a lot of potential for a project like this.

[jonny24]

Originally Posted by esquire

I'm curious to hear what the planned upgrades for FirstOntario Centre will be. I think the building has a lot of potential for a project like this.

I did some pricing work for the group that was unsuccessful in pitching to the city. Their upgrades included a new mezzanine level, which would serve a box/suite level built on top of the lower bowl. A new scoreboard, which required significant roof reinforcement. A new curtain/ projector screen system to go around the upper bowl. And some minor improvements throughout.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by jonny24

A new scoreboard, which required significant roof reinforcement.

I'm surprised to hear that. I thought video screens and scoreboards were lighter than they used to be, at least based on how light LED TVs are compared to the LCDs/plasmas of 10+ years ago, or the CRT TVs of 20 years ago. I got an up close look at the back of a new video screen in a sports facility in Winnipeg and they did not look that bulky or heavy.

Certainly at one point they were heavy... I recall in the late 90s Winnipeg Enterprises wanted to install a replay screen at the old Winnipeg Arena but the local newspaper reported that the roof couldn't support the weight. So they compromised by buying the old Skydome Raptors replay screens and mounted them on the arena walls, which sucked as a solution because the screens weren't that big and you had to look across the entire arena to see one. It was kind of like watching a replay on your phone, but with your phone being 6 feet away from you. I figured that type of equipment had become lighter since then.