Quote:
Originally Posted by dmacc
Does anyone know where to find the alternate designs for CLC back in the early 00s? I seem to remember there being other versions that were floated out there. Specifically, a design that had much more glass.
|
I suspect you would have to go back to printed materials from the era, newspapers, etc. It was kind of the stone age of the internet, not a lot of articles from back then would still be accessible today.
As I recall there were three main iterations of the arena's design.
The first one was fairly modern with a lot of what looked like glass and various metal panels. That got people upset because it was too modern
So the next version was cartoonishly retro with lots of masonry. That was criticized for not being modern enough.
The third and final version, which was ultimately the one that got built, sort of split the difference with some modern design cues but with red bricks. I always wondered if the east and west elevations were holdovers from the first design, though, with all of their glass and metal that doesn't really match the main facade.
I think the arena's design has held up well, although if I could have changed anything about it, it would have been nice if the main facade was a little taller. Strictly from an appearance perspective it would have been nice had it been a little higher and more imposing. It also would have been kind of cool had there been another ring of suites at the top of the arena like in Vancouver, but I guess TNSE didn't need that extra capacity.
My major beef with the arena is the cramped seating. It feels so squished... whenever another grown man sits next to me it feels like I have to pull my shoulders in. The seating is so tight that it makes it feel like they simply squeezed 15,000 seats into the originally-envisioned 12,000 seat arena. I was at Stride Place in Portage earlier this week and OMG the seating is so much wider and more comfortable.