Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[EpicPonyTime]

Originally Posted by Jaws

They can spin it anyway they want. That expenditure is still necessary to build the arena. I mean, er, Event Centre.

Even then, I'd say renovations for Commonwealth should be treated differently than building a new arena in either major city. There's entirely different factors:

- Calgary's arena can be funded by the Flames' owners, and will be to an extent. There's no comparable partner for Commonwealth. The Elks can't afford that.

- Commonwealth is a city-owned stadium, primarily used by the public and a community-owned football team. Different situation than an NHL arena.

- Commonwealth is, like it or not, Alberta's stadium. McMahon cannot host the events Commonwealth can. If Alberta wants to host stadium tours/Heritage Classics/soccer games, they'll be at Commonwealth. If the Commonwealth Games bid gets off the ground, there's a high probability it'll be the main stadium (you can never be sure with the UCP in power though).

- Edmonton's ask is still millions of dollars lower than Calgary's ask.

- If we want to go down the "they're only paying for nearby infrastructure" route, the area around Commonwealth could use further investment. They just rebuilt the LRT station and there have been tons of apartments going up, so the infrastructure could be improved and expanded to handle the new influx of little (and the City is actually starting that process now). There's an opportunity to help transform the area around the stadium from a relatively rough neighborhood into a model transit village. I'm sure there's also plenty they could do with the Joe Clark Athletics Grounds.

There's simply no justifiable reason for the Alberta government not to chip in for this in light of the millions they're gifting Calgary and the Flames.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by thurmas

If Commonwealth can get a party deck to replace the empty tarped end zone seats similar to the mosaic pilsner one would be good and some lodge seating.

They already do have a bit of that, they installed them several years ago.

[thurmas]

True but way too small and temp looking

[EpicPonyTime]

Those fields-level seats always seem popular when I go to games (more popular than the standing areas higher up in the endzone) but I really question how good the view of the game must be from there.

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by EpicPonyTime

Even then, I'd say renovations for Commonwealth should be treated differently than building a new arena in either major city. There's entirely different factors:

- Calgary's arena can be funded by the Flames' owners, and will be to an extent. There's no comparable partner for Commonwealth. The Elks can't afford that.

- Commonwealth is a city-owned stadium, primarily used by the public and a community-owned football team. Different situation than an NHL arena.

- Commonwealth is, like it or not, Alberta's stadium. McMahon cannot host the events Commonwealth can. If Alberta wants to host stadium tours/Heritage Classics/soccer games, they'll be at Commonwealth. If the Commonwealth Games bid gets off the ground, there's a high probability it'll be the main stadium (you can never be sure with the UCP in power though).

- Edmonton's ask is still millions of dollars lower than Calgary's ask.

- If we want to go down the "they're only paying for nearby infrastructure" route, the area around Commonwealth could use further investment. They just rebuilt the LRT station and there have been tons of apartments going up, so the infrastructure could be improved and expanded to handle the new influx of little (and the City is actually starting that process now). There's an opportunity to help transform the area around the stadium from a relatively rough neighborhood into a model transit village. I'm sure there's also plenty they could do with the Joe Clark Athletics Grounds.

There's simply no justifiable reason for the Alberta government not to chip in for this in light of the millions they're gifting Calgary and the Flames.

It is unclear whether the provincial component was extra/over and above money or just permission to use existing and expected allocations on particular projects.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by thurmas

True but way too small and temp looking

Well yeah, they are temporary... from the looks of it, they can be removed and seats replaced. But what difference does it really make? If the goal is to stand around during the game, you can do that.

[EpicPonyTime]

Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker

It is unclear whether the provincial component was extra/over and above money or just permission to use existing and expected allocations on particular projects.

Aside from the fact that aspects of the deal are still unclear at this point is a darkly humorous issue, I'm sure they could find some allocations for Commonwealth.

[blueandgoldguy]

Originally Posted by ZeDgE

The money to Calgary is not going directly to the arena though.

All of that money is related to infrastructure supporting the arena that otherwise wouldn't be necessary. We also know the community rink attached to the arena will be funded by the province - a community rink that will serve as a practice facility for the Flames and possible their AHL and WHL affiliate, meaning it probably won't be available to the community all that often. Same thing with the public plaza which will likely be closed to the public regularly for private events (ie. cover charge to watch the Flames in the playoffs). Those 2 things might as well be considered provincial funding of the arena.

[J.OT13]

A lot of these stadiums have or had some pretty obvious issues. Bad design, dumb novelties, confusing choices.

Does anyone understand why they've never implemented a standard size for MLB fields? I can understand why legacy fields would be allowed to maintain odd layouts and dimensions (outfield, not the diamond), but any new stadium should follow a standard. We've had regulation sized rinks in the NHL since I don't know when (I believe Boston Garden was the last NHL rink with an odd sized rink).

• Video Link

[thurmas]

baseball is different i like that teams can change dimensions

[esquire]

A lot of those baseball field quirks are deliberately engineered which completely eliminates the charm IMO. It feels very forced and faked.

I much prefer the symmetrical design of midcentury stadiums. It was embraced in Japan although in recent years they too seem to following the American lead of hokey asymmetrical designs pretending to be 1908 Newark or whatever.

Keep your in-play poles and hills and 20 foot fence jogs... give me this any day:

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by thurmas

baseball is different i like that teams can change dimensions

Colorado without a modified field would be insanely overpowered at home. It is one of the quirks of baseball that makes it just a tiny bit more interesting.

[J.OT13]

It's a totally different game depending on which stadium the game is at. A player from one team could set a home run record just because the outfield is smaller or has an odd shape. At another field, home runs can be near impossible because of a big wall. It's very inconsistent in design and play.

I get that it might make the game more interesting, but it feels like every player and record in the hall of fame should have an asterisk.

I like the park posted by esquire. Good proportions.

[WhipperSnapper]

The balls don't seem as lively this year as prior years. That deserves an asterisks too.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

The balls don't seem as lively this year as prior years. That deserves an asterisks too.

Denser air due to forest fire smoke particulate? (I'll leave the follow-on correlation to someone else to make )

[craner]

I like all the different outfield dimensions & configurations in baseball. I think it’s the only major sport where it makes sense.
I don’t agree with hills, poles, monuments, etc. in the field of play though - that’s just stupid and unsafe.

[Coldrsx]

FEATURE: How Daryl Katz's ICE District has transformed downtown Edmonton

An Eric Fisher feature on the impact of Daryl Katz and his ICE District on the capital city of Special to EdmontonOilers.com
June 12, 2023

On a typical Oilers game night, downtown Edmonton is teeming with activity stretching for multiple blocks in every direction.
https://www.nhl.com/oilers/news/feat...on/c-344834614

[J.OT13]

Ottawa Senators sold to Michael Andlauer. Malhotras of local developer Claridge Homes are part of the bid. This pretty much guarantees Ottawa will get a new Downtown arena as Ottawa City Hall is very friendly with Claridge. Only issue is, the overall quality of the arena and surrounding development might be sub-par. Better this than no arena Downtown?

[thurmas]

What will happen to the arena in Kanata once downtown arena opens?

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by thurmas

What will happen to the arena in Kanata once downtown arena opens?

No clue. The arena is surrounded by 70 acres of parking and on the route for Stage 3 of the O-Train (unfunded and questionable at this time). The site could become a new Mertotown or just another typical low density suburb.

The Mayor wants to see a vision for the old arena itself, but based on who's involved with the bid, I'm not seeing much vision for something out-of-the-box (for Ottawa).