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

[MonctonRad]

Good news!

If there is anything which will encourage me to keep my season's tickets, it will be the prospect of another Memorial Cup tournament in 2019. The last one was a hoot!!

@L'homard - the only other perk I can think of (and this occurs at the present coliseum) is that club seat patrons can order food or drinks from their seat and have it delivered to them. I don't know for sure if this will carry on in the new events centre or not.

The benefits of club seating will be significant in the new events centre, especially access to the club lounge and restaurant. Corporate box owners have access to the lounge too, but not the greater unwashed elsewhere in the building (the ones without cup holders)........

Of course you pay a premium for the privilege of club seating, but this can be worth it.

The Wildcats also have a program where you are able to pay for "premium parking" behind the coliseum. I wonder if they are planning anything like that with the events centre.

[q12]

Originally Posted by felip_ars

It's official, Moncton is bidding for the 2019 Memorial Cup!

http://moncton-wildcats.com/article/...d-memorial-cup

IMO unless Halifax (with his 25th anniversary) enters as well, it's a pretty clear path.

FYI
• Video Link

[SevenSquared]

Love this thread, it really shows how diverse people's tastes are.

Personally, I don't care for padded seats or cup holders. What I do care about are sight lines, lighting, and atmosphere. I don't even want an actual seat if it's an option. I don't go to sporting events to relax in comfort and unwind.

This North American trend of building large hockey arenas that feel more like movie theatres, with super shallow risers and overly comfy seats is kind of ridiculous IMO, you see the result with most NHL arenas nowadays being devoid of atmosphere, people leaning back watching the jumbotron and their phones rather than watching intently and encouraging their team. Yawn.

I'm glad our arena is somewhat counter-trend, it's more of a scaled-down version of the old NHL barns, except very much modern in terms of technology and amenities. Best of both worlds, without going overboard.

But back to the topic of the seats themselves, CTV did a story on the arena, they showed a close-up of the padded seats on the penalty box side, they appear to be the Citation chairs.

[felip_ars]

Originally Posted by q12

FYI
• Video Link

Is it official? The video was released on Nov 24th, but there was an article Journal de Quebec on Nov 30th saying that there's wasn't an official bid at the time.

[Nashe]

Internal cam should be back up.

[benvui]

Mooseheads to bid for 2019 memorial cup
This is from December 8th

[MonctonRad]

<sigh>

So it's Moncton vs Halifax again.......

Concerts (a wash generally, but I think we won this one by a hair)
CFL (Halifax took this one despite three successful Touchdown Atlantics in Moncton. I think the CFL was actually playing us on this one)
retail (we got BPS, they got IKEA, but overall they are definitely in the lead)
Memorial Cup (we have the newer venue, but it's been longer since they've held one, and it is their 25th anniversary, so I give them the edge on this)

It never ends..........

[flyer99]

Originally Posted by Philbilly

So the city of moncton got back to me concerning the seat at the event center

“Mr. Collette, we apologize for the delay as we needed to verify our information with the contractor of the facility. The Centre will have cup holders on all club seats; however, the regular seats will not have them. We can assure you that the seats are comfortable. City Council made the decision (and approved the added investment) to increase the width of the seats to improve the spectator experience. The seats included in the Events Centre are all wider and more comfortable than those at the Coliseum. Should you be interested, the facility has 850 club seats (theatre style padded seats) located at center ice. We are very confident that you will be more than pleased with the seats in this state-of-the-art facility. “

I can't believe this! This city spends $110 million on a downtown centre and can't afford cup holders for around 8,000 seats??? Unbelievable! All the seats should have some sort of padding AND cupholders, not just the 850 elite few that will be able to afford "club seating". This is going to turn off a LOT of people!

[SevenSquared]

Originally Posted by flyer99

I can't believe this! This city spends $110 million on a downtown centre and can't afford cup holders for around 8,000 seats??? Unbelievable! All the seats should have some sort of padding AND cupholders, not just the 850 elite few that will be able to afford "club seating". This is going to turn off a LOT of people!

Don't worry, a lack of demand will bring those padded club seat prices way down; they only go from row 15 to ice level on the penalty box side. People generally don't sit near the bottom unless they have no other option, the other side has 28 rows (no padding) and for most people a much better view of the ice.

It clearly wasn't done deliberately, but it's kind of a brilliant way to make the place look less empty on TV, give the padding-and-cup crowd a reason to actually want to fill those empty seats in the first few rows.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by flyer99

I can't believe this! This city spends $110 million on a downtown centre and can't afford cup holders for around 8,000 seats??? Unbelievable! All the seats should have some sort of padding AND cupholders, not just the 850 elite few that will be able to afford "club seating". This is going to turn off a LOT of people!

Usually when I go to an arena for the first time my initial thought isn't "I hope there's cupholders". I sincerely hope the event you're going there for is more important than the food you're eating while there.

I'm sure the people of Moncton will be able to cope.

[Monctoncore]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Usually when I go to an arena for the first time my initial thought isn't "I hope there's cupholders". I sincerely hope the event you're going there for is more important than the food you're eating while there.

I'm sure the people of Moncton will be able to cope.

AMEN! I completely agree! If people want the cup holders they can pay to sit in the new area.

[Good2go]

ToriWeldonCBC‏ @TWeldonCBC 5 minutes ago

Corey Craig Group is the new purchaser of parcel B of
the Downtown centre site. $3 million purchase price, $17 Million dollar development.



ToriWeldonCBC‏ @TWeldonCBC 2 minutes ago

It will be a 120 room Regency hotel, with parking. Corey O'Neill is the president and CEO. Construction is slated to begin 2018, and finish 2021.

[Monctoncore]

Originally Posted by Good2go

ToriWeldonCBC‏ @TWeldonCBC 5 minutes ago

Corey Craig Group is the new purchaser of parcel B of
the Downtown centre site. $3 million purchase price, $17 Million dollar development.



ToriWeldonCBC‏ @TWeldonCBC 2 minutes ago

It will be a 120 room Regency hotel, with parking. Corey O'Neill is the president and CEO. Construction is slated to begin 2018, and finish 2021.

Awesome news! Cannot wait to see some renders!

[flyer99]

Originally Posted by Monctoncore

Awesome news! Cannot wait to see some renders!

Renders here:

http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...98260&page=157

[MonctonRad]

I thought this an interesting perspective on the plaza in front of the events centre, highlighting the outdoor rink/oval and the stage:



This photo would have been taken from one of the balconies off of the club lounge area of the events centre and gives a good overview, including the federal building and the Crowne Plaza in the background.

Now, imagine the new Hyatt Place Hotel (and restaurant) across the street, and it will be easy to see what a focal point this plaza will be for the city in the future!





One final note regarding the plaza. Although the skate rental building/information kiosk/cafe (Parcel "C") is not immediately being built, they have apparently decided to add in a natural gas fire pit somewhere in the plaza allowing skaters in winter a place to warm up during breaks from their skating activities. I think this is a nice touch. I still think a small cafe/take-out would be nice for hot chocolate though, and hope that this will be added in within the next couple of years.

[Monctoncore]

I noticed on the webcam today, the lighting connected to the seats is now on. Looks very nice having the stairs lit up.

[tmacdougall]

Nice touch indeed!

Originally Posted by Monctoncore

I noticed on the webcam today, the lighting connected to the seats is now on. Looks very nice having the stairs lit up.

[felip_ars]

Been looking on Twitter about the City doing a poor job (again) removing the snow on the sidewalk Downtown.

Would have thought that they would have taken this year as a "practice round" before their first winter with the new Centre, but I guess like the parking situation...they'll go with the "wait and see" strategy.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by felip_ars

Been looking on Twitter about the City doing a poor job (again) removing the snow on the sidewalk Downtown.

Would have thought that they would have taken this year as a "practice round" before their first winter with the new Centre, but I guess like the parking situation...they'll go with the "wait and see" strategy.

This is the Achilles heel for the downtown events centre. This will be a wonderful venue that could do wonders for the downtown core, but this parking issue will not go away until we have a logical, coherent and meaningful plan to deal with it!!!!!!. Wintertime with it's particular challenges in our climate has been completely ignored by the city.

The Wildcats and the Magic will suffer (the Cats in particular because their attendance is higher). We still have no idea what the participation rate of private lot owners will be in any parking strategy. Non participating lots presumably will still be patrolled by the booters, which will drive fear amongst potential clients. On street parking in the core effectively disappears from mid December until the end of March as the snowbanks grow and the streets narrow. Sidewalks are slippery and difficult to navigate.

The city gloats that there are 4000 parking spaces in the core. I betcha that in the end the actual amount available will be half that, probably decreasing to 1200-1500 as on street parking disappears in the height of winter. The city apparently has no plan to deal with this. They prefer to place their head firmly in the sand and pretend the problem doesn't exist.

I'm surprised Robert Irving isn't taking the bull by the horns himself , securing parking spaces and reserving them for season ticket holders (bundling the cost as an option into season ticket holders packages). There is silence on this front however as well.

There will be reckoning. There will be a crisis (lower than expected attendances at events, outcry over booting by unsuspecting out-of-towners). The solution is building enclosed parking structures.

Why is it that the city can't see that this is necessary???????

[OliverD]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

On street parking in the core effectively disappears from mid December until the end of March as the snowbanks grow and the streets narrow.

Moncton doesn't truck away snow from the downtown core to prevent this?