Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[esquire]

^ Very nice, 3,500 is a good size. I wish the University of Manitoba had something like that... the Bisons currently play in the Max Bell Centre on campus which is basically a community centre-calibre rink. It doesn't do much to entice people to come out to games.

[Rico Rommheim]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Speaking of the Bell Centre, when will they be starting the arena's renovations and pedestrianization of L'Avenue des Canadiens?

I haven't heard any news about it since the initial announcement.

And I really don't care all that much, the only news that would have got me excited is if they had said they would re-clad that damn shoebox. The Bell Centre is an embarrassment in every conceivable way, from its exterior appearance, its interior and its main tenant.

The only positive is that it is being quickly masked by towers on all sides.

[Oilkountry]

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

I haven't heard any news about it since the initial announcement.

And I really don't care all that much, the only news that would have got me excited is if they had said they would re-clad that damn shoebox. The Bell Centre is an embarrassment in every conceivable way, from its exterior appearance, its interior and its main tenant.

The only positive is that it is being quickly masked by towers on all sides.

WTF are you talking about. The bell centre is fine. I actually like the exterior look. in an era of cement prisons at least they added some colour. would you rather united center or wells fargo?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

WTF are you talking about. The bell centre is fine. I actually like the exterior look. in an era of cement prisons at least they added some colour. would you rather united center or wells fargo?

The exterior architecture of the building isn't bad, though I find it a bit cramped on the inside. Its interaction with the street wasn't exactly optimal either, though that's been slowly improving over time.

[Rico Rommheim]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

WTF are you talking about. The bell centre is fine. I actually like the exterior look. in an era of cement prisons at least they added some colour. would you rather united center or wells fargo?

You're right I suppose, beautiful building.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Acajack

The exterior architecture of the building isn't bad, though I find it a bit cramped on the inside. Its interaction with the street wasn't exactly optimal either, though that's been slowly improving over time.

It resembles the MTS Centre a bit... MTS Centre kind of looks like a scaled down version of Bell Centre.

And both are cramped... Bell shoehorned in 21,288 seats when 18,500 would have probably made for a better experience, in much the same way that MTS Centre is really a 12,500 seat arena with 15,321 seats jammed in.

I remember going to a game at Bell Centre a couple of weeks after it opened. It was the first time I went to a game at a brand new arena like that... I was floored when the congestion in the concourse was worse than anything I had experienced at the old Winnipeg Arena. It was at that point it became it clear to teenage me that new arenas were not really about enhancing the fan experience

[EpicPonyTime]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Very nice, 3,500 is a good size. I wish the University of Manitoba had something like that... the Bisons currently play in the Max Bell Centre on campus which is basically a community centre-calibre rink. It doesn't do much to entice people to come out to games.

Sask's current arena was built in the 1920s and only seats 700 people (it also can't fit a full-sized rink, if I remember correctly), so it is a huge improvement for the university and the city overall. Something like 1,500 hours per year will be committed to minor hockey as well.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

You're right I suppose, beautiful building.

It has a few redeeming features, but overall it is deserving to be in the ugly thread.

[Oilkountry]

Originally Posted by esquire

It resembles the MTS Centre a bit... MTS Centre kind of looks like a scaled down version of Bell Centre.

And both are cramped... Bell shoehorned in 21,288 seats when 18,500 would have probably made for a better experience, in much the same way that MTS Centre is really a 12,500 seat arena with 15,321 seats jammed in.

I remember going to a game at Bell Centre a couple of weeks after it opened. It was the first time I went to a game at a brand new arena like that... I was floored when the congestion in the concourse was worse than anything I had experienced at the old Winnipeg Arena. It was at that point it became it clear to teenage me that new arenas were not really about enhancing the fan experience

Cramped arenas are a Canadian thing. i remember going to a game in Vancouver and i couldn't believe how packed the concourses were. Rexall was the only arena i can remember where the concourses were okay relative to its 16000 fans. Ive heard the ACC is a nightmare as well. But vancouver to me was the worst. Even worse than MTS

[Oilkountry]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

It has a few redeeming features, but overall it is deserving to be in the ugly thread.

It's not the prettiest but embarrassing? I can think of far uglier inside and out. Rogers arena with the puke green stairs and burgundy seats. and the exterior that looks like they quit halfway through.

[Rico Rommheim]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

It's not the prettiest but embarrassing? I can think of far uglier inside and out. Rogers arena with the puke green stairs and burgundy seats. and the exterior that looks like they quit halfway through.

What are you, the bell centre incarnate?

I think it's an embarrassing clump of ugly pre-fab fake-brick panels and metal sheets awkwardly placed by the world's laziest 'architect'.

That's my aesthetical assessment.

Beyond that, it was built on the railyards of windsor station, forever making that building obsolete, and replacing that said station with an awkwardly integrated small AMT shack of a station called lucien l'allier.

Never mind the fact that the canadiens 'hockey' club have never won a cup there since they've moved in.

I got one more: saying the bell centre looks 'kind of okay' is like bragging that your girlfriend looks good on one side, or in the dark. I'm not convinced.

This venting is fun, and i could go on, i'm on a long week-end now.

[Berklon]

Count me as another who things the Bell Centre is ugly. Embarrassing is overstating it, but ugly is the right word.

It's just a big box... looks like it's a big-ass big box store.

MTS Centre is so much nicer looking.

[WhipperSnapper]

Count me too. Ugly as fuck. Embarrassing is within reason.

[craner]

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

You're right I suppose, beautiful building.

Yeesh - that is Bad.
The main street elevation doesn't look too bad but this is pretty horrible.

[esquire]

I think I'm probably in the minority on this one, but I prefer an arena that looks like a buttoned-down office building and thus blends into its urban surroundings well to the hokey, theme-parky opposite that exists in some places.

Give me Bell Centre's massive blandness any day over stuff like this:

[Calgarian]

Those are what the Flames were originally looking for when they first started talking about a new arena like 10 years ago lol.

[Oilkountry]

I'm not saying its a staple of beauty. But its middle of the pack in terms of exteriors IMO. It's missing that massive glass front entrance that you see on most rinks but that is being added



I think it looks better than a handful of other 90s arenas. It was built in an era where you went full glass front entrance with a cladding of some sort on the rest of the building or.... full brick and concrete with the odd glass on the exterior. It was privately financed so I can only imagine this was a pure cost decision. I'll take it over a tacky bridgestone or nationwide Arena. i personally like the Brick and glass MTS Centre look. Bell Centre needs an Upgrade/ Face lift thats forsure. They missed an opportunity to change the seating colors instead of going with the boring Red again.

[Acajack]

Honda Center looks a bit like a South Korean department store that once collapsed.

[Jay in Cowtown]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

WTF are you talking about. The bell centre is fine. I actually like the exterior look. in an era of cement prisons at least they added some colour. would you rather united center or wells fargo?

The fucking Saddledome looks better than that... seriously!

Actually the old Northlands does too. lol

[osmo]

Originally Posted by Oilkountry

I'm not saying its a staple of beauty. But its middle of the pack in terms of exteriors IMO. It's missing that massive glass front entrance that you see on most rinks but that is being added



I think it looks better than a handful of other 90s arenas. It was built in an era where you went full glass front entrance with a cladding of some sort on the rest of the building or.... full brick and concrete with the odd glass on the exterior. It was privately financed so I can only imagine this was a pure cost decision. I'll take it over a tacky bridgestone or nationwide Arena. i personally like the Brick and glass MTS Centre look. Bell Centre needs an Upgrade/ Face lift thats forsure. They missed an opportunity to change the seating colors instead of going with the boring Red again.

These are poor examples. These examples are all parking lot bunkers.

Comparison of downtown street grid arenas would be more realistic.

Bell Centre still looks like a jail, looks just as mad in person as it does in pictures. It does have the nicest arena bowl in the league though IMO.