Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[Wpg_Guy]

https://www.winnipegice.ca/


Ice, Ice, baby! Winnipeg gets WHL team
Owners confirm Kootenay Ice move to city
Jeff Hamilton By: Jeff Hamilton
Posted: 01/29/2019 4:09 PM

The motivation behind the project comes from Fettes’ love for hockey and community. But he also said the plan is to make money. The CEO of 24-7 Intouch, a vast international customer outsourcing operation, has partnered with Tina Jones, Brad Rice and former NHL player Mike Keane, among others, to ensure the project’s success.

The Rink, the Rink Hockey Academy and various other sports and entertainment businesses will operate under the same umbrella, reaffirming the project goes well beyond a WHL team, with a much bigger picture in mind. The business will be built upon the various tenants in the event centre (including the Ice and concert events) as well as other money streams, including what’s generated from the specialized sports programs across all ages, land development, sports and wellness clinics, restaurants and retail. Fettes also announced they have purchased the MJHL’s Winnipeg Blues.

They plan to build a commercial and entertainment hub, which would be anchored by an event centre in Winnipeg’s southwestern corner. The centrepiece of the event centre will be a 4,500-capacity arena where the Winnipeg Ice will play. The current logo will also be used.

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sp...505042732.html

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[The Fisher Account]

New Calgary curveball!

Private company wanting to renovate and expand on the McMahon stadium lands (yes the mock-ups do suck):

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local...centre-project

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by The Fisher Account

New Calgary curveball!

Private company wanting to renovate and expand on the McMahon stadium lands (yes the mock-ups do suck):

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local...centre-project

Fantastic news! Proof that sports franchises and developers don't need government hand outs. It looks like a big portion of the wasted space will be developed for other uses as well. I guess this puts the final nail in the coffin of Calgary Next.

[Coldrsx]

If I were a betting man, i'd bet that we see a new Calgary arena for the Flames announced in the next two months.

[king10]

Not a fan of the running track around the field of play. Also a litte skeptical that this would be mostly private funded but would be happily surprised if it was.

[J.OT13]

Question. What is the Field House and why is it so important. Also, the guy says the project would be privately funded while also saying "with a goal to have this pay for itself through tax revenue". Which is it?

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Question. What is the Field House and why is it so important. Also, the guy says the project would be privately funded while also saying "with a goal to have this pay for itself through tax revenue". Which is it?

Good question. The more I read about it the more questions I have. The pitchman (Bill Smith) ran against Nenshi last election and was widely suspected to be a shill for the Flames. He has a tendency to be vague on details.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Question. What is the Field House and why is it so important. Also, the guy says the project would be privately funded while also saying "with a goal to have this pay for itself through tax revenue". Which is it?

It seems that the only way that the Stamps ownership group can get a new stadium built for that team is by riding on the coat-tails of a new indoor track and field facility.

[craner]

Originally Posted by king10

Not a fan of the running track around the field of play. Also a litte skeptical that this would be mostly private funded but would be happily surprised if it was.

I would assume retactable seating would come out over the track for Stamps games.

[SpongeG]

they added lighting to commonwealth

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[esquire]

^ Looks great!

[thurmas]

I am presuming the 6500 seat arena would be for the Hitmen? Also would the Stamps still be able to play at McMahon while they alter it so much? I am not sure this plan is very feasible with how weak Alberta's economy is currently.

[JHikka]

Some Halifax news:

Originally Posted by dtown

https://www.tsn.ca/schooners-plan-en...etch-1.1251888
Dave Naylor, TSN.ca

A couple of new pieces of news in this article. The original design for a stadium that was said to be in the $180 million range has been scaled back to more of a 'bare bones' stadium in the $130 million range, and they also confirm that the stadium will be domed in the winter, and that Sport NS is being heavily involved to ensure the facility is used more than 10 times a year. It also mentions that the regular season CFL game in the Maritimes this season will not be held in Halifax, but Saint John, Moncton and Antigonish are all possibilities.

All seem like positive revisions, espically since we all know this will never work if it is soley a CFL facility. Also seems encouraging that it was Mike Savage's suggestion to scale back the bells and whistles of the proposed stadium to something more practical that has the possibility to be improved and expanded over time if all goes well.

BMO Field is referenced by Naylor as being nearer to the end goal in Halifax than Mosaic...a proposed $130M price tag for a stadium in Halifax is still double what the original BMO build was.

Saint John would be intriguing for the CFL game in August but I imagine it ends up in Moncton just based on logistics.

[MonctonRad]

Given the parsimonious nature of the new Higgs government in NB, and given the recent Francophonie Games debacle, I can't imagine the NB government giving one red cent towards any CFL game in the province this year. If I were to guess, I would suggest the front runner for the Touchdown Atlantic Game this year will be Antigonish........

[esquire]

Originally Posted by JHikka

BMO Field is referenced by Naylor as being nearer to the end goal in Halifax than Mosaic...a proposed $130M price tag for a stadium in Halifax is still double what the original BMO build was.

The BMO Field model makes sense in some respects... the start small and gradually build up in phases approach also worked in the past with the old stadiums in Winnipeg, Hamilton, Regina and Ottawa.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by esquire

The BMO Field model makes sense in some respects... the start small and gradually build up in phases approach also worked in the past with the old stadiums in Winnipeg, Hamilton, Regina and Ottawa.

I agree. It makes sense to build a barebones stadium from scratch and then gauging demand from there rather than building a stadium that's too large and needing to fill it immediately. I'm still weary of a price tag that large for a stadium of that size and scope, though, if that is the plan.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by JHikka

I agree. It makes sense to build a barebones stadium from scratch and then gauging demand from there rather than building a stadium that's too large and needing to fill it immediately. I'm still weary of a price tag that large for a stadium of that size and scope, though, if that is the plan.

The nice thing about this plan is that a phase one stadium for Halifax (let's say around 18-20K seats with basic facilities and basic premium seating options) would probably be a viable facility even without a CFL team.

So hypothetically at least, if the CFL team failed in the first few years, Halifax would be left with a stadium that would be appropriately sized for other things like university football, soccer, concerts and other sports. In other words, it would still be a good civic amenity to have. Unlike a larger Mosaic/IGF type stadium which would be way oversized and very costly to maintain without a CFL team in it.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by esquire

The nice thing about this plan is that a phase one stadium for Halifax (let's say around 18-20K seats with basic facilities and basic premium seating options) would probably be a viable facility even without a CFL team.

So hypothetically at least, if the CFL team failed in the first few years, Halifax would be left with a stadium that would be appropriately sized for other things like university football, soccer, concerts and other sports. In other words, it would still be a good civic amenity to have. Unlike a larger Mosaic/IGF type stadium which would be way oversized and very costly to maintain without a CFL team in it.

This line of thinking is why I think this entire stadium-building process should be city-led and not sport team-led. Halifax should be building a stadium that fits its needs because it has the opportunity to do so, not simply because the CFL has rolled up looking for somewhere to play. As you mentioned, a city should have a stadium that is fit to its parameters rather than a teams parameters, regardless of how long that team is in operation for or to what scope.

This is, of course, when teams are seeking public funding for a stadium. Sports teams can build whatever they want if they're funding builds themselves.

[JHikka]

Vancouver's B.C. Place Stadium could soon be renamed

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-...oon-be-renamed

The B.C. Pavilion Corp. (PavCo), which manages the stadium, will soon seek a private sponsor to pay for the right to put their name on the massive sports and entertainment venue. The provincial government announced Monday it had given PavCo approval to issue a request for proposals (RFP).

This comes seven years after the B.C. Liberal government scuttled naming-rights talks it was having with Telus, that would have seen the province earn $35 million over 20 years in exchange for turning B.C. Place into Telus Park. At the time, the province claimed the deal wasn’t lucrative enough and they wanted to keep the B.C. Place name.

It’s unknown how much it would cost for a company to put their name on the stadium but any funds exchanged would go toward offsetting the stadium’s operations, freeing up government funding for other projects.

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Hope everyone is ready for Huawei Place

[HomeInMyShoes]

I'm betting Telus, for less than $35 million over 20 years.