Replacement for the Aud?

[Ontario1]

The bus terminal might be a good spot for a new auditorium. When the LRT is up and running the buses won't need to all meet downtown and the terminal can be demolished and the site reused.

[notmyfriends]

Yeah, there really aren't many blocks left that are downtown and would work. Some idea:

Waterloo-Victoria-King-railway tracks
Duke-Francis-Victoria-Weber
Weber-College-Young-Roy
Water-Joseph-Francis-Charles
King-Cedar-Charles-Madison
King-Cedar-Duke-Madison

My preference would be Victoria-Joseph-Oak-Linden, integrated with the bars/restaurants/etc in the Tannery, but I can hear the complaints over that one already, being too close to houses, etc.

[KW4Life]

A multi purpose facility in the city center would seem to me to make the most sense. If it were my decision, the arena would be about 12,000 seats and lots of luxury boxes.

As for location, the old Uniroyal plant between on Strange Street has lots of room but it doesn't have much else going for it. Single lane streets and no retail around it. If it were rezoned commercial instead of industrial, Glasgow St could have a nice street presence. I think the region is intent on keeping its industrial zoned land that way though.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...=17&iwloc=addr

I think the parking lot between Grand River Hospital and Sunlife is the best location. It will be right on the main transportation route and Sunlife could get a lot of parking out of an underground lot. A tunnel across Union into Sunlife could be worked in too so their employees don't have to freeze their nubblies off in the winter, or dodge cars crossing the street.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...,0.010761&z=17

I suspect that they will build right on the current site, which isn't a terrible option, but not very exciting either.

[Ktown4ever]

I agree with the notion that putting an arena like this one out in the burbs would be a mistake. I think a downtown location is best.

[dunkalunk]

My main qualm with the Uniroyal site is that it would be incredibly hard to get to and from. All of the main streets in that area are 2 lanes and congestion would be a nightmare. Also, Placing the stadium in the block beside Clarica may have its advantages, however, the only main artery through the area is King Street (which will be reduced to 2 lanes from the LRT), and apart from Union, there are no East-West arteries for some distance.

Personally, I'd like to see a new auditorium built in the block bound by Charles, Borden, Kent and Scneider Creek. The area is already slated for redevelopment, there is lots of space, and it would provide the powers that be a reason to renaturalize Schneider and Shoemaker Creek as well as extend the urban core further south. Transportation wise, its easy to get to for out-of-towners, It will be right beside an LRT stop (Park and ride at Sportsworld, Fairview, UW), and for those who don't want to drive all the way, there are numerous main arteries clustered around the stadium (Ottawa, Courtland, ect.)

[Brenden]

What about the old Conestoga College spot? I know it was recently bought but it could be an option, its close to the highway and the university. I must admin its a really boring location but its still an option.

Or Weber and Columbia.

[Cambridgite]

Originally Posted by dunkalunk

My main qualm with the Uniroyal site is that it would be incredibly hard to get to and from. All of the main streets in that area are 2 lanes and congestion would be a nightmare. Also, Placing the stadium in the block beside Clarica may have its advantages, however, the only main artery through the area is King Street (which will be reduced to 2 lanes from the LRT), and apart from Union, there are no East-West arteries for some distance.

Personally, I'd like to see a new auditorium built in the block bound by Charles, Borden, Kent and Scneider Creek. The area is already slated for redevelopment, there is lots of space, and it would provide the powers that be a reason to renaturalize Schneider and Shoemaker Creek as well as extend the urban core further south. Transportation wise, its easy to get to for out-of-towners, It will be right beside an LRT stop (Park and ride at Sportsworld, Fairview, UW), and for those who don't want to drive all the way, there are numerous main arteries clustered around the stadium (Ottawa, Courtland, ect.)

I'm going to agree with you on this one. If they can't just rebuild it in the current site, they should just build it somewhere in that area of brownfields around King and Ottawa. It will likely be accessible by LRT in the future, the roads are major, and it's close to the expressway. Not to mention, the area will eventually be redeveloped into something more lively as downtown expands.

[KitchenerBitcher]

The first time I looked at this thread this idea came to my head. It definitely isn't right downtown, but I guess you would say it is on the downtown fringe. It is the block surrounded by;Blucher St, St. Leger St, Louisa St, and Margaret Ave. I don't know what the nature of that land is, it probably used to have some sort of industry. When on Google earth it sticks out like a sore thumb. Along Margaret ave. there is a nice old church, an apartment tower, and tons of parking I'm guessing for the church. The Blucher Street side has some lovely old homes. other than that, there are a couple shabby old buildings on St Leger, and I'm not sure what kind of buildings face onto Louisa Street. It still leaves a huge space for an arena. I would love to see the city look into who owns this property, or if not them, it would be a great opportunity for any developer. I lived in this neighbourhood, when I was really little, and I still kind of like it. I'm not sure if you would say the site is in, or adjacent to the "warehouse district". It has great proximity to the train station, downtown, and victoria street. I think if something like an arena went in this neighbourhood, it would hopefully spark some gentrification.

[dunkalunk]

I live near this neighborhood now and used to go to school at Margaret Ave, so i know it quite well. The large used to be a woodchipping lot, but now it sits vancant. Louisa street has residental frontage. St. Leger hosts a number of small warehouses including what used to be a grocery distributor but now a Canada Post warehouse. The area is definitely ripe for redevelopment and would increase the value of surrounding homes. The neighborhood has entered a state of decay however and could use some fixing up. Either way, I still don't like this location because of the traffic congestion it would cause, however, this area shows much promise for urban infill.

[jcollins]

I like the idea of a downtown arena, but are we really suited for it?

Of many of those examples you just posted, many of them are either right beside an expressway (Toronto, Montreal I believe, Kansas, Boston, etc) or are located directly on a major transport artery. I can just picture 10,000-15,000 people trying to leave onto king st. Granted, not everyone will drive, but I still think it has to be a major consideration.

[BusyBerliner]

Originally Posted by jcollins

I like the idea of a downtown arena, but are we really suited for it?

Of many of those examples you just posted, many of them are either right beside an expressway (Toronto, Montreal I believe, Kansas, Boston, etc) or are located directly on a major transport artery. I can just picture 10,000-15,000 people trying to leave onto king st. Granted, not everyone will drive, but I still think it has to be a major consideration.

Consider Ottawa's football stadium (in Lansdowne Park)



It's just on the edge of downtown, next to an established residential area, not right beside a highway, and has almost no parking. When the Renagades were still in town the city just ran lots extra buses, all of which were free on game days and for major concerts. The buses would be absolutely packed with fans and had a great vibe. It seemed to work really well. An areana in the King/Ottawa could function similarly.

[notmyfriends]

[BusyBerliner]

quiet you!

.. forgot about that ... but they do plan to rebuild and expand I believe

[jcollins]

Originally Posted by BusyBerliner

Consider Ottawa's football stadium (in Lansdowne Park)


It's just on the edge of downtown, next to an established residential area, not right beside a highway, and has almost no parking.

Lansdowne was close enough to the 417 (to the north) and Hunt Club (to the south)

[Section ThirtyOne]

Originally Posted by notmyfriends

Haven't laughed this hard at a post in some time!

[0sprey]

Originally Posted by Ontario1

The bus terminal might be a good spot for a new auditorium. When the LRT is up and running the buses won't need to all meet downtown and the terminal can be demolished and the site reused.

Penn station is right below MSG in New York....why not do a 'smaller city' version here and combine the Aud with the bus station. That will definitely make it easy to get to via transit if the majority of buses used it as a focal point for their respective routes!

[DHLawrence]

That might work, except they're planning to move Penn Station into the nearby Farley Post Office and demolish MSG to allow natural light to flow down to the platforms. At least that's what they're saying this week; keeps changing.

If developers can fit an arena of the desired size onto that space, I say go for it and move the bus station up to Victoria Street. Otherwise, keep looking.

[Brenden]

I have been having some problems keeping track of all of these locations so I made a Google Map: New Waterloo Region Aud Locations.
Its open to collaboration so go ahead and edit and add to the map.

[jcollins]

Originally Posted by Brenden

I have been having some problems keeping track of all of these locations so I made a Google Map: New Waterloo Region Aud Locations.
Its open to collaboration so go ahead and edit and add to the map.

Great idea!! Thanks Brenden

[dunkalunk]

I have added a new potentail site for the stadium to the google map. I placed it in the south University of Waterloo lot. See pros and cons there. I also changed my colour to yellow if you don't mind (duckies!).