CANADA - Stadium and Arena Development News

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by elly63

[
Ottawa’s CFL team will get it right this time. They don’t plan on putting on blinders when it comes to the francophone market ... and they’re certainly not stupid enough to ignore football fans in the Valley.

Sounds like this management team has their head screwed on straight. Metropolitan Ottawa is the same size as Edmonton and Calgary. There's no reason why this franchise can't one day pull in big crowds like those 2 teams.

I suppose we can expect a team name that works in both English and French. I came up with 3: the Ottawa Gatineau, the Ottawa Nationals, or the Ottawa 76 as a nod to the Ottawa Rough Riders who were founded in 1876.

Anglophones could call them the 76'ers, but what is the french version of that? What do you guys think?

[Neda Say]

Le (ou les) 76 d'Ottawa... ça sonne pas trop mais bon!
It doesn't sound much but why not!

A graft always takes time to take.

Now I'd like to look forward to the 10th team as I think this league will only become really viable when we'll reach the "magic" 12 teams.
Ottawa is a must. Now the real question is what city will become the tenth market of the CFL.

[Calvin W]

Ottawa Poutine :-)

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Neda Say

Le (ou les) 76 d'Ottawa... ça sonne pas trop mais bon!
It doesn't sound much but why not!

A graft always takes time to take.

Now I'd like to look forward to the 10th team as I think this league will only become really viable when we'll reach the "magic" 12 teams.
Ottawa is a must. Now the real question is what city will become the tenth market of the CFL.

Les Soixant-seize d'Ottawa en francais et the Seventy-Sixers in English. I like it! How about something like this:

Replace 'Union product' with 'Ottawa' and 'Gasoline' with 'Football'


I agree about the need for more teams, but I'd rather the league wait till other cities are ready to host a CFL team than go down market. The 10th will most certainly be in either Quebec City of Halifax. Both will likely happen before we see a 6th team in the West. Sorry Moncton, but you're just too damn small.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Les Soixant-seize d'Ottawa en francais et the Seventy-Sixers in English. I like it! How about something like this:

I agree about the need for more teams, but I'd rather the league wait till other cities are ready to host a CFL team than go down market. The 10th will most certainly be in either Quebec City of Halifax. Both will likely happen before we see a 6th team in the West. Sorry Moncton, but you're just too damn small.

Doubt you'll see 76ers as a name as it would create brand confusion with the NBA team. Hunt is very aware of such things. There is still a great attachment to the iconic "R".



Rivermen is being floated as a popular choice.

As for Moncton being too small, it is within a two/two and a half hour drive of SJ, Freddy Beach, PEI, Northern NB and Halifax. That is a lot of people a whole lot closer than they are in Regina. It is a fast growing area. If you would have mentioned Moncton ten years ago, I would say you would have been crazy but I wouldn't say that now. Moncton and Halifax virtually switched identities. Moncton is now the place to go and Halifax has become stagnant, although the new mayor of Halifax may be looking to change that with talk of a new stadium.

The problem with Moncton is lack of history of big time football (no local university program but high school football is popular) and a lack of ownership candidates. If they were able to get one owner what if he wanted to sell?

A tenth team in the CFL is a long, long, long way away and Commish Cohon prudently has never stated otherwise.

[elly63]

Investors Group Field construction photos from the week of November 26-30, 2012

[koolio]

10th team - Quebec City
11th team - Maritimes
12th team - Victoria

Get this done by 2020 Cohon!

[Neda Say]

Originally Posted by koolio

10th team - Quebec City
11th team - Maritimes
12th team - Victoria

Get this done by 2020 Cohon!

I agree with the overall idea, I just want to move the deadline forward by at least 2 years. Not really realistic I know but one might ask for the impossible if one want things to be realized.

[elly63]

While people here seem to think it is a good idea to pick an area and assign a team to it, the problem with that is there really is no call for a team in that area.

Quebec is quite happy with their college program at Laval and while the people of Moncton might think it would be great to have a team, there isn't a public groundswell to get one (aside from Mayor LeBlanc schmoozing), nor is there in Halifax where there is hardly enough impetus to build a stadium. I can't speak for Victoria but there doesn't seem to be much news coming out of there.

Look how long it has taken Ottawa to start moving, and that is with very dedicated ownership. There was significant enough negativity and NIMBYism to stall that project for years, the other cities haven't even got to that stage yet.

I wouldn't hold my breath for any new franchises any time soon.

[isaidso]

The mayor of Halifax is on record as saying that a stadium is a matter of when not if and that it will get under way during his term. Whether they understand that a Moncton style stadium is not going to cut it is another story.

Originally Posted by elly63

Doubt you'll see 76ers as a name as it would create brand confusion with the NBA team.

I don't think the use of a name from a foreign league should have any bearing. There is no brand confusion between the BC Lions and Detroit Lions. People know which one is being talked about. I do like the 'R' and old helmet, but not a fan of 'Rivermen' at all.

I've heard the arguments about Moncton. There are about 30 pages of discussion about it on SSP. As a former Maritimer, I'd eventually like to see both a team in Halifax and one in NB. If Manitoba and Saskatchewan can each have a team so can these 2 provinces which are only marginally smaller. Btw, Mt. Allison is the local collegiate team in Moncton. It's technically not in Moncton but only 20 minutes south.

[elly63]

The Lions' franchises go back over 60 years. People forget that the NFL was not an important sporting entity in Canada until the 80s when their broadcasts become widely available (aside from near border regions ie Toronto/Buffalo). Globalization wasn't a factor then.

Mount A is not Moncton's team by any stretch of the imagination. Few people go from Moncton to watch Mount A football. I have lived in both Halifax and Moncton for lengthy periods and Halifax is the football town but Moncton officials have the drive to pursue a franchise and the physical location and population base to make it viable. Problem is there are no ownership groups on the horizon something that Commish Cohon knows from his local advisory committee.

[isaidso]

Monctonians would support collegiate football at UDM just like Haligonians support the Huskies. The argument that Moncton only supports high school football doesn't accurately summarize things. It's more a case of college football in Canada being for faculty and students while in the US it has spread beyond the collegiate walls.

At the Touchdown Atlantic event the Mt. Allison team drew from lots of fans from Moncton.

The Lions being over 60 years old? What's your point? If Ottawa wants to call their team the 76ers I have no objection at all. That some team in another country has done the same is neither here nor there. That Philadelphia team has no territorial claims here.

Moncton certainly has more ambition, but Halifax will win this battle.

[koolio]

Originally Posted by elly63

While people here seem to think it is a good idea to pick an area and assign a team to it, the problem with that is there really is no call for a team in that area.

Quebec is quite happy with their college program at Laval and while the people of Moncton might think it would be great to have a team, there isn't a public groundswell to get one (aside from Mayor LeBlanc schmoozing), nor is there in Halifax where there is hardly enough impetus to build a stadium. I can't speak for Victoria but there doesn't seem to be much news coming out of there.

Look how long it has taken Ottawa to start moving, and that is with very dedicated ownership. There was significant enough negativity and NIMBYism to stall that project for years, the other cities haven't even got to that stage yet.

I wouldn't hold my breath for any new franchises any time soon.

Well you have to plan for the future. No one is saying that those markets are bursting at the seams with potential revenue. But those are markets that just by numbers alone will work under the right financial system. It is the job of the league to build interest within the locals once they establish a team there. This is why I don't begrudge the leagues American expansion. It was a gamble worth taking. The fact that it failed is unrelated to the initial logic behind the strategy.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Monctonians would support collegiate football at UDM just like Haligonians support the Huskies. The argument that Moncton only supports high school football doesn't accurately summarize things. It's more a case of college football in Canada being for faculty and students while in the US it has spread beyond the collegiate walls.

At the Touchdown Atlantic event the Mt. Allison team drew from lots of fans from Moncton.

The Lions being over 60 years old? What's your point? If Ottawa wants to call their team the 76ers I have no objection at all. That some team in another country has done the same is neither here nor there. That Philadelphia team has no territorial claims here.

Moncton certainly has more ambition, but Halifax will win this battle.

If you haven't lived in Moncton you shouldn't make such claims. Moncton has the two solitudes. English Moncton for the most part does not venture on the UdeM campus for UdeM sports. English Moncton does not back the (on the ice) very successful UdeM hockey program unless they make it to a National final. There would have been a time when this was a political, cultural thing, now it just doesn't happen for no particularly good reason. This would likely extend to football as well, baring in mind that the stadium is on the campus and the two CFL exhibitions were played there successfully.

The fact remains Moncton has no history of college football. I didn't say Moncton only supports high school football, there is no college football there to support, sorry but Mount A isn't Moncton.

When was the last time you lived in the Maritimes? Things have changed, Moncton gets the good large concerts over Halifax. You couldn't have said that two decades ago but now its the truth and people are moving and returning to Moncton in droves.

As for the Ottawa name it's not about Philadelphia rights, it's about brand awareness. When you hear the name Rivermen or Red and Black you will know who they are talking about.

As for Halifax winning the battle, an estimated 1.2m people live within a two-hour drive of Moncton and Moncton officials want it more.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by koolio

Well you have to plan for the future. No one is saying that those markets are bursting at the seams with potential revenue. But those are markets that just by numbers alone will work under the right financial system. It is the job of the league to build interest within the locals once they establish a team there. This is why I don't begrudge the leagues American expansion. It was a gamble worth taking. The fact that it failed is unrelated to the initial logic behind the strategy.

The American expansion was not a gamble worth taking, it was a quick money grab out of desperation. When the league became unashamedly Canadian again and through some long time missing TLC from TSN it started to grow again.

The American teams had fully American rosters, what Canadian fan cares if a guy came from North Southeastern West State University. When I grew up I wanted to follow Al Charuk, Gene Belliveau, Stu Fraser, and Chris Skinner, these were people we knew personally playing pro sport. We looked for Bomber LB Vernon Pahl because he actually played at UPEI. Who played at UPEI and made the CFL, now that's something! (Jim Foley also, played at UPEI/St Dunstan's) The Americans were interchangeable parts unless they were the stars of the team.

[ChesterCopperpot]

The gong show in Hamilton keeps on rolling

After months of frustration and secrecy surrounding the Pan Am stadium, city councillors have been dealt another blow — this time over the design of the new athletics facility.

In a report going to the planning committee Tuesday, city staff say the stadium does not comply with the city’s design guidelines. Several elements have fallen short, despite the fact that all the stadium bidders were given those guidelines more than a year in advance.

One major concern is that the rough underbelly of the stands will be exposed to the street, when city’s guidelines require the stands to be enclosed. The public plaza planned for the stadium’s entrance also falls short of the city’s guidelines, which require seating, shade, greenery and visual interest.

The city outlined its urban design principles to provincial officials in a letter sent Oct. 31, 2011.

“They were expected to comply with them, and they’re not. Now my question is going to be, how come?” Councillor Lloyd Ferguson said at Monday’s public works committee meeting. “We’ve had zero control of this thing … now we have to do our absolute best to make sure it’s something we’re going to be proud of when it’s done.”

City staff say the stadium contractors — a consortium called Ontario Sports Solutions — must satisfy all the outstanding design issues before they’ll receive a building permit.

Officials from Ontario Sports Solutions will attend Tuesday’s planning meeting to answer councillors’ questions about the design.

The design shortfalls are only the most recent in a long line of stadium-related frustrations. In the months before the design was publicly revealed, Ferguson — and many of his colleagues — consistently raised concerns about the lack of communication from provincial officials in charge of choosing the winning bidder and design.

Councillors on the city’s Pan Am subcommittee were forced to sign confidentiality agreements, and the rest of council — and the constituents they represent — were left in the dark. That secrecy was upheld despite the fact that the city is paying for 44 per cent of the $119-million stadium.

Steve Robichaud, the city’s manager of development planning, say staff have had ongoing meetings with the stadium proponents. He says most of the issues with the design were due to the project’s tight timelines.

“We have a good working relationship with them,” he said Monday.
Councillors at Monday’s public works committee meeting also approved the removal of all the mature trees on the stadium site. Most of those 38 trees are healthy.

Although the stadium design plan calls for plantings of 120 young trees, none of the established trees — all of which are 25 to 30 years old — will be maintained. In fact, the plan calls for some young trees to be planted on the exact spot as the mature trees that will be cut down.

Councillors must approve the removal of any healthy, public tree.

[KingmanIII]

they shoulda stuck with the West Harbor plan

[ChesterCopperpot]

Demolition has started at Ivor Wynne

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXYxG4akvSw

[elly63]

New roof for Montreal's 'Big O'?
Global News December 13, 2012

MONTREAL - Those involved in the future of Montreal's Olympic Stadium are fighting for its chances for the future.

"The RIO should have more power, should have more say, in its own future," said Lise Bissonnette, President, Advisory Committee on the future of the Olympic Park.

"We are suggesting that the legislation for the RIO be similar for what we are seeing for the Musee de Beaux Arts de Montreal."

Others are just full of plans.

"If we have a new roof, we will have more events at the Olympic Stadium," said l Menard, the mayor of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.

And it's just this sort of optimism that's been missing since the 'Big O' opened in 1976 with the Olympic Games.

Thirty-seven years and $1.5 billion after it opened, the iconic stadium is crumbling beneath the weight of a heavy question mark: What should be done with it now?

Can it be a viable venture with out a major sports franchise?

Sports economist Andrew Zimbalist thinks this is unlikely.

"The answer's no. Absolutely not. There aren't enough events during the course of the year to generate enough revenue."

Perhaps the most infamous problem with the stadium is its fabric roof.

"Fixing the roof, whether it's $30 million or $80 million, it's not going to solve that problem," said Zimbalist.

"It's never a good idea to say 'build it and they will come' - particularly in this day and age with fiscal stringency."

[elly63]

Pull-up retractable roof recommended for Big O
CTV Montreal Dec. 13, 2012

A special committee on the future of Montreal’s Olympic Park has opened the door to the installation of a retractable roof on the stadium not unlike that originally designed for the facility.

The suggestion was one of 22 recommendations that resulted from a year-long consultation with 4,000 people.

The roof, as originally designed by French architect Roger Taillebert, was meant to be pulled up and down by metal cables from the angled tower above.

A permanent roof was eventually installed but it collapsed under the weight of snow, leading to the permanent closure of the facility during the winter season due to concerns of another collapse.

Committee Chair Lise Bissonette said that advances in technology might make the original concept more workable.

“We’ve been told by many people that, given the fact that we’re in 2012 and not1976, that maybe we should look again at the original proposal for a retractable roof and see if it’s possible with the progress of science and technology,” said Bissonnette.

The roof would have to be “consistent with the original design of the building,” according to the report.

The other 21 recommendations included one that would make the facility a centre for amateur sport.

The report also recommends more autonomy for the Olympic Installations Board and initiatives to increase tourism to the site.