Stadium Updates

[Fumblitis]

Nobody likes a show off.

You should be showing off your new stomping grounds too. Argos to BMO. It's happening. Book it!

[AngeloV]

You should be showing off your new stomping grounds too. Argos to BMO. It's happening. Book it!

Couldn't agree more. Hopefully, this long agonizing wait, results in a better reward (an actual ownership that knows what they are doing).

[Fumblitis]

Couldn't agree more. Hopefully, this long agonizing wait, results in a better reward (an actual ownership that knows what they are doing).

Honestly I won't rest till MLSE buys the team. Even if they do get into BMO under Braley's watch.

[rdavies]

Flames' arena pitch includes new football stadium, amateur sports facility
Jason Markusoff, Calgary Herald April 2, 2015

The Calgary Flames’ vision for its new arena project is a blockbuster that would take up several blocks’ worth of prime land west of downtown — bringing together a new hockey arena plus a football stadium and an amateur sports fieldhouse, the Herald has learned.

It’s a megaproject that could easily cost more than half a billion dollars, and features a component more likely to draw in civic funding support than if it were merely new stand-alone homes for the Flames and Stampeders.

By bundling in a fieldhouse designed for track meets, indoor soccer and other amateur sports, Flames CEO Ken King is proposing to build something on the top of the city’s own project wish list, and potentially gives the proposal the sort of public benefit that Mayor Naheed Nenshi has said is essential if city hall is to become a project partner.

The indoor multi-sport complex could make the Flames project more “palatable” to the city, said Jason Zaran, incoming chairman of the Calgary Multisport Fieldhouse Society.

“A multi-sport facility is needed in this town, and I think if they can be the ones to bring it to the table and get it done, it looks good on them as well,” Zaran said.

His group has been working with the city’s recreation department on a $202-million, publicly-funded development at Foothills Athletic Park, just north of McMahon Stadium. In February, city staff ranked it at the top of the city’s unfunded infrastructure projects.

King has offered the fieldhouse society a tantalizing Plan B — constructing the facility as part of the stadium for the Canadian Football League team, which the Flames own. According to one source familiar with the plans, the football complex and fieldhouse would be part of the same convertible building.

King shared his plans with Nenshi in mid-March, then the mayor relayed it to council in a closed-door session Monday evening, multiple sources have confirmed. But there’s still no formal proposal submitted to council, and it’s unclear when King will finally reveal the ambitious concept to the public, though he did say a month ago the release was a “couple of weeks” away.

This three-in-one idea spawns numerous questions pertaining to Stampede Park’s Scotiabank Saddledome, the University of Calgary’s McMahon lands, and, of course, the City of Calgary, whose West Village lands the Flames are said to covet.

Combining an arena with a stadium/fieldhouse takes up a much larger swath of the property around the Greyhound Station.

The city has been acquiring those lands for several years, and recently purchased the four-hectare GSL car dealership site for $36.9 million. But it’s never been for sports facilities. The land would become part of the West Village blueprint for a future community of condo highrises and office buildings, akin to what’s under development in East Village.

Several councillors have said they’d be open to giving the Flames free land for a new arena, though the Herald could not confirm whether that’s what Ken King is asking for. Nenshi and council unanimously oppose direct taxpayer subsidies for professional sports buildings, and King tried to head off talk of a massive funding request in a radio station interview last month.

“Before any of your listeners have conniptions, when you see our project, people are just going to love it. And we’re not going to sneak in here and steal money from the city,” he told KISS 95.9.

In a voicemail Wednesday, King said he’s not yet prepared to discuss the proposal, which he’s been working on since at least 2007.

“I’m still in the quiet zone,” he said.

The Flames organization now owns the Stampeders, Flames, Calgary Hitmen (minor-league hockey) and Calgary Roughnecks (lacrosse) — but they’re playing in some of their respective leagues’ oldest facilities, the 1960 McMahon Stadium and the 1983 Saddledome.

In Edmonton, the Oilers’ $480-million new arena will be complete by fall 2016. That city’s tax-backed loan, ticket tax and parking revenue will cover much of its cost.

Nenshi has been skeptical about the need for a new arena or for any city cost-sharing. In 2011, the mayor’s office refused to help set up an independent committee to study the project.

The mayor’s tone appears to have shifted slightly last month, after his meeting with King. When asked about the arena at a Rotary Club speech, Nenshi reiterated that it must have some public benefit if it’s to garner public funding, and he praised the Flames’ six owners as “deeply committed” to Calgary and thoughtful about their process.

“Whatever solution we end up with is a solution we’ll get with great respect for one another and figuring out together what’s best for the community,” Nenshi said.

[rdavies]

Montreal's Olympic Stadium needs $220M facelift, government report says
Olympic park president says money would go to buildings, surrounding parking areas and public spaces
CBC News Mar 31, 2015

The Quebec government could soon be pouring more money into Montreal's Olympic Stadium.

An infrastructure report tabled with last week's provincial budget says the "Big O" needs $220 million in repairs over the next decade.

The original construction took 30 years to pay off and cost nearly $1.5 billion.

But Michel Labrecque, president of the Olympic park, said the latest repairs are necessary.

“We don't sink money,” Labrecque said. “It's the same as for bridges...We own it. We built it. We paid for it. We need to maintain it.”

Labrecque said the stadium hosted events on 180 days last year and another 250,000 people visited the Olympic tower.

He acknowledges some people would like to see the stadium torn down, but said that's out of the question.

“It's part of our history, and I cannot accept that 40 years after the Olympics, the only things we are looking for is to dismantle it,” he said.

The Quebec government report says the stadium roof is beyond repair. It hasn't yet decided whether it should spend millions to replace it or simply remove it.

Different options will be presented to the Olympic Park's board of directors and the tourism minister in the coming months.

[rdavies]

[rdavies]

Occupancy permit issued: Hamilton's new stadium nears the finish line
CBC News Apr 16, 2015

It's a milestone 10 months in the making — at long last, the city has issued an occupancy permit for Tim Horton's Field.

The new stadium has been plagued by delays, including weather and issues with subcontractors. But on Thursday, city inspectors deemed the whole building safe to occupy.

"My staff have conducted a thorough inspection and can confirm that Tim Horton's Field meets all of the safety requirements for occupancy under the Ontario Building Code," said Ed VanderWindt, the city's chief building official.

It's a move that comes during a crunch time for Infrastructure Ontario, which has hired Ontario Sports Solutions to build the $145-million stadium.

The stadium still has to reach the substantial completion stage, which is when the city will take possession. This needs to happen by May 1, when police need to rehearse security plans for the 2015 Pan Am Games July 10 to 27. Hamilton will host the soccer games.

The project's initial target date was June 30, 2014. The delay caused the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to play a nearly their entire season at McMaster University.

It's about time a permit was issued, said Coun. Sam Merulla of Ward 4.

"It's the most delayed reaction to a city development that I can ever recall, so I would say congratulations on that," he said. "I don't know what to say except that it could have been done last year."

Merulla said he looks forward to closing this chapter, and to the city finally taking possession. He wants the stadium story to become a positive one.

"Hopefully now that permit has been issued, we can start afresh and look forward to the future, and look back on this as a learned experience."

The city previously thought that caulking issues would delay the occupancy permit. But that caulking work didn't impact the permit, the city said in a statement.

[rdavies]

Interesting video on the roofing material for the new Minnesota Vikings stadium that was mentioned in another forum thread about the new Calgary stadium. Rumours have the stadium being comfortable at all times of year so a transparent dome (not retractable) could be part of the design (speculation only)

Someone should be thinking about a solution using this product in conjunction with the Olympic stadium in Montreal.

[rdavies]

Riders CEO sees recruiting edge to new stadium
Construction 27 per cent complete
Kevin Mitchell, The Starphoenix April 10, 2015

Craig Reynolds says he was "absolutely blown away" when he wandered through Saskatchewan's most talked-about construction site last week.

Reynolds, the Saskatchewan Roughriders new president and CEO, toured the new Mosaic Stadium - which is 27 per cent complete - and says enough work's been done to put his imagination into play. He pictured with his mind how things would look; he envisioned fans, players and amenities.

"We feel quite strongly that this is going to be, for its size, the nicest outdoor, open-air stadium in North America," Reynolds told a Saskatoon audience at Thursday's North Saskatoon Business Association luncheon. "For its size, this is going to be an incredible facility." The Roughriders will play their first game at the stadium in the summer of 2017, but Reynolds said it will be "substantially complete" by the end of August in 2016. That will provide time to host test events, putting the facility through its paces before the primary tenants move in for good.

The Roughriders looked at other stadium projects that provided little time for adjustment and settled quickly on a preference.

"They allowed themselves no time to get settled; no time to test the facility," he said. "We were pretty firm we didn't want that to happen here."

The new 67,000-square-foot stadium, which has a footprint roughly double that of the current facility, will also include fan-friendly features like wider seats and five extra inches of leg room.

That space will also allow the Roughriders to merge all their operations into one facility. Reynolds, a University of Saskatchewan alumnus who takes over for the departed Jim Hopson, said team personnel are already talking about using the new Mosaic as bait to both attract and keep players and coaches.

"Average careers in the CFL are very, very short," Reynolds said. "They look to facilities as a differentiator and (ours) will be the finest in the CFL, bar none. It will be a real competitive advantage for us in recruiting and retaining the best coaches and the best players going forward. I was talking to (assistant general manager) Jeremy O'Day the other day and we're just starting now to see (renderings) of what the locker room's going to look like and what the training facility's going to look like and what the coaches' office is going to look like. We'll have a 100-person auditorium in there, we've got hydrotherapy rooms. Jeremy and I were talking about how we need to get those (renderings) in front of the players, because Jeremy's belief is it will make a difference right now when we're negotiating with folks, when we're trying to extend folks. Players are going to take a look at what facilities we're going to have in 2017 and they're going to say 'I want to be here.'

"It will be a huge differentiator for us."

[Argocister]

Now that the THF in Hamilton has been granted its occupancy permit ..... is it ready for a Grey Cup 2016?

[ArgoRavi]

Now that the THF in Hamilton has been granted its occupancy permit ..... is it ready for a Grey Cup 2016?

I suspect that the 2016 Grey Cup will be played in Toronto as part of the entire deal between Braley and MLSE if they can reach an agreement in time. If not, then there should be little reason why THF can't host that Grey Cup.

[Fumblitis]

I suspect that the 2016 Grey Cup will be played in Toronto as part of the entire deal between Braley and MLSE if they can reach an agreement in time. If not, then there should be little reason why THF can't host that Grey Cup.

Is that for the lease for the Argos to play there or for the outright purchase of the team?

[Downtownfan]

Is that for the lease for the Argos to play there or for the outright purchase of the team?

Either way with a lease (more likely) or outright ownership by MLSE, my betting is that the plan is the have the GC at the renovated BMO in November 2016 with the temp stands, and keep them in place for a Winter Classic/Heritage classic in January of 2017, to be part of the Maple Leafs 100th anniversary celebrations. Makes too much sense not to happen this way. You would have two events within a couple of months that would generate tens of millions of dollars in spending in the city, and get to double up on events for the temporary expanded seating (imagine, you could even sell ticket packages for both events!). The BMO Phase 3 reno (retractable seating, CFL lockers) will happen along with the roof construction next winter, I expect.

Timelines are getting tight, as we all know, however...

[rdavies]

Tks to McMurph at skyscraperpage for headsup

Calgary's Ken King was on CBC Radio's The Eyeopener on April 22, 2015
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He stated (starting at 4:43) that the arena/stadium/fieldhouse plan will be revealed after the provincial election (May 5, 2015). (Unstated, that might include after any Flames playoff run)

It was also clear that it is going into the West Village, with multiple references to the convenience of the "overbuilt" Sunalta station.

[rdavies]

Tks to Airboy at skyscraperpage for headsup

SMS Equipment Stadium at Fort McMurray capacity 5000 expanding to 15,000 for CFL games

[Deerkeeper]

Boy, wouldn't it be nice to see a few more stadiums like around this country. I'm thinking of a few universities something like that would look good in. Of course, the ability to fill them on a regular basis would be nice as well.

[T-Bone]

Argos fans celebrating the move to BMO Field in Saskatchewan?: Fire breaks out at new Mosaic stadium site in Regina

[BATKINSON001]

Argos fans celebrating the move to BMO Field in Saskatchewan?: Fire breaks out at new Mosaic stadium site in Regina

probably bombers fans getting a jump on things lol

[Fumblitis]

The fire was a minor setback.

http://www.620ckrm.com/ckrm-on-air/c...mosaic-stadium

Will be ready August 2016. For football and soccer.

[matthew]

How right I think you are.