Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
Renovations to ancient stadiums are a waste of money to me as it's akin to lipstick on a pig. There is nothing they can do to the existing structure of McMahon that will improve the experience for fans. In this day and age you should be able to build a 35-40K seat dome with a retractable roof for about five times the cost of the finger trap bridge they are still sinking money into downtown. I really believe any new stadiums built in Canada should have a retractable roof and the reasons are twofold. First and most important to the bottom line is that the venue can be used year-round to maximize revenue generating potential. Secondly maybe because I'm getting older but honestly I'm just not down on sitting on bleacher seats in -10C or colder weather especially when I can watch at home in high definition. I'd love to support the team in person in the playoffs but I just don't like cold weather. Fall games really suck around here and the quality of football is altered because of it.
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Your estimates on a stadium are a wee bit short.
The stadium you are describing costs in the range of $300-400 million dollars at least, not $125 million (aka 5 times the cost of the bridge). The new Blue Bomber stadium is estimated at $190 million without a retractable roof. BC Place's retrofit cost over $560 million. The proposed retractable roof stadium in Regina was estimated at $430 million before it was scrapped. Hell, Ivor Wynne's renovation, which only rebuilds half the stadium is $150 million+
If you can find some people in Calgary who are willing to drop that kind of coin on a team that plays 9 games a year, then please do, because I'm sure this city would love to have a state of the art stadium. Until then, you will have to deal with a 50 year old stadium with crappy concourses. It sucks but it is the reality that the team faces right now.