Quote:
Originally Posted by soulchoice
I have not read the entire thread, so perhaps it has already been said. But, according to one source. I heard that the bowl will be level accessible. Not sure of the actual term of it as I am not an architect. However, apparently it may be as you walk into the event centre, to get to your seats, there will not be any stairs to climb. Basically you’ll be walking down the stairs for all levels seating.
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Yes, based on the excavation plans, the event level will be a little over 11 metres below street level. You will walk in off the street onto the main concourse, which will be at the top of the lower bowl.
This was the planned layout for the original 2021 design...
In this design, the main concourse would have been at street level, but only about 2/3 of the lower bowl would be below the concourse and the other 1/3 would have been behind.
In the new design (from the excavation drawings), the main concourse (street level) will be where the Club Mezzanine level is on this drawing and the Club Mezzanine will now be below the main concourse.
Both Edmonton and Detroit (HOK designs) have this same layout in their lower bowls. You can see the entrances to the Club level about 1/3 of the way down from the top of the lower bowl.
In Edmonton, the upper concourse is also at the top of the upper bowl, but in Detroit, the upper concourse is in the middle of the upper bowl. I believe that is needed to accommodate the Gondola seats in Detroit, which overhang the upper bowl.
In the 2021 design, the new arena was going to have a "Press Level/Balcony" seating level that would overhang the upper bowl, similar to Detroit. As a result, the upper concourse would have been in the middle of the upper bowl like Detroit.
If they have decided to scrap the Press Level/Balcony, they might do a top-loading upper bowl like Edmonton.
I hope they keep the hanging press box idea. I know one of the big complaints from the play-by-play announcers about Rogers Place is how far away from the ice the press box is. On the other hand, one thing that is consistently praised about the Saddledome is how close the announcers feel to the action with the hanging press box.
Also, I think the balcony level seats would be a great place to watch a game from.