Flames to announce plans to announce arena plans in the... future...

[Flash Walken]

I think they should build one facility encompassing two stadiums, one for Football/MLS and one for hockey/lacrosse/basketball. Build one with a retractable roof and one without.

have it be a central transportation hub within the city and build a neighbourhood around it.

[Joborule]

I guess the question is, is it necessary, or all that beneficial to build a new outdoor stadium? What's the benefits over McMahon and it's location? Would the expense be justifiable for it, and the owners would get a greater gain from it, aside from renovating at McMahon?

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

The PostFinance arena in Bern holds 17,000. I think a building with glulams would look good. Not sure if it would work for concerts with their rigging needs though.

I found that place to be a dump.

[polak]

Originally Posted by Joborule

I guess the question is, is it necessary, or all that beneficial to build a new outdoor stadium? What's the benefits over McMahon and it's location? Would the expense be justifiable for it, and the owners would get a greater gain from it, aside from renovating at McMahon?

Well they could finally say that their team plays in a stadium that wouldn't be considered crap in a 3rd world country.

[rohara66]

They just finished a new support building and a complete gutting of the Stamps locker room at McMahon (and I’m pretty sure additional renos to the stadium are also underway)…. It’s not being replaced/demo’d anytime soon.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by polak

Well they could finally say that their team plays in a stadium that wouldn't be considered crap in a 3rd world country.

That's something that couldn't be fixed by renovating it. McMahon looks like a dump, but has a very workable foundation since it's basically a glorified bleachers stadium. The desired benefits the ownership would be looking for from a outdoor stadium could be satisfied using McMahon and just putting money into renovating it. In the end it could be cheaper for them since they won't have to build from scratch. It's also beneficial to the city and university since it could possibly make the development potential of the Banff Trail TOD greater.

[Dime_On_Flames]

Originally Posted by Joborule

I guess the question is, is it necessary, or all that beneficial to build a new outdoor stadium? What's the benefits over McMahon and it's location? Would the expense be justifiable for it, and the owners would get a greater gain from it, aside from renovating at McMahon?

No more peeing in a trough is reason enough

[mac_82]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

I think they should build one facility encompassing two stadiums, one for Football/MLS and one for hockey/lacrosse/basketball. Build one with a retractable roof and one without.

MLS has really been pushing for teams to play in soccer specific stadiums.

14/19 teams already have soccer stadiums. (LA and Chivas share 1)

New England and DC are in the works of getting their own stadiums. San Jose will have a new stadium in 2014.

Seattle and Vancouver will soon be the only teams to play in football/soccer stadiums.

I know if Calgary gets a franchise, it will probably be a NASL team that will gradually move up to MLS, thus a shared stadium will be more likely. But having a smaller 18-20k soccer specific stadium would be more ideal in the long run. Well I can dream anyways.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Joborule

I guess the question is, is it necessary, or all that beneficial to build a new outdoor stadium? What's the benefits over McMahon and it's location? Would the expense be justifiable for it, and the owners would get a greater gain from it, aside from renovating at McMahon?

I still say that people that think McMahon is beyond renovation are completely out of touch with what the vast majority of football stadiums in North America are like. It's about on par with most non-NFL stadiums, and there's no reason to expect a CFL team to have a stadium that's up to NFL standards.

[You Need a Thneed]

$20 - $30 million to completely renovate and widen the concourses at McMahon would make it into a much more than adequate building.

EDIT: There's an article from the paper from October about the Flames wanting to spend a bit of money to do some essential upgrade to McMahon, bathrooms, etc - starting this year. Then at sometime in the future, doing a $100 Million renovation. It also says that replacement is quite unlikely.

I think a $100 million renovation at McMahon would turn it into a great place to watch a game.

[polak]

Any renovation should atleast give the stadium an interior...

They could copy the stadium in Poznan which was renovated for Euro 2012...

How it used to look like:




Reno:




Final Product:

[JBR]

This is beautiful, but there are a number of different slopes and elevation changes immediately north, west and south of McMahon. I figure it would be difficult to duplicate this.

Originally Posted by polak

Any renovation should atleast give the stadium an interior...

They could copy the stadium in Poznan which was renovated for Euro 2012...

How it used to look like:




Reno:




Final Product:

[valo403]

Originally Posted by polak

Any renovation should atleast give the stadium an interior...

They could copy the stadium in Poznan which was renovated for Euro 2012...

How it used to look like:




Reno:




Final Product:

According to Wikipedia that cost around $250mil USD, which IMO is an unreasonable amount to spend on a CFL stadium that will be used at most a dozen times (I'm well aware other teams use it, but 1000 person crowds hardly require a stadium of any kind).

Honestly if you look at the majority of NCAA football stadiums you will find larger versions of McMahon. Concrete shells with minimal concourses and metal benches for most of the seating, and these are for programs that bring in way bigger crowds and way more revenue.

That is really cool though.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Dime_On_Flames

No more peeing in a trough is reason enough

At McMahon? I think I've been in every men's room in the Stadium, and every one I've been in has urinals.

[Hockey Fan #751]

Originally Posted by getbak

At McMahon? I think I've been in every men's room in the Stadium, and every one I've been in has urinals.

This is where Dime_on_Flames suddenly realizes he's been going in the women's washrooms and peeing in the sink.

[BACKCHECK!!!]

Can you get to the toilet in a reasonable time frame (including intermission)?
Can I get food or beer around once per period?
Is it easy to get there, both by car and public transit?
Is there some kind of screen on which replays are clearly visible for all the seats?

Outside of these things, I don't really take any notice of any stadium
I've ever been in. And even these are not that important, since I usually don't use the toilets, often have kids with me so I'm not drinking anyways, etc.

Im not here to immerse myself in the experience of a luxury multi-media enabled shopping and entertainment mega centre. I came to see the hockey/football game.

Basically, if a building has somewhere that I can pee without getting kicked out, im happy. Same goes for concert venues, etc.

Flames tickets are expensive enough, I'd rather not fork over an extra $5-10 every game because they cant fit enough mini donut stands into the dome.

[casucks]

Thing I'm dreading the most is losing my perfect seat location. When the flames did reno's last my buddy got screwed and lost his lower bowl seat and was offered a 2nd level instead.

[Muffins]

Originally Posted by casucks

Thing I'm dreading the most is losing my perfect seat location. When the flames did reno's last my buddy got screwed and lost his lower bowl seat and was offered a 2nd level instead.

Same thing happened to my dads seats. Went from 20th row lower bowl to 20th row 2nd level. Needless to say, he was pissed.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Muffins

Same thing happened to my dads seats. Went from 20th row lower bowl to 20th row 2nd level. Needless to say, he was pissed.

Similar things will happen again, because they're sure to add more boxes in premium areas. Although I suspect they'll go with a bigger lower bowl, so probably everyone in the current lower bowl will fit.

There will definitely be people unhappy with the moves they get. My guesses would be people in the Blacks/1st 3 rows of 3rd level who end up in orange/white price range, and get similar views for 3x the money. Also, people are currently whites will likely get moved into that larger lower bowl. Certainly some won't be happy about the huge price increase they'll see.

[Resolute 14]

^ I am actually expecting to get squeezed out in a new building. Because my black-level $20 seats are going to be a thing of the past. That is, however, the price of progress. I'll have to choose whether to keep at a higher price or switch down to a game pack.