Calgary Event Centre | 36.85m | 11s | CSEC | HOK

Do you support the proposal for the new arena?

  • Yes

    Votes: 88 64.7%
  • No

    Votes: 39 28.7%
  • Maybe

    Votes: 9 6.6%

  • Total voters
    136
I like Rivers District, or even just stick with Victoria Park! why do we need to try and reinvent everything? sometimes the historical name of a place is the best.

Roughnecks are fun, but the NHL would never allow music during play. I also think the Flames have the best voice guy in the league already, maybe get a good house DJ or band to play in breaks or TV timeouts. I really dislike the organ we have, feels super outdated.
 
The Rivers District contains the East Villiage, Olympic Plaza, East Victoria Park, and Stampede Park. The Rivers District Master Plan mostly pertains to the secton south of 9th Ave as the East Village was already well underway by the time of the plans completion in 2018.
 
I like Rivers District, or even just stick with Victoria Park! why do we need to try and reinvent everything? sometimes the historical name of a place is the best.

Roughnecks are fun, but the NHL would never allow music during play. I also think the Flames have the best voice guy in the league already, maybe get a good house DJ or band to play in breaks or TV timeouts. I really dislike the organ we have, feels super outdated.
I kind of like Victoria Park as a name also. After all it is a very old name, and an elegant name.
 
This was on the CMLC Event Centre website: "While project planning continues, CMLC is pausing the procurement process for 30-days (beginning on March 27) to ensure equal opportunity for interested firms and consultants to adjust to current conditions, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak."
 
This was on the CMLC Event Centre website: "While project planning continues, CMLC is pausing the procurement process for 30-days (beginning on March 27) to ensure equal opportunity for interested firms and consultants to adjust to current conditions, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak."

I hope that means that we will get a higher-profile design team at a lower price than was previously possible.
 
Anyone know some of the companies that might be bidding? I'd guess HOK, Populous, Rosetti....any other decent firms out there?
 
Already mentioned in the main proposal thread, but HOK has the winning bid. I'm anxious to see what they come up with.
 
Parametric studies for difficult times. A take on an Arena and mixed use complex.
stadium madness.jpg
 
Rumored for a while but now seems to be confirmed. Dialog and HOK will design our new arena.
HOK has designed Little Caesar's Arena, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Rogers Place, Stockton Arena, and the Sprint Center. Dialog worked on the New Central Library.
I'm pretty pleased with this, as Little Caesars, Sprint, and Mercedes Benz are some of my most favorite arenas/stadiums, and Dialog having already worked on major projects in the same neighborhood should help drive a cohesive vision for the area.

 
The article in the Herald mentioned these architects were involved in designing Rogers Place in Edmonton. I've seen one concert and one hockey game at Rogers Place and both were terrible experiences so I really hope there's been some lessons learned or that CMLC and CSEC have better design vision in terms of what they're asking for.
 
Why were they horrible if you don’t mind me asking? I always thought the interior was the only saving grace of Rogers Place.
 
Why were they horrible if you don’t mind me asking? I always thought the interior was the only saving grace of Rogers Place.

With the concert the biggest issue was entry into the venue. The wait to pass through the metal detectors at the main entry point was 20 minutes and it didn't seem to let up as the people sitting next to us missed a good part of the opening act and blamed it on the time they spent waiting to get in. I believe there are other entry points into the building but the entire ICE District was designed to funnel people towards the main entrance so it seemed very strange it couldn't handle the number of people using it.

During the concert the lines for the women's washrooms were ridiculously long. It's my understanding that since then Roger's Place has started designating men's washrooms as women's washrooms during concerts but it would be nice if the initial design had accommodated this.

For the hockey game our seats were in the upper bowl. There was no way to easily access the lower bowl so we were stuck with the amenities offered in the upper bowl. The concession spaces were extremely limited and what was on offer was very basic. I'd take what is offered at the Saddledome any day. There were also long lines for both men's and women's washrooms during the intermission. Given the washroom lines are one of the biggest criticisms of the Saddledome that CSEC has said a new arena is meant to fix, it was disappointing to deal with this at Roger's Place.

Last but not least in both cases at Roger's Place the legroom was so limited (I'm 6'1) I had no choice but to man-spread as I couldn't physically put my knees in front of me when seated. The seating at the Saddledome is tight but not that tight.
 

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