Mountain Man
Senior Member
McMahon has the bones to be renovated into a decent stadium, this would be awkward as hell.
In the end that was what was recommended for Olympic Hosting. A hundred million for McMahon, and big air at the grand stand.McMahon has the bones to be renovated into a decent stadium, this would be awkward as hell.
The grandstand option main weakness would likely be the angle of the seats on both sides of the field. The seats are oriented to face the centre of the rodeo portion. On the CFL field, patrons sitting in the central part of the stands would have to twist necks extensively more than they would at McMahon currently. Considering the central seats are suppose to be more premium, that's not an ideal trade off if maximizing revenue is the main goal.McMahon has the bones to be renovated into a decent stadium, this would be awkward as hell.
A new Stadium would have an expansive concourse, suites, offices, lounges, restaurants, and good site lines. Jerry rigging the 70's era grandstand as a football stadium still gives us a stadium that's worse than what Winnipeg and Regina have even though we have more than there populations combined here in Calgary.I think you undersell the benefits of the existing grandstand:
- Premium seating venues (Ranahans/Lazy S) - pretty unique design offering a different kind of 'suite' experience...Stampede time it's definitely a more efficient revenue generator than using that same space for individual suites (which they have in the infield)
- A lot of those middle deck seats can be more climate controlled
- Fully indoor concourse - currently they winterize it each year, so not sure if it's HVAC is optimized for colder temps, but it's almost certainly an improvement on McMahon concourses
- Mostly covered seats (entire upper deck; first 15ish lower rows are exposed)
- Arguably better accessibility? Elevator and escalators to upper deck...
- Pretty sure every single seat has a back rest (no bench bleachers like McMahon) - can't remember the outer red sections, but pretty sure they are just older seats
At most you might simply replace the seats in the middle 4-6 sections if orientation is an issue.
You'd build a new east grandstand tailored to your needs...a lot of different ways that could go, but moving on from the chuckwagons would make things a lot easier and open up tons of opportunities for Stampede to improve 10 day operations.
You say lounges and restaurants and I think about how underutilized the 'front door' to the Grandstand is. I imagine and restaurant at ground level that goes on to look out at the field or infield.A new Stadium would have an expansive concourse, suites, offices, lounges, restaurants, and good site lines. Jerry rigging the 70's era grandstand as a football stadium still gives us a stadium that's worse than what Winnipeg and Regina have even though we have more than there populations combined here in Calgary.
I take it you've never been to Ranahans or Lazy S?A new Stadium would have an expansive concourse, suites, offices, lounges, restaurants, and good site lines. Jerry rigging the 70's era grandstand as a football stadium still gives us a stadium that's worse than what Winnipeg and Regina have even though we have more than there populations combined here in Calgary.
I don't think Calgary should be aiming to have better stadium than those two cities have. They put in a lot of money, for a league that's not finically stable, and honestly has an uncertain future. Those stadiums are high quality builds, but expensive. I don't think CSEC needs to, or is even interested, in spending that much money to match that tier. Especially since they're intending to put down money for their main property, which is the arena. And the city certainly won't be interested in putting in that much also.A new Stadium would have an expansive concourse, suites, offices, lounges, restaurants, and good site lines. Jerry rigging the 70's era grandstand as a football stadium still gives us a stadium that's worse than what Winnipeg and Regina have even though we have more than there populations combined here in Calgary.
IMO the biggest problem with the current Grandstand is that its too long, for both football and I'd argue the Stampede Rodeo. I have never been to either of those places you mention and I'm sure they're great but if you're redoing the infield seating you're likely doing something with the Grandstand, even if it's a small renovation. Removing sections (which I think you would want/need to do and extending the life of the Grandstand overall could come with a similar price tag as building new from the ground up.I take it you've never been to Ranahans or Lazy S?
I'm not one for renovating, I prefer a staged rebuild. Which in my opinion would get rid of the awkwardness I see when trying to do both in one.I really don't get the appeal of renovating the grandstand into an awkward stadium, over renovating McMahon. I can't see any way that this would be a better experience for fans or the team.