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I'd rather see the land be used for park expansion and other community-oriented uses that are open and free to the public. Kitchener housing should build another building on the parking lot behind the old post office. I know the Rangers are city owned, but it's still more expensive to go to a Ranger's game than it is to go wander around a park.
I think the better spot for a new arena and convention centre would be on Gateway Park dr. where the empty big-box stores are across from silver city (or whatever that movie house is called now). Direct 401 access and future LRT goes right by there too... not really any current residential to be annoyed with people parking on the side streets and it's still a part of town that could use some encouragement to develop beyond big-box parking lots.
I think if there was enough demand for a convention centre Bingemans or someone else would have looked into building one already, I am loathe to support public money being spend on such things when there's a lot of places that have tried that whole "downtown convention centre revitalization" scheme and ended up just wasting a bunch of money on a building that sits empty most of the time.
I'm curious to see how Calgary makes out with the schemozzle they've got planned for their new arena and convention centre/etc.
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(01-12-2022, 02:04 PM)clasher Wrote: I know the Rangers are city owned, but it's still more expensive to go to a Ranger's game than it is to go wander around a park.
Just a small correction. They are community owned.
Season ticket holders own the team and vote for a board of directors annually and the team is run by an executive committee.
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01-12-2022, 03:46 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-12-2022, 03:47 PM by REnerd.)
There is a great park in Porto where the city put a number of floors of parking UNDER the park.
Maybe the city could demolish one of the above ground parking garages and put the parking under the new park (since we have settled on that being the best use of this land). They could then sell the land of the parking garage for a condo. City urban design is improved by removing one ugly parking garage.
Would not like to know the carbon footprint of this plan.....
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(01-12-2022, 03:46 PM)REnerd Wrote: Maybe the city could demolish one of the above ground parking garages and put the parking under the new park (since we have settled on that being the best use of this land). They could then sell the land of the parking garage for a condo. City urban design is improved by removing one ugly parking garage.
Three words that make this infeasible: High water table.
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(01-12-2022, 02:04 PM)clasher Wrote: I think the better spot for a new arena and convention centre would be on Gateway Park dr. where the empty big-box stores are across from silver city (or whatever that movie house is called now). Direct 401 access and future LRT goes right by there too... not really any current residential to be annoyed with people parking on the side streets and it's still a part of town that could use some encouragement to develop beyond big-box parking lots.
I think if there was enough demand for a convention centre Bingemans or someone else would have looked into building one already, I am loathe to support public money being spend on such things when there's a lot of places that have tried that whole "downtown convention centre revitalization" scheme and ended up just wasting a bunch of money on a building that sits empty most of the time.
I'm curious to see how Calgary makes out with the schemozzle they've got planned for their new arena and convention centre/etc.
Part of the thing about Montreal's Olympic Stadium and the Expos were that people said it was too far. And that's with quite a few people living nearby (but perhaps not the demographic of people-with-money). Or maybe it just sucked as a baseball stadium. Not very cozy, more cavernous. So, I'm not sure that putting a stadium in the middle of nowhere tends to work?
Convention centres: there are so many convention centres coming online in NZ over the next few years. There seems to be some sort of failure of imagination. It's not like, oh, you know, building bicycle infrastructure or something like that would pay off. No, let's build another convention centre. Wellington, Christchurch... how many does NZ need?
(01-12-2022, 03:56 PM)tomh009 Wrote: (01-12-2022, 03:46 PM)REnerd Wrote: Maybe the city could demolish one of the above ground parking garages and put the parking under the new park (since we have settled on that being the best use of this land). They could then sell the land of the parking garage for a condo. City urban design is improved by removing one ugly parking garage.
Three words that make this infeasible: High water table.
Ha, beat me to it.
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Helsinki has some awesome out-of-sight parking downtown -- all tunneled into bedrock! Alas, we don't have the Canadian Shield to drill into here.
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(01-12-2022, 02:12 PM)Chris Wrote: (01-12-2022, 02:04 PM)clasher Wrote: I know the Rangers are city owned, but it's still more expensive to go to a Ranger's game than it is to go wander around a park.
Just a small correction. They are community owned.
Season ticket holders own the team and vote for a board of directors annually and the team is run by an executive committee.
So is it a non-profit, or do season ticket holders receive a dividend?
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Non-profit. Any surplus is invested back into the team if I remember correctly. I used to be a subscriber.
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Yes, very common in fan-owned sports teams. The same model is used in an English soccer team (AFC Wimbledon) that I'm a shareholder of.
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01-13-2022, 06:03 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-13-2022, 06:03 PM by danbrotherston.)
(01-13-2022, 05:42 PM)KevinL Wrote: Yes, very common in fan-owned sports teams. The same model is used in an English soccer team (AFC Wimbledon) that I'm a shareholder of.
I feel like this outs you as a fan of John Green. Lol
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The testing centre will be closing on the 23rd at 6:30PM and moving back to Grand River Hospital so this property will be finally free for redevelopment unless something happens and they need to reopen it. I have taken a couple trips there to scout and tour the site and I believe one of other crew was touring the place last month or so. Can't reveal what potential plans I'm involved in nor do I know what others have been considering, but I can definitely say there's a lot of interest from various developers for potential projects.
I'll be curious to see what happens with this place. It's far too small for a stadium despite people wanting to see one get built here. But I do hope we can utilize it for something more meaningful for the community rather than simply selling it off for condos. A park extension, public square and perhaps some civic oriented buildings would be most ideal in my opinion and I've been designing plans for such projects in AutoCAD/Revit in my free time.
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ZERO private development should happen here. The Region needs to own the project and partner with firms that can build something good for the community. Same goes for all public lands if you ask me.
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(03-17-2022, 05:27 PM)Lens Wrote: The Region needs to own the project and partner with firms that can build something good for the community.
We already have one barren patch of mud at King & Victoria.
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(03-18-2022, 11:06 AM)kps Wrote: (03-17-2022, 05:27 PM)Lens Wrote: The Region needs to own the project and partner with firms that can build something good for the community.
We already have one barren patch of mud at King & Victoria.
My exact thoughts. Charles Street could end up sitting dormant for years, but from what I know in the industry, there is interest. It'll depend on how fast the region can move.
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