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The Aud - Printable Version

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The Aud - jordan2423 - 01-23-2016

This thread is really about thoughts on the Aud and the critical mistake Kitchener has done by not having The Aud in the downtown core. We talk about bringing people downtown, this would have been a major key in doing so. Just look at our rival London, what a great environment it is to have their arena downtown.


RE: The Aud - panamaniac - 01-23-2016

I imagine most would agree that a new arena should be closer to the core, but it seems a stretch to label a location selected over sixty years ago in what was to become an overwhelmingly car-dependent town a "critical mistake". If I try to imagine the post-war form of Kitchener, I'm not sure where space would have been found other than what was then the edge of town.


RE: The Aud - mpd618 - 01-23-2016

(01-23-2016, 11:31 AM)panamaniac Wrote: I imagine most would agree that a new arena should be closer to the core, but it seems a stretch to label a location selected over sixty years ago in what was to become an overwhelmingly car-dependent town a "critical mistake".  If I try to imagine the post-war form of Kitchener, I'm not sure where space would have been found other than what was then the edge of town.

That's easy: just take any old block and demolish it! I mean, they did that for parking lots and malls, so why not for an arena? That said, I agree with your point.


RE: The Aud - clasher - 01-23-2016

I don't think the Aud is in that bad of a location and considering the upgrades done in the last 10 years I don't think it would be worth the money to move the place. As it stands now I doubt it's more than a km to the future LRT station on Charles. Arenas spend a lot of time empty too so I'm not sure that it would generate heaps of spin-off business at the local pubs on game nights.


RE: The Aud - tomh009 - 01-23-2016

(01-23-2016, 09:21 PM)clasher Wrote: I don't think the Aud is in that bad of a location and considering the upgrades done in the last 10 years I don't think it would be worth the money to move the place. As it stands now I doubt it's more than a km to the future LRT station on Charles. Arenas spend a lot of time empty too so I'm not sure that it would generate heaps of spin-off business at the local pubs on game nights.

A (free) shuttle bus from the LRT stop to the Aud on game nights would be the thing to do, really.  I think a lot of people would go for the LRT, given how packed the Aud parking lots are.


RE: The Aud - clasher - 01-24-2016

(01-23-2016, 09:41 PM)tomh009 Wrote:
(01-23-2016, 09:21 PM)clasher Wrote: I don't think the Aud is in that bad of a location and considering the upgrades done in the last 10 years I don't think it would be worth the money to move the place. As it stands now I doubt it's more than a km to the future LRT station on Charles. Arenas spend a lot of time empty too so I'm not sure that it would generate heaps of spin-off business at the local pubs on game nights.

A (free) shuttle bus from the LRT stop to the Aud on game nights would be the thing to do, really.  I think a lot of people would go for the LRT, given how packed the Aud parking lots are.

Yeah, it might help get people out of the driving-only mindset since GRT has a ticket program with the Rangers already but coming from north Waterloo to a Rangers game via the bus would be a long trip.


RE: The Aud - notmyfriends - 01-24-2016

(01-23-2016, 09:41 PM)tomh009 Wrote:
(01-23-2016, 09:21 PM)clasher Wrote: I don't think the Aud is in that bad of a location and considering the upgrades done in the last 10 years I don't think it would be worth the money to move the place. As it stands now I doubt it's more than a km to the future LRT station on Charles. Arenas spend a lot of time empty too so I'm not sure that it would generate heaps of spin-off business at the local pubs on game nights.

A (free) shuttle bus from the LRT stop to the Aud on game nights would be the thing to do, really.  I think a lot of people would go for the LRT, given how packed the Aud parking lots are.

This is an absolute must in my mind.


RE: The Aud - jamincan - 01-24-2016

I seem to recall there being some sort of shuttle bus arrangement to the Laurentian Centre at Ottawa and Alpine. If they'd do that, I don't see why they wouldn't connect to LRT as well.


RE: The Aud - neonjoe - 01-24-2016

They have free Yellow buses from about 10 different establishments in KW such as Beertown, St Louis bar, Wild Wing etc. Also when picking up your tickets from the box office you can ask for Free GRT tickets for the game day.
As long as they keep this program the LRT will be free to near the arena. (And you can always just transfer to the 205 (Ottawa Express) if you don't feel like walking from Charles.


RE: The Aud - Canard - 01-24-2016

Even with the huge lot the Aud has, parking is a major, major problem.  It would be even worse downtown where there can't be a huge lot for it (or there could be, but people would complain endlessly about "having a parking lot downtown" - horrors!).  My inlaws live right around there and every single side street is crammed with people parking for the Rangers games, even the nearby public school has its lot full on game days.

Does a shuttle bus have the capacity to handle surge loading like that when a game lets out, though?  I like that idea a lot, but I would think you'd need a bank of busses all queued up at the Aud to just flush out as much as you could all at once.  You can trickle people in at the beginning of the game since that is human nature but when the game ends it's a different story entirely.  I don't know what the capacity is, but if it's 20 000 people, and if only 10% take Light Rail and need to get to the Charles St. stop, that's still 2000 people you have to move in the course of ~15 minutes, to be reasonable.

I'm reminded of the day I was in Morgantown touring the PRT and was in a car that central control was "manually" driving through the station closest to their stadium... right when a game let out.  The station was the definition of "crush loading".  The look on peoples' faces when our nearly-empty car passed through the loading area and the doors stayed firmly shut was horrifying.  I felt like I was in one of those submersible shark cages at feeding time!

Maybe where it is right now is fine, especially since it's so close to the Conestoga Parkway.


RE: The Aud - JoeKW - 01-24-2016

20,000 is larger than most NHL arenas.

Wikipedia says the capacity is:
7,777 - Hockey
7,312 - Basketball
8,462 - End stage concert


RE: The Aud - jamincan - 01-24-2016

Ottawa has a shuttle bus arrangement for events at TD Place which have to handle much larger crowds. I'm under the impression that it has been pretty successful, but I'm not sure what is involved entirely.


RE: The Aud - jordan2423 - 01-24-2016

(01-23-2016, 11:31 AM)panamaniac Wrote: I imagine most would agree that a new arena should be closer to the core, but it seems a stretch to label a location selected over sixty years ago in what was to become an overwhelmingly car-dependent town a "critical mistake".  If I try to imagine the post-war form of Kitchener, I'm not sure where space would have been found other than what was then the edge of town.

Understood. But still believe having the Aud in the downtown core is key. It's not about people being at the event that is hosted, it's what people do before and after the event. There would be significantly more people downtown having a sporting arena/concert hall downtown. People after the event usually want something to do, like going somewhere to eat or other sorts of activities.


RE: The Aud - mpd618 - 01-24-2016

(01-24-2016, 09:39 AM)Canard Wrote: Even with the huge lot the Aud has, parking is a major, major problem.  It would be even worse downtown where there can't be a huge lot for it (or there could be, but people would complain endlessly about "having a parking lot downtown" - horrors!).

I don't think it would be worse. Downtown Kitchener has thousands of parking spaces primarily for weekday office workers, and very little of that is used in the evenings or weekends. It's also easier to reach by modes other than driving, so more people would be able to shift to those.

It wouldn't be the end of the world if more parking capacity were added downtown - but it has a lot fewer impacts if it's part of a building with other uses, especially at ground floor, rather than a surface lot.


RE: The Aud - MacBerry - 01-24-2016

(01-24-2016, 03:47 PM)mpd618 Wrote:
(01-24-2016, 09:39 AM)Canard Wrote: Even with the huge lot the Aud has, parking is a major, major problem.  It would be even worse downtown where there can't be a huge lot for it (or there could be, but people would complain endlessly about "having a parking lot downtown" - horrors!).

I don't think it would be worse. Downtown Kitchener has thousands of parking spaces primarily for weekday office workers, and very little of that is used in the evenings or weekends. It's also easier to reach by modes other than driving, so more people would be able to shift to those.

It wouldn't be the end of the world if more parking capacity were added downtown - but it has a lot fewer impacts if it's part of a building with other uses, especially at ground floor, rather than a surface lot.

Perhaps in the next decade the thoughts on a future replacement athletic and entertainment centre should consider a 15000 seat arena and a new conference centre combined. 

As for location I think somewhere in or close to the "downtown" area would be better than the half way to Guelph conference centre the Region uses now and the current highway junction that the Aud currently has. Location certainly should be along and adjacent to the LRT corridor and even stopping inside.