(01-08-2022, 12:36 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: As for its current location it is a 10 minute walk from an LRT station and on that walk you will pass at least two restaurants. I think you don’t know the area it’s located in well. More, if an arena was so good for local businesses and development, would t it have attracted more businesses to the area?
It's worth noting that they want to densify around Borden Station and down Ottawa street, so that should hopefully improve the retail/restaurant scene in this area which would be good if they preserved the current stadium. This entire area falls within the Rockway PARTS plan which is aiming to densify this area, so as the years go on, we will certainly see a lot more projects. Zehr Group has a project proposed for 20 Ottawa Street (about 5 minutes away on foot) which includes some commercial space which I am sure can be used for restaurants. Vive also has 926 King Street East approved already, which includes commercial space as well as Lower Kitchener proposed, although I can't remember if that had any commercial space included. There are also many other existing restaurant spaces in the area.
Everybody seems to be making the case that turning Charles Street into a new stadium is good because it's connected to the LRT etc. So is the current The Aud location. If a 10 minute walk from Borden to The Aud is too far, then something is wrong with people - you don't need to be dropped off at the door. The number 2 and 8 bus also travel nearby and the 1 gets you fairly close as well. If the goal is to get people to abandon their cars, then the current site is still sufficiently connected to the LRT and buses. It also has direct access to the Conestoga Expressway. They could easily get rid of the awful surface parking, build a garage to densify the vehicle parking, then use that space to expand the grounds with even more community features - which could include community spaces, retail, residential and so on.
Ultimately...if you look at the size of The Aud compared to Charles Street, the latter is tiny. So how would this work for a stadium? You couldn't fit 1/4th of the existing stadium on the Charles Street location. So what is the plan? To build a smaller stadium downtown, just because downtown stadiums work in some cities - Baltimore, Denver, Minneapolis etc? The purpose of a stadium is to provide a space for the public, not to act as an economic catalyst in the area it exists in (although indeed, achieving both is ideal). It makes more sense to preserve the existing one - which already includes the stadium itself, a dog park, skate park, baseball field (two, if you include the one on the adjacent school grounds), track field and then build a parking garage and utilize the surface lots for even more venues. Turn the entire area into a grand recreational space to be used by everyone and let the evolution of Ottawa Street happen, which should see more commercial and residential spaces go in.