The Aud

[ac3r]

Just no money or actual need for one.

[SF22]

The discussion continues about what will need to be done with the Aud, soon to be the oldest arena in the OHL (once Sudbury moves forward with their recently-approved new arena).

Vrbanovic also said that the future of the Aud is something that is on his staff’s work plan for this term of council.

“That means between now and 2026 we would be beginning that work,” he said. “I hope we can start as quickly as possible.”



They are also entertaining the possibility of fully rehauling the existing building, as has been done with other historical arenas in North America before, instead of just going for a brand-new building.

“There is a world where we could get to a larger facility, maybe as high as 10,000 and still use the base of the existing building,” said Vrbanovic. “You can take an old building and reinvent it and make it something pretty amazing.

“Hypothetically would it make sense for us to build a $300-400 million building that is 12,000 seats only to attract 5-10 concerts a year and when the Rangers might need just 10,000 (capacity)?

“Maybe you can do an upgrade on the building and get another 50-70 years out of it for $150 million. That’s the kind of work that staff are going to look at and explore where we go with it as a community.”




https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-...=ymbii_top

[SF22]

Personally, I'd like to see the Aud grow their seats enough to attract shows that currently skip over us because the Aud is too small. Budweiser Stage seats 16k, the London Labatt Centre seats 10k for events (9k for hockey). We should absolutely be the sort of city that can bring in mid-sized music acts.

It would potentially be neat to see the façade of the Aud facing East/Borden get saved, and reused as the front of a new athletics building, or something like a community centre (indoor turf field, basketball court, pool, community rental space, take your pick). 

If they chose to purchase the 5-6 properties that line Ottawa St, a new arena could be built facing Ottawa, and the Rangers could keep playing in the original building as the new one gets built. It would be located in a prime spot for an LRT stop if a line eventually gets put down Ottawa, and in the meantime would have the iExpress right out front. And a parking garage under the new arena! Let's just scrap all the surface parking on that property and build out an awesome park/athletics area in the recovered space - basketball courts, a splash pad, a second baseball field, a couple hundred trees to create a little urban forest to lessen the traffic noise from the highway, etc.

This is probably a stretch, but it would be fantastic if they also built space for some commercial right beside the Aud, for a few restaurants and a coffee shop. With the multiple new high-rises earmarked for the King/Ottawa area, they'd likely get plenty of foot traffic even on non-hockey/show nights.

[KevinL]

A better parking/transit situation could also be useful for reactivating the old Centennial Stadium space for, say, a pro soccer team.

[SF22]

A better parking/transit situation could also be useful for reactivating the old Centennial Stadium space for, say, a pro soccer team.

Yes, why not?? We could have our city hockey, baseball, basketball and soccer teams all playing out of the same complex. The Sports District, if you will. That feels like something a growing city ought to have, especially if supported by good transit.

[panamaniac]

A better parking/transit situation could also be useful for reactivating the old Centennial Stadium space for, say, a pro soccer team.

Yes, why not?? We could have our city hockey, baseball, basketball and soccer teams all playing out of the same complex. The Sports District, if you will. That feels like something a growing city ought to have, especially if supported by good transit.

Maybe hosting the Canada Games could spur better sports facilities.

[westwardloo]

Brantford considering a $140million downtown sports and entertainment Arena funded by both the public and private sectors.  Would love to see some vision and initiative from some of the wealthier residents of Waterloo Region.  I know the main focus is the Hospital, which is a good thing, but we need to take the replacement of the Aud seriously if we are going to see anything happen within the next decade. 

https://www.thespec.com/news/council/bra...e2e14.html