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

[Momo26]

I cannot read it but if they are pumping 2M into a resto alone, it doesn't sound like a demo is coming any time soon


https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-...d402a.html

[KevinL]

Proposed summer renovations at the Kitchener Auditorium to bolster the Rangers as an “elite franchise” will include a $2-million restaurant paid for by the city.

The plan will come to Kitchener council May 12, with the Rangers requesting to renovate and improve the players’ dressing room, and relocate team offices and the media/scout room, as well as entice the city to build a restaurant where the current Subscriber’s Lounge is outside the Dom Cardillo rink.

The renovations — aside from the restaurant — will cost $2.5 million and will be paid for by the club. The main focus of the work is the expanded dressing room, which, said Joe Birch, the Rangers chief operating officer, created a domino effect.

Improving the dressing room area, which includes moving the fitness centre, expanding the players’ lounge and enhancing players’ athletic therapy, meant team offices would have to go to the third floor, known as the Legend’s level, where the current media/scout lounge is located.

[tomh009]

The $2.5M in renovations would be paid by the Rangers, who do not control the future of the building. But, even if the city were to decide to rebuild or relocate the Aud, they want to do those renovations as the bigger build would take years, probably in the 5-10y range.

[panamaniac]

The $2.5M in renovations would be paid by the Rangers, who do not control the future of the building. But, even if the city were to decide to rebuild or relocate the Aud, they want to do those renovations as the bigger build would take years, probably in the 5-10y range.

5 years gets you discussion and, with luck, a potential location.  10 years might get you a design and, with luck, financing.  Doors open would be 12 to 15 years down the road, if everything fell into place.

[westwardloo]

Briefly mentioned in this article was the potential for Market square to be the site of the new Aud.  This would be a perfect location downtown, lots of parking garages near by and right beside an LRT stop. 

I know there are people on this forum that love market square for some reason, and want to see it be reused for other purposes. I understand the environmental reason to try and reuse as many buildings as possible, but this building has been used for a mall, office space, educational all of them have failed. It's time to accept this building was poorly designed for most uses. We will not get a DT arena without demolishing buildings, this is the perfect site. The City needs to work closely with Europro to try and secure this site for future sports and entertainment facility. this site is big enough for an arena with parking and a small public square.  they could even keep the ugly glass clock tower as part of the public square.  

https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-...e4ab9.html

[timc]

I think Market Square would be a great site for the Aud. There's lot of parking, transit access, and places to walk to before or after a game.

[creative]

I like the idea as well. How would you accommodate team buses and concert transport trucks? Both usually need to be able to enter the building easily. Traffic after events could be terrible leaving downtown parking structures. The current auditorium offers easy access to 7/8.

[bravado]

I think it’d be a great idea - I just think we’re culturally against putting big new public projects where the most members of the public live these days… it’s an amazing use of the land regardless.

I think that big public projects downtown is something that previous generations could do, we’ve genuinely forgotten how.