Toronto Rogers Centre Renovations | ?m | ?s | Toronto Blue Jays | Populous

For those who don't want to listen to the interview, absolutely nothing new.

- Location and infrastructure around the Dome means he has no plan to build a new ballpark anywhere else. Focus is on making the stadium feel like a ballpark.
- No final decision made on grass, but an acknowledgement that it will be a very expensive and complex undertaking to make it happen.
 
The only way he can make it feel like a ball park is to stop it from feeling like a monolithic bunker and the only way to do that is to open it up to the city. If he's going to knock out some walls and let in natural light, I'm all very much in favour of that.
 
MetroMan said:
The only way he can make it feel like a ball park is to stop it from feeling like a monolithic bunker and the only way to do that is to open it up to the city. If he's going to knock out some walls and let in natural light, I'm all very much in favour of that.
Click to expand...
There isn't any views of the city to see if they took down a wall at the back or anywhere it's surrounded by buildings on all sides. The back wall is right over the TTR and looks out on nothing. Plus it has the hotel and the video board on it the sides would just give a view of condos in either side. The only real view is of the lake but you can only get one from high up because of condos and the Gardner expresy way being in the way.
 
They could bring the seats into a more familiar triangular enclosure around the ballpark and provide greater space around the outer edges of the stadium with the adjustment of seats closer to the field.
 
If by some miracle of timing, the Renaissance hotel went under or decided to sell its attached building to Rogers, they could demolish the hotel portion, opening the outfield to the city. The fixed dome on the north portion would need to be reclad in a transparent material to allow natural light in. They could deck over the portion of the rail corridor between the bridges and turn it into a park for the general public to watch the game on outdoor screens. The city could expropriate or land swap the lowrise office building north of the stadium to bring the park all the way to Front Street, reconnecting the SkyDome directly to the city.
If these things were to happen, the SkyDome would be on its way to feeling more like a ballpark than a stadium.
Further improvements were as you said, bringing the seating closer to the field in a diamond configuration. Patio areas, standing beer gardens and bleachers in general admission areas and concessions on the outside instead of in the concourses would allow people to watch the game while wandering around the ballpark for food or different views.
The outer walls of the concourse, now freed from concession stands could be open with windows to the exterior, allowing natural light into the concourses and views of the city afforded to those walking about. One final change: remove the ticket booths from around the perimeter of the stadium, opening it up so that people walking by on the outside could catch glimpses of the field and of the sports fans walking about inside the concourse.
 
So you would like to spend a fortune renovating so we can look out to the rbc data center? Maybe if they flipped the field and did the same thing we could at least look out to the Gardner expressway
 
I'm thinking with such a dramatic revamp your pretty much talking about tearing down and rebuilding a significant portion of the stadium, on top of reconfiguring seats and a new roof, then we're venturing into costs that are approaching a brand new stadium. In which case I'd rather they tear it down, Jays play at Tim Horton's field for a couple of seasons and start anew on the site with a modern design with sweeping views of the city :)
 
sixrings said:
So you would like to spend a fortune renovating so we can look out to the rbc data center? Maybe if they flipped the field and did the same thing we could at least look out to the Gardner expressway
Click to expand...

Not in the long run, given the plans to redevelop the RBC site and deck over that portion of the rail corridor.

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
Not in the long run, given the plans to redevelop the RBC site and deck over that portion of the rail corridor.

AoD
Click to expand...

...and even if that weren't the case, frankly, I'd much prefer to look onto the RBC data centre than the Gardiner.
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
Though having said that I have doubts about how viable it would be to open up the stadium towards the north.

AoD
Click to expand...

For sure; it'd be a massive undertaking. I think you'd get similar benefits if you had a look at opening up the southeast-ish and/or southwest-ish walls - they both spill out onto pedestrian plazas that need a lot of love anyways.
 
Bogtrotter said:
I'm thinking with such a dramatic revamp your pretty much talking about tearing down and rebuilding a significant portion of the stadium, on top of reconfiguring seats and a new roof, then we're venturing into costs that are approaching a brand new stadium. In which case I'd rather they tear it down, Jays play at Tim Horton's field for a couple of seasons and start anew on the site with a modern design with sweeping views of the city :)
Click to expand...

You want them to play at a football stadium? o_O
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top