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

[animatronic]

It's a tight squeeze, but here's Progressive Field overlaid on the space. Lots of room to loop Bremner Blvd north of the stadium and provide access to a row of condos. Parking will be an issue, as there won't be as much room under the stands.

They'll also have to work around/over the deep water cooling plant in the SE corner of the lot - assume that relocating it would be prohibitively expensive.

If they want a retractable roof they're going to have to get creative with space.

If they want to keep the SkyDome open while the new one is built they're going to have to rotate the field 180 degrees, permanently retract the roof and demolish the southern end - if that's even possible. More likely they'd build as much as possible in advance then demo the SkyDome in October. That gives them 7 months to prep the new field and keep building the new stands.

 

[picard102]

Removing capacity is one of your issues? Capacity hasn't been 55,000 for many many years. MLB stadiums have been getting smaller in every city. the average is mid 40's now but there are a few even lower than that.

Even more of an argument to not rebuild a purpose built baseball stadium. Baseball's fan base is shrinking, and it's best suited to multi use facility if it's going to continue to decline.

 

[animatronic]

Even more of an argument to not rebuild a purpose built baseball stadium. Baseball's fan base is shrinking, and it's best suited to multi use facility if it's going to continue to decline.

There's so little that needs a >55k stadium though. Really just the NFL, and we're not getting a team. Even then you end up with a $2B stadium at capacity 16 times a year.

Performers don't like the terrible acoustics, preferring arena shows. Easier just to run multiple nights @ 20k then one big event.

Monster trucks etc.. don't draw that much and could be handled at BMO.

If your argument is more multipurpose venues, we should be building a 20k NHL-size arena in North York or Vaughan.

 

[Towered]

There's so little that needs a >55k stadium though. Really just the NFL, and we're not getting a team. Even then you end up with a $2B stadium at capacity 16 times a year.

Performers don't like the terrible acoustics, preferring arena shows. Easier just to run multiple nights @ 20k then one big event.

Monster trucks etc.. don't draw that much and could be handled at BMO.

If your argument is more multipurpose venues, we should be building a 20k NHL-size arena in North York or Vaughan.

Olympics?

 

[christiesplits]

Make no mistake - we are likely losing a prime Toronto icon for dull spandrel condos at the foot of the CN Tower. I will assume this until I see otherwise.

 

[Riseth]

Make no mistake - we are likely losing a prime Toronto icon for dull spandrel condos at the foot of the CN Tower. I will assume this until I see otherwise.

This is what I fear the most. We're losing the iconic duo of the CN Tower/Sky Dome for more condos and right near Toronto's most important/prominent landmark. I look forward to seeing what this proposal looks like.

 

[animatronic]

Olympics?

"Forget" (ahem) the Olympics. Build a $3B stadium, fill it a few times and then let it rot.

 

[T.E.C.II]

i'm curious if the people who are upset that it may get demolished are jays fans? I can't imagine that there are any jays fans out there that are asking to save it. It was amazing at its time but there's nothing worth saving here. It's absolutely terrible to watch a game in. I've been to 18 ballparks and it's the worst one i've been to. When the roof is open, it's okay but not great. When it's closed, it's flat out depressing in there. The cost to renovate it to bring it to modern standards would probably cost more than putting up a new park. You would have to remove the hotel, hollow out all the exterior concrete to put in windows and glass to brighten it up and from my understanding the hotel (and all its concrete) hold the roof up on days where the dome is open so that wouldn't be easy to change.

This gives them the opportunity to put in a beautiful park that holds far less people (in the 30-40K range i'd hope). Yes, the skyline will change but it changes all the time anyways. The dome is already blocked if you look at the skyline from the east or west. From the south it's visible but still obstructed a bit.

+1. If the Yankees could tear down Yankee Stadium, we can tear down the Rogers Centre.

 

[MetroMan]

Rogers has said for years that it would cost $1B just to tear down the SkyDome. It’s a concrete bunker. It can’t be demolished by detonation because it’s in the middle of a neighbourhood of glass towers, so it would have to be disassembled. Rogers is bluffing for a govt. bailout.

 

[Richard White]

But what about the concerts? We will lose all stadium concerts if we lose Skydome. If they build a new stadium I really hope it has some sort of a retractable roof and similar capacity.

There has not been a concert of any significance at the Rogers Centre in years. Once Scotiabank Arena opened they all went there and into the smaller venues like the Danforth Music Hall, Massey Hall and even BMO Field.

Rogers Centre is actually a horrible venue for concerts because of the stadium's geometry.

Stadium Concerts are going the way of the dodo. Scotiabank can handle it without issue.

 

[Bogtrotter]

$1B is ridiculous for a demo. Can you source that info? Yankee stadium was dismantled for only $20-22M about ten years ago.

 

[Richard White]

$1B is ridiculous for a demo. Can you source that info? Yankee stadium was dismantled for only $20-22M about ten years ago.

Yes but Yankee stadium is not surrounded by office towers and condos on all sides. Delicacy costs money and time.

They will need to jackhammer away the stadium during regular business hours. That can't be done overnight.

 

[syn]

+1. If the Yankees could tear down Yankee Stadium, we can tear down the Rogers Centre.

Cool, let's tear it down it down after 85 years and one major renovation.

 

[Stec]

There has not been a concert of any significance at the Rogers Centre in years. Once Scotiabank Arena opened they all went there and into the smaller venues like the Danforth Music Hall, Massey Hall and even BMO Field.

Rogers Centre is actually a horrible venue for concerts because of the stadiums geometry.

Stadium Concerts are going the way of the dodo. Scotiabank can handle it without issue.

I had tickets for BTS at Skydome for last June but the pandemic happened and ruined those plans. BTS would never do the ACC it's far too small. Skydome is the only venue in Ontario that could host a group such as BTS. Acts like them would end up at BC Place in Vancouver then.

 

[Richard White]

I had tickets for BTS at Skydome for last June but the pandemic happened and ruined those plans. BTS would never do the ACC it's far too small. Skydome is the only venue in Ontario that could host a group such as BTS. Acts like them would end up at BC Place in Vancouver then.

Yes but how many concerts do you have on that scale in Toronto?