London Budweiser Gardens Renovations | ?m | 4s | OVG | BBB

[ericmacm]

The City of London is currently entering into a MOU with Oak View Group and EllisDon for approximately $33M in renovations for Budweiser Gardens in downtown London, with the City of London covering approximately $26M of the total. These renovations have been in planning for many years and will mainly be a refresh of the arena amenities, multipurpose spaces, concourses, technology/AV, and premium/private suite offerings. There won't be any changes to seating capacity at this time, but all in all, it will bring many welcome changes and revitalize some tired features. Design language seems to follow the typical OVG playbook, similar to what is happening at FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton but scaled down. A slide deck was prepared in May 2023 detailing the scope of work with some renderings. Architectural design is being done by BBB, similar again to FirstOntario Centre.

 

[christiesplits]

Thanks for sharing.

While I'm typically opposed to government handouts for arenas, $9M is pretty small in the bigger scheme of things. The London Knights are seen as the "model" OHL franchise due to their loyal fan following and strong attendance, so they clearly provide an economic benefit for the city.

Budweiser Gardens has also been successful in bringing in larger music acts, often hosting concerts tours that are coming to or from Detroit and Toronto.

 

[ericmacm]

Thanks for sharing.

While I'm typically opposed to government handouts for arenas, $9M is pretty small in the bigger scheme of things. The London Knights are seen as the "model" OHL franchise due to their loyal fan following and strong attendance, so they clearly provide an economic benefit for the city.

Budweiser Gardens has also been successful in bringing in larger music acts, often hosting concerts tours that are coming to or from Detroit and Toronto.

Agreed, $9M is a small investment for what will ultimately go a long way in enabling more concerts and events to come to London and improve the atmosphere during Knights games. At some point in the future I would also ideally like to see them complete the upper bowl and bring the capacity above 10,000 seats, but that would obviously be a much more significant renovation.

I am also hoping that these arena renovations will help with attracting new tenants. I personally think London would be a fantastic market for NLL lacrosse and would love to see a team play here.

 

[Map]

I might be wrong but I think $9M is just the phase one contribution from the city. The total project seems to be 80% funded by the city ($26M in total).

 

[ericmacm]

I might be wrong but I think $9M is just the phase one contribution from the city. The total project seems to be 80% funded by the city ($26M in total).

You are correct. I should have checked more thoroughly. I have updated the initial post with the correct amount.