The two biggest problems with the SkyDome are its opaqueness/isolation from the outside and its lack of intimacy due to the sheer volume of seats. Those seats also bring down the atmosphere in the stadium when they're empty.
Both can be resolved by replacing the cheap seats in the upper bowl with layered decks with patio seating, waiting service, plants and even trees. With dozens of rows removed and open to the halls now behind them, punch out windows along the entire perimeter. This will help bring the city inside, and make the stadium more intimate with seating now only below the boxes. This may sound like it makes no financial sense, but converting the $20 cheap seats into eating and drinking areas will likely result in increased spending of over $20 per person.
Give fans outside a free place to watch the game. On the west side of the stadium, a large plaza sits windswept and thoroughly unused, even on game days when the east, north and south sides are bursting at the seams. Follow the Air Canada Centre's Maple Leaf Square model. Build a large bright outdoor screen and viewing area. Go even further than MLS: add casual seating opportunities throughout the square: Grass hills and layered grass steps built like bleachers, ledges, and some benches. Monetize the space by licensing food trucks to park in the square.
This leads to a secondary problem: its exterior which was built for an era where nothing but the CN Tower existed around it. Besides the new square on the west side, improve opacity into the activity in the stadium by removing the ticket booths. Add a glass perimeter with views inside. People aren't going to be able to watch the game from here but they'll see the activity inside and those walking around in the stadium will see the outside, resulting in a less claustrophobic experience.
Some additional points:
- Discourage scalper business by placing dozens of electronic kiosks scattered outside the stadium. This replaces the ticket booths and the screens allow for advertising dynamic ticket pricing that changes throughout the day and during the game based on ticket demand and time elapsed.
- The roof needs to be replaced. It's a pretty straightforward decision to replace the opaque skin with transparent roof tiles, whether or not they go ahead with building a grass playing field.
- Rogers would gain a lot of public support and the fans would absolutely go wild if they changed the name to Rogers SkyDome. We all saw how going back to the old Blue Jays logo and branding changed the dynamic of the fans.
- Rogers' study into revitalizing the SkyDome is a perfectly timed opportunity for the city to get involved and encourage decking over that part of the rail deck for the park. If Tory's office isn't engaged with Rogers on this already, it'll be a shocking missed opportunity given Tory's focus on building the park with private money. I'm not sure exactly what incentives could be used but handing the land over the rail deck to Rogers for use with the SkyDome in exchange for building a park over it is an attractive incentive I think.
Hopefully they can find a way to get grass in there- I'm fairly skeptical when it comes to anything to do with Rogers though. Shapiro doesn't inspire confidence with that kind of statement either, pretty sure I don't want to be watching games at Rogers centre in the 2040's.
