am29
Active Member
I would love if they have a live grass wall on the bare concrete portions along the base. Grass inside the stadium? Meh, it would be nice too I guess.
Toronto Rogers Centre Renovations | ?m | ?s | Toronto Blue Jays | Populous
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Johnny Au
Senior Member
Here are the reactions on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Torontoblu...uejays_in_process_of_picking_a_design_parter/ and https://www.reddit.com/r/Torontoblu.../mark_shapiro_says_design_firm_made_bluejays/
It would be great to have real grass in the Rogers Centre for baseball, along with making the roof translucent to allow the grass to grow and making the roof mechanism faster than the current approximately twenty minutes.
Alternatively, the Jays could play in a new stadium in the Portlands, perhaps on its own island with a canal separating it from the mainland. The new stadium could be designed similar to that of Marlins Park, complete with a retractable roof, while the current Rogers Centre could be used for other purposes, including a megachurch or even be used for cricket (especially given the growing popularity of cricket in Toronto).
It would be great to have real grass in the Rogers Centre for baseball, along with making the roof translucent to allow the grass to grow and making the roof mechanism faster than the current approximately twenty minutes.
Alternatively, the Jays could play in a new stadium in the Portlands, perhaps on its own island with a canal separating it from the mainland. The new stadium could be designed similar to that of Marlins Park, complete with a retractable roof, while the current Rogers Centre could be used for other purposes, including a megachurch or even be used for cricket (especially given the growing popularity of cricket in Toronto).
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Bogtrotter
Senior Member
Rogers centre a megachurch- L. I don't think a new stadium is in the cards actually, Jays fans will have to settle for a revamp and be satisfied with that for the next 10-15 years. I'm not getting the sense that grass is in the dome's future either. Digging up the floor for drainage, transparent panels, special lighting is all going to get too costly for a stadium that may only have 10 or so more seasons of life. It's surely more than a 6-7 month project, and where would the team play in the meantime- BMO? I think they'll settle for improving the fan experience by refreshing the interior, scoreboard, maybe seating, and further marketing promos.
christiesplits
Senior Member
What is the likelihood of Rogers asking for public money for the renos?
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
What's the likelihood of them getting it? The optics of government paying to renovate a stadium built with public money and sold at a huge loss, ultimately changing hands to a private company holding broadcasting monopolies and paying multi-million dollar players contracts would be terrible.
Longer article with timelines:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-draw-3-million-attendance-first-time-since-1993/
In any case, I think there is a better argument for public funding to be made in the area surrounding the stadium.
AoD
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kotsy
Senior Member
Bogtrotter
Senior Member
I'm not sure if that's encouraging or disheartening 
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.
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.
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MetroMan
Senior Member
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.
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.
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christiesplits
Senior Member
This is interesting. Do any teams currently do this?
T.E.C.II
Active Member
They're never going to go back to calling it the Skydome. The whole point of calling it Rogers Centre is that it forces you to say the name "Rogers". Adding Skydome, people will just abbreviate it to Skydome.
Big Daddy
Senior Member
The government built this stadium with $500 million public dollars then years later sold it to Rogers for $25 million because they didn't want the liability and ongoing costs - and there was only one buyer for the stadium. There will never be more public money spent on this - nor should there be.
Skeezix
Senior Member
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I agree with you, T.E.C. II. But MetroMan is correct that it would be very well received. Sadly, will likely never happen.
Bogtrotter
Senior Member
/
Good post. I think grass is integral to justifying the added expense of a transparent roof though. No grass will be a hard pill to swallow for many fans, and players for that matter, and for three more decades..?
Good post. I think grass is integral to justifying the added expense of a transparent roof though. No grass will be a hard pill to swallow for many fans, and players for that matter, and for three more decades..?
SaugeenJunction
Senior Member
Post apocalyptic Toronto, featuring a re-built Skydome. via Google Images
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
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