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A few months after the Toronto Raptors won their first NBA Championship, the home they share with the NHL's Maple Leafs is looking different. It's been 17 months since banking titan Scotiabank's 20-year naming rights deal began on the arena formerly known as the Air Canada Centre, and the last vestiges of its previous branding have been replaced. In conjunction with the rebrand, the Scotiabank Arena has been undergoing a major renovation, which surpassed a milestone this week before the clock ticked down to tonight's Leafs home opener.
Attendees of tonight's game arriving via the arena's Maple Leaf Square frontage will notice a new exterior, by Kramer Design Associates, which has introduced a larger screen and other significant changes. Black cladding and the 62 by 35-foot high-definition screen—approximately 40% larger than the previous screen—with a Scotiabank 'S' logo to its side now dominate the west facade, while a much larger Scotiabank Arena sign is now affixed above. The animated logo and sign change colour based on the event being hosted; for tonight's Leafs game, the arena's signage will be glowing blue, it will glow red for Raptors games. The sign and logo can show any colour.
The pace of work increased considerably during the last couple of weeks, with the overall work schedule likely having been pushed back by the Raptors' NBA Championship run that extended well into June. The new signage was only recently installed, the sign up top first test lit a couple of weeks ago. For an idea of how much work has been completed in a short span of time, the image below was captured exactly one week ago on September 25th. In the days since, the space around the larger screen was filled in with glazing and the Scotiabank S logo installed and surrounded with black aluminum panels. The small, temporary Scotiabank Arena sign seen below along the edge of the roof has also since been removed.
On Monday and Tuesday this week, crews on lifts could be seen installing finishing touches along the west facade, though much work is still to be done. The famous Searchlight, Starlight, Spotlight sculpture and other areas of the west facade are still surrounded by scaffolds as facade replacement and other upgrades continue.
The new LG Electronics screen—the first of many LG outdoor LED installations taking place in Canada—consists of 1,269 modules housed in 168 cabinets, providing a significant increase in resolution over the previous screen. A statement issued by Jeff Deline, Chief Revenue Officer at MLSE, reads "LG has been a trusted MLSE partner for 10 years and has helped us provide an exceptional experience to our fans through their products. With the installation of the new LG outdoor screen, our fans' outdoor viewing experience at Maple Leaf Square will continue to be one of the best places to watch the game."
A peek inside shows how the work area behind the screen and logo is partitioned from the arena interior.
In the meantime, on the east side of the arena, an overhead connection is being formed to the CIBC SQUARE project under construction across Bay Street. Connecting the new office complex's GO bus terminal to Union Station, a pedestrian bridge was recently installed over Bay Street that will extend Toronto's PATH pedestrian network to the east. Scotiabank Arena is already connected via PATH to Union Station to the north, Telus House to the west, and Ten York and Waterpark Place to the south.
Additional information and images can be found in our Database file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment below.
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