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

[G.L.17]

MLSE is doing a good job of regular refits and upgrades. Much more likely to see that continue vs a tear down and rebuild.

Would not be surprised if they did an interior gut job to add more seating tiers and flexible options like a loge level. Maybe even dig the rink lower or expand their footprint into the Jurassic Park space. But a replacement seems unlikely given the prime location and space constraints.

The arena is not going anywhere. I'd second what you mentioned - MLSE has regularly invested millions into Scotiabank Arena where it still feels "new", or at the very least, has a lot of new features.

Other arenas like The Bell Centre in Montreal and Keybank Center in Buffalo opened just three years before Scotiabank, and haven't had anywhere near the investments MLSE put in. Buffalo is already looking outdated and tired when you visit and walk through the concourses.

I have a difficult time buying the notion that it will be "inevitable" to get a new arena.

 

[C-mac]

Come on, I don't get people calling these renos "lipstick" on a pig". We are getting massive, substantial changes to the stadium. Lipstick on a pig would be if we just got new lights, and maybe a new turf.

And the end of the day, it's still a concrete bunker that will be ranked one of the worst stadiums in baseball.

 

[T.E.C.II]

And the end of the day, it's still a concrete bunker that will be ranked one of the worst stadiums in baseball.

But maybe they can improve the stadium enough so even if it doesn't compare with they very best, it's still a good stadium.

 

[animatronic]

Totally agree, location of SkyDome and SBA are top notch. While I hear people moan about Rogers Centre all the time, what's the general opinion on SBA for the Leafs and Raptors? It seems like a perfectly serviceable arena that's still competitive in their respective leagues.

I’ve been to NHL games in Vancouver, Edmonton, Montreal and Toronto. MTL arena is huge, VCR is not updated and showing its age. Edmonton is the newest and it shows - big open concourses, nice suites, a loge level, some natural light in from the side, steep seating on multiple tiers to keep you close to the ice.

 

[animatronic]

The Location for Scotiabank Arena is prime. They will probably gut the entire arena and rebuild it and probably remove the MLSE office from there. Leafs and Ratpors could play in a temporary arena somewhere in GTA while it's re-built. I do think the GTA does need a second Arena at the same size as Scotiabank. New York City Metro area has 3....MSG, UBS Arena, Barclays. I think Toronto can have two.

A revamped Copps will help in Hamilton, and Paramount in Mississauga isn’t bad. But agree that we could easily support a 15k stadium in say Vaughan for concerts and events.

 

[many7695]

The arena is not going anywhere. I'd second what you mentioned - MLSE has regularly invested millions into Scotiabank Arena where it still feels "new", or at the very least, has a lot of new features.

Other arenas like The Bell Centre in Montreal and Keybank Center in Buffalo opened just three years before Scotiabank, and haven't had anywhere near the investments MLSE put in. Buffalo is already looking outdated and tired when you visit and walk through the concourses.

I have a difficult time buying the notion that it will be "inevitable" to get a new arena.

Look at the new golden state warriors look at the new clippers arena and others that will soon be build, u can’t replicate that at the footprint of Scotiabank has, no matter how good the location is this, arenas have changed and MLSE to.keep up will have to build a new arena at new location unless MLSE make Scotiabank footprint much larger then it is, which is like almost 300,000 square foot smaller

 

[G.L.17]

Look at the new golden state warriors look at the new clippers arena and others that will soon be build, u can’t replicate that at the footprint of Scotiabank has, no matter how good the location is this, arenas have changed and MLSE to.keep up will have to build a new arena at new location unless MLSE make Scotiabank footprint much larger then it is, which is like almost 300,000 square foot smaller

The Warriors were coming out of a terribly placed arena in Oakland with a facility nearly as old as the Leafs cup drought with tons of aging issues, and wanted a facility that competes with the top ones in NA (and finally having one which is more easily accessible).

The Clippers wanted their own facility so as to get away from sharing with the Lakers, and with Los Angeles having a plethora of underutilized land, the owner saw no real issue with finding a spot for an arena with a large footprint. That said, no matter how great the arena there will be, it's still in Inglewood.

Suffice to say, Scotiabank will be just fine.

 

[torontowest91]

Will the sound system be improved? I find concerts sound quality is terrible.
Was at the lady gaga concert in the summer with the dome closed and It was brutal on the floor.

 

[Richard White]

Will the sound system be improved? I find concerts sound quality is terrible.
Was at the lady gaga concert in the summer with the dome closed and It was brutal on the floor.

Highly unlikely. With amount of concrete and the convex nature nature of the roof the sound quality is not different than a concrete bunker.

There is no way you will get opera house quality sound in a concrete bunker.

 

[AlbertC]

Toronto neighbourhoods inspire Rogers Centre reno - constructconnect.com - Daily Commercial News

Renovations at the Rogers Centre are well underway and the design includes an outfield district with four unique neighbourhoods inspired by different areas of the city. The Toronto Blue Jays unveiled the new neighbourhoods Jan. 17. Inside the stadium, th

canada.constructconnect.com

Renovations at the Rogers Centre are well underway and the design includes an outfield district with four unique neighbourhoods inspired by different areas of the city.

The Toronto Blue Jays unveiled the new neighbourhoods Jan. 17. Inside the stadium, the transformation is beginning to take shape with concrete being poured, beams being lifted into place by cranes, and seats, which are original to the stadium, being replaced.

“Work is on schedule to be completed ahead of the 2023 baseball season,” said Anuk Karunaratne, executive vice-president of business operations with the Toronto Blue Jays, in a statement.

“Demolition wrapped up in November and the new build has progressed smoothly since then, averaging around 220 workers on site daily. The outfield structure is taking shape and we began installing the new 500L seats in the second week of January.”

This is part of the first phase of the multi-year renovations planned for the Rogers Centre, which focuses primarily on the outfield. It will be open to fans for the 2023 home opener on April 11.

At the end of July 2022, the Toronto Blue Jays announced the $300 million privately funded renovation that will transform the Rogers Centre from a stadium into a ballpark through a series of projects, a release issued by the team indicates.

“Rogers Centre was conceptualized as a multi-purpose stadium when it opened in 1989 and has not undergone a large-scale renovation in its 33-year history,” it reads. “The scope of this project addresses the most important challenges with the current stadium, while not rushing the necessary long-term work to maintain the ballpark for future generations of fans.”

The series of projects are being phased over two to three offseasons and aim to “modernize the fan experience and build world-class player facilities.”

PCL is the construction partner for the first phase of projects and the club is working with Populous on architectural design which it also partnered with on the Blue Jays Player Development Complex in Dunedin, Fla.
The four new outfield neighbourhoods, which will offer differentiated experiences, include:

• Corona Rooftop Patio (500L right field) — Situated beneath the CN Tower, fans become a part of Toronto’s skyline in the highest section of Rogers Centre’s iconic rooftop.
• Park Social (500L left field) — A park within the park for fans of all ages featuring games and comfortable places to hang out.
• The Stop (100L centre field behind the batter’s eye) — An ode to stadium history, The Stop sits behind the batter’s eye in a space originally planned as a transit stop, showcasing the many different neighbourhoods in which Toronto’s transit system runs through.
• The Catch Bar (100L) — Perched above the visitors’ bullpen with unprecedented views, it’s the place to be seen and catch a home run.
  2022-2023 offseason projects that will completed for April’s home opener:
• 100 level and 200 level outfield — Creation of multiple new social spaces with patios, drink rails, bars and viewing platforms; raised bullpens surrounded by traditional and new bleacher seats, as well as social viewing areas that look into the bullpens to increase fan and player interaction; and 100L seats brought forward to the new outfield walls to brings fans closer to the game.
  500 level — Two new social decks in right and left field (Corona Rooftop Patio and Park Social) and replacing every 500L seat from the originals when the building opened.
• Field level — 5,000 square foot weight room; players’ family room and staff locker rooms.

Renovated and new group spaces also being introduced include:

• WestJet Flight Deck (200L centre field) — Fans can now host group events with varying capacities.
• 200L Terrace (right field corner) — With direct bar access, the new space offers views directly over right field.
• 100L Mezzanine (right field corner) — Views directly beside the visitors’ bullpen in prime home run catching territory.

The renovations will continue over the next few offseasons, with completion of the project expected by 2025.

The 2023-2024 off season projects include 100 level infield, field level premium clubs and social spaces and clubhouses and player facilities.

To view construction progress on the project visit bluejays.com/renovation.

 

[ADRM]

I’ve been to NHL games in Vancouver, Edmonton, Montreal and Toronto. MTL arena is huge, VCR is not updated and showing its age. Edmonton is the newest and it shows - big open concourses, nice suites, a loge level, some natural light in from the side, steep seating on multiple tiers to keep you close to the ice.

NHL teams still to this day send delegations to Toronto to take notes on the whole package -- arena design, in-game presentation, player amenities, suite/corporate amenities. It's considered a top-notch facility by those in the industry. Las Vegas and Edmonton are sort of broadly now considered the new best-in-class, but they both took cues from Scotia in designing theirs.

 

[Mercenary]

Scotiabank Arena will probably get re-built in about 20 years time. When the naming rights expire in 2038. The footprint area is small but with clever engineering, they can make a bigger arena with the same footprint...maybe dig deeper or something similar to how the Chicago Cubs re-built Wrigley Field.

 

[daptive]

An ode to stadium history, The Stop sits behind the batter’s eye in a space originally planned as a transit stop

there were originally plans for a transit stop at the dome? Were there ever renders of this?

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

On-topic: It's interesting the Jays have given themselves 2 off-seasons to complete the 100-level work. Not surprising given the scope but I presume they'll try to do all the huge/visible work after this coming season and then more the behind-the-scenes stuff after 2024? I guess they could do it the other way too but seems less likely.

Off-topic: I don't think naming rights have much to do with when things get rebuilt or not. We can speculate about what might happen 20 or 30 years out but really, what's the point? Who knows what the lay of land will be with land use, with Ontario, with Toronto, with professional sports, with venues by then? Buildings have finite lives and trends change. (Also, it's an easy thing to forget but it's worth recalling that pre-MLSE, the Raptors and Leafs had warring arena plans the the then-ACC was already under construction, I think, before they finally agreed on a single plan.) Maybe by 2035 the Exhibition Lands or the Portlands or somewhere else becomes a viable location. Might also be that the era of massive stadium/arena spending tails off and large-sclae renos become more common. Who the heck knows? Why worry about it, really? Both are decent facilities (more true of Rogers Centre circa 2025 than circa 2020) right now and if neither is on the cutting edge, well, nothing is for very long.

 

[rbt]

Off-topic: I don't think naming rights have much to do with when things get rebuilt or not. We can speculate about what might happen 20 or 30 years out but really, what's the point? Who knows what the lay of land will be with land use, with Ontario, with Toronto, with professional sports, with venues by then? Buildings have finite lives and trends change. (Also, it's an easy thing to forget but it's worth recalling that pre-MLSE, the Raptors and Leafs had warring arena plans the the then-ACC was already under construction, I think, before they finally agreed on a single plan.) Maybe by 2035 the Exhibition Lands or the Portlands or somewhere else becomes a viable location. Might also be that the era of massive stadium/arena spending tails off and large-sclae renos become more common. Who the heck knows? Why worry about it, really? Both are decent facilities (more true of Rogers Centre circa 2025 than circa 2020) right now and if neither is on the cutting edge, well, nothing is for very long.

I don't see Rogers, or any future owner, building a wholly new stadium without substantial government assistance.

I also don't see the government being interested in contributing anything other than land which they already own. For downtown that leaves Exhibition grounds which would permanently end the exhibition, Ontario Place which has poor transit connectivity, and the Island Airport which has both poor roadway and transit connections. With Porter pulling out of the Island Airport, it's a feasible option but would require substantial Waterfront Toronto investment to make it feasible for development.

In short, I think if there is a new stadium in a different location, it'll be in the 905 near or even replacing surface parking at a high frequency GO station with nearby highway access.