Globe: Time for a new stadium?

[wyliepoon]

http://sports.theglobeandmail.com/s...90412.monday13/GSStory/GlobeSportsHockey/home


Time for a new stadium?



JEFF BLAIR

From Monday's Globe and Mail

April 12, 2009 at 10:15 PM EDT

The kid starters have shown unexpected gumption. Scott Rolen, Aaron Hill and Vernon Wells are healthy, and Adam Lind and Travis Snider, well, you can't say I haven't been warning you about them all spring. The only real annoyance for the Toronto Blue Jays in this 5-2 start (other than idiot fans) has been the nightmare scenario of closer B.J. Ryan and the blogosphere's favourite to replace him, Brandon League, both being racked around.

So let's do a little spring dreaming, shall we? Heck, it's not as if there's anything else for a sports fan in Toronto to do except queue for Marlies playoff tickets. Let's think ballparks.

I mean, I know I started thinking about ballparks when Blue Jays broadcaster Jerry Howarth mentioned there was a 20th-anniversary shindig planned for the Rogers Centre (née SkyDome) this summer. And I'll be thinking about it again tonight when the Blue Jays play the first game of a four-game series in their only visit this season to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, since the Minnesota Twins will move to a spiffy new outdoor park next year. (Outdoor baseball in Minneapolis in April. Geez.)

Anyhow, next season, the Rogers Centre will be the eighth oldest major-league ballpark, behind Fenway Park (1912), Wrigley Field (1914), Dodger Stadium (1962), Angels Stadium (1966), McAfee Coliseum (1968, Oakland), Kauffman Stadium (1973, Kansas City) and Dolphin Stadium (1987).

Minnesota's new ballpark will be the 23rd opened since the Rogers Centre. The Florida Marlins are getting a new facility and will vacate Dolphin Stadium. McAfee is a dump. Fenway and Wrigley are considered romantic, especially by fans who make one visit in their lifetime to get drunk. Angels Stadium and most recently Kauffman Stadium have undergone extensive renovations. Dodger Stadium still has the best view in baseball. And Alyssa Milano. Which leaves the Rogers Centre as . . .

Look, I'm just throwing this out. I'd rather extend subway lines, get the sewage out of the house safely and keep swimming pools and libraries open. But the debate's a-comin', at a time when it appears we won't be able to prevent the NFL from imposing the Buffalo Bills on us, and at a time when politicians are musing about grand schemes and shovels in the ground. Paul Godfrey, whom I like immensely but who was joined at the hip with the SkyDome, is no longer the Blue Jays president, so you wonder if Paul Beeston and The Guy Who Will Replace Himâ„¢ might not move the dossier forward?

Winnipeg's getting a new football stadium. Ottawa's having a debate about two new facilities for teams that don't even really exist. (That's a case-study in bad economics waiting to happen, no?) And my guess is there are people in Toronto who have already been scratching out designs on cocktail napkins behind closed doors. That's only a guess, but one thing I know for certain is none of them factored in a successful 2009 Blue Jays team as part of the equation.

 

[adma]

I don't know. While I can understand the the selfconsciousness about not having something "fresh", there's still something about *ahem* Skydome that just seems too physically ingrained in the collective urban conscious.

Maybe if it were a conventional stadium-in-a-field/sea-of-parking like a lot of recent obsolete demo-implodees have been (Exhibition Stadium not excepted), it could be viewed as dispensable. But with Cityplace etc growing all around it, it's becoming practically as integral with its surroundings as Wrigley Field, in its way.

And let's count our blessings that over two decades, the roof/dome itself still operates, hasn't broken beyond repair...

 

[Hydrogen]

The only real annoyance for the Toronto Blue Jays in this 5-2 start (other than idiot fans) has been the nightmare scenario of closer B.J. Ryan and the blogosphere's favourite to replace him, Brandon League, both being racked around.

So let's do a little spring dreaming, shall we? Heck, it's not as if there's anything else for a sports fan in Toronto to do except queue for Marlies playoff tickets. Let's think ballparks.

A new stadium will neither make the team play better nor make idiot fans less idiotic.

If the Jays owners and management and sportswriters want a new stadium, they can all chip in themselves to buy the land and pay to build a new one.

And please, no asking for public money.

 

[Torontovibe]

I say keep the Skydome as is but I wouldn't mind seeing all that concrete covered.

 

[wonderboy416]

The upgrades have made the skydome a thousand times better.
I agree, the concrete should be covered. I've been to a number of the new parks, and while they are fantastic, the dome is perfectly suited for our climate and still has some of the best sightlines anywhere. I just wish it opened up to a view of our skyline, I get envious of the view they have in Detroit, Pittsburgh and a few other cities down south.

 

[barrytron3030]

the globe must have been severely short on articles that day because this story is just silly. blair didn't even put any sources in this article! unless we get the olympics in the next 10 years, which is another huge debate altogether, we will not get a stadium.

i say give the skydome a major renovation. i know some people hate downtown stadiums, but i have always enjoyed the ones we have. the acc has only been around for ten years and it has already gotten a new sound system, scoreboard and main entrance/atrium. the skydome could have some more seats put in, i don't know, maybe another 10,000 for those dreaded bills. it needs to get rid of that concrete too. perhaps a black brick facelift? or, as you fcp nuts have advocated, a white glass exterior.

as for wonderboy's comment concerning the sightlines, i agree, it would be nice to see the rest of the skyline. but hey, the cn tower is fantastic there. there will be many new developments in the future and the new waterfront will look beautiful

 

[taal]

the globe must have been severely short on articles that day because this story is just silly. blair didn't even put any sources in this article! unless we get the olympics in the next 10 years, which is another huge debate altogether, we will not get a stadium.

i say give the skydome a major renovation. i know some people hate downtown stadiums, but i have always enjoyed the ones we have. the acc has only been around for ten years and it has already gotten a new sound system, scoreboard and main entrance/atrium. the skydome could have some more seats put in, i don't know, maybe another 10,000 for those dreaded bills. it needs to get rid of that concrete too. perhaps a black brick facelift? or, as you fcp nuts have advocated, a white glass exterior.

as for wonderboy's comment concerning the sightlines, i agree, it would be nice to see the rest of the skyline. but hey, the cn tower is fantastic there. there will be many new developments in the future and the new waterfront will look beautiful

haha ... completely agree, what a silly article - must have been a very slow day indeed. Keep out stadiums dowtown ... why! Who doesn't like them there??

It's kinda early too isn't it, although they're 6-2 now

Isn't the skydome a heritage property or something along those lines?

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

Rogers Centre will be around for at least another 10 years I think, and any new stadium will likely be linked to an olympic bid.

Remember that Rogers has already renovated the stadium extensivly. New scoreboard (and additional boards), new turf, renovated concourses, etc etc. A lot more could be done, like covering up the exterior concrete, and actually a reduction rather than an increase in seating. The team has trouble selling out a 50 000 seat stadium nevermind a 60 000 seat one. If they could somehow reduce the seating down to say 40 000 the stadium would look much less empty when there are 15 - 20 000 people in it. If the NFL is coming here they are going to have to build a football only stadium...

 

[jn_12]

Pretty sure Blair's article was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. He's one of my favourite writers because he's not afraid to take the piss out on something. I think the point of the article was to show just how comparably old the rogers centre is despite it being considered a technological marvel only a decade ago. There's no intention for a new stadium to be built. If anything he's mocking other cities and their choice to constantly look for something new and fresh.

I agree the exterior needs some freshening up and there were plans back in 06 to do some work on the facade, but those never came to fruition and probably won't now that Godfrey isn't with the team. I think people love the stadium, but they haven't had a reason to love the Jays in a while, hence the stadium being only half filled for most of the the last decade. Personally, I like watching a game at the dome, especially when the roof it open. Plus, it's way better for the team to play in a domed stadium since it doesn't allow for rain-outs which can cause havoc with pitching rotations.

 

[LAz]

The best solution would be for the Jays to move to the US, thereby getting rid of American MLB in Canada.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

The best solution would be for the Jays to move to the US, thereby getting rid of American MLB in Canada.

do you also suggest removing or relocating the 24 us based nhl teams so that we have an all canadian hockey league? how about the raptors?

 

[gabe]

The best solution would be for the Jays to move to the US, thereby getting rid of American MLB in Canada.

If they do that they might as well tear down skydome while they are at it. The place sits empty enough times during the year when there is no football or baseball, majority of concerts and events are now a days at the ACC.

 

[andomano]

If they do that they might as well tear down skydome while they are at it. The place sits empty enough times during the year when there is no football or baseball, majority of concerts and events are now a days at the ACC.

At least we have football also to keep the stadium occupied during the fall months. Many of the pro-stadiums in the States are sport specific, and therefore aren't occupied 50% of the year also.

 

[jn_12]

Better yet, look at a place like Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo... 10 NFL football games, a couple high school football games, and maybe a couple concerts per year (although even that's rare). So we're looking at 4% the year that it's used.

Stadiums aren't meant to be used everyday. The fact we get this much use out of the Dome is pretty good.

 

[wonderboy416]

The best solution would be for the Jays to move to the US, thereby getting rid of American MLB in Canada.

yes, lets take baseball out of one of North America's largest sports markets...
brilliant move! Where should they relocate.... Oklahoma City? New Orleans... ? You should be the next commish!