Hawrylyshyn said:
I agree - not sure why people were expecting more. No one is going to spend the money to upgrade an arena to NHL/NBA level without a major league to fill it. The financial/business side of it needs to work at the end of the day.

I think the upgrade is perfect for Hamilton and will be great for downtown. The amount/quality of shows has already drastically improved
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Yep. It's amazing they spent 300mill for renovations on something whose primary tenant will never be anything bigger than an OHL or AHL team - which based on history, doesn't draw amazing attendance numbers.
All this is done for the purpose of concerts. And they're off to a great start so far. And I don't think this is just a "honeymoon phase" and they'll just relax after a while - because the need to recoup that 300mill investment.

Also, I'm sure there'll be tweaks and other smaller renovations to the interior in the future. I don't think what we're seeing now is set in stone for years. They'll make adjustments and implement other ideas/plans based on customer feedback as well as finding ways of improving the overall experience. Their investment is riding on it.

While we can complain about developments in Hamilton not being as high quality as they are in places like Toronto, I consider this a stepping stone approach overall. Revive downtown Hamilton to a certain level, and then there'll be a greater demand for better quality developments and renovations, for which there'll be companies willing to provide. We're talking incremental steps here - which requires some patience.
 
Must agree we have a great updated canvas , and as I noted before the sound system was fantastic. There were some odd pinch points around the 2nd level escalators and making your way to the Jackson Square side of the lower bowl. Hopefully that gets opened up over time.

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berklon said:
Yep. It's amazing they spent 300mill for renovations on something whose primary tenant will never be anything bigger than an OHL or AHL team - which based on history, doesn't draw amazing attendance numbers.
All this is done for the purpose of concerts. And they're off to a great start so far. And I don't think this is just a "honeymoon phase" and they'll just relax after a while - because the need to recoup that 300mill investment.

Also, I'm sure there'll be tweaks and other smaller renovations to the interior in the future. I don't think what we're seeing now is set in stone for years. They'll make adjustments and implement other ideas/plans based on customer feedback as well as finding ways of improving the overall experience. Their investment is riding on it.

While we can complain about developments in Hamilton not being as high quality as they are in places like Toronto, I consider this a stepping stone approach overall. Revive downtown Hamilton to a certain level, and then there'll be a greater demand for better quality developments and renovations, for which there'll be companies willing to provide. We're talking incremental steps here - which requires some patience.
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It's okay to be be both grateful for the big expenditure and also be disappointed with the outcome of that big expenditure.

One of the big selling points was that adding an extra concourse would help disperse people throughout the building, and by many accounts it appears to have turned out to be the that it is just way too small to serve as the main level and has arguably led to more congestion than existed before.

There are also tons of complaints about the space in seating areas, particularly in the 200 level. I am not sure if this is the same as before or worse than before, but it certainly does not sound like it is better than before.

I was always worried about how things would work out with some people with seats in the lower bowl having to go to the upper concourse and then back down to get to their seats and had assumed that the wayfinding would sort that out. So far, that appears to not have been sorted out.

A ton more complaints of various flavours appear to be valid. Some can be addressed easily and some cannot, but it is okay for people to air their thoughts.

It's not unreasonable to hope for a more comfortable overall experience coming out of the reno, particularly when it was billed as having that. That isn't the same as asking for an NHL building. Many minor league or junior facilities have decent sized seating and space in the concourses to move around, and it is a pretty big letdown to hear that TD Coliseum does not match them.
 
Ya I'm not complaining and don't think others are. We've been invested and talking about the reno before it even began. Now that is done, it's only natural people are going to give their thoughts and observations. I guess honest feedback sounds like complaints to some.

I don't think people are wrong to want the best for Hamilton either, and I'm kind tired of accepting less than that as well.

This was a public assest that was exchanged with a for profit company, so scrutiny is warranted even moreso.

Quebec and Kansas are two examples that come mind of a top quality arena without major tenants.
 
Yorken Bay said:
Ya I'm not complaining and don't think others are. We've been invested and talking about the reno before it even began. Now that is done, it's only natural people are going to give their thoughts and observations. I guess honest feedback sounds like complaints to some.

I don't think people are wrong to want the best for Hamilton either, and I'm kind tired of accepting less than that as well.

This was a public assest that was exchanged with a for profit company, so scrutiny is warranted even moreso.

Quebec and Kansas are two examples that come mind of a top quality arena without major tenants.
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It was more a public liability. It was not making money and the City was facing end of life repairs and maintenance in the millions of dollars.
 
king10 said:
It was more a public liability. It was not making money and the City was facing end of life repairs and maintenance in the millions of dollars.
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Right, but 3 downtown properties were also transfered in exchange for the arena being renovated to modern standards.

The renovation isn't amazing, but it's fine, I'm just a little surprised they took the approach of letting the existing building dictate the renovation instead of taking the initiative a bit more. The layout of Copps wasn't good, they seemed to "work with it" instead of imposing their will.

They said people wouldn't recognize the arena, I'm afraid I did.
 
Whether you call it an asset or a liability or whatever, there is no question that there is a massive civic stake in this whole thing, both formal and informal. Pretty much everyone on this forum is aligned with all of the investors and most of city council and staff in wanting this project to be a success.
 
Ooof the temporary seating in place of actual hockey benches looks pretty weird but I understand not going to the effort if theres no permanent team that will be using it yet.
 
matt602 said:
Ooof the temporary seating in place of actual hockey benches looks pretty weird but I understand not going to the effort if theres no permanent team that will be using it yet.
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There will be actual hockey benches. The area you are referring to is the penalty box area. They didn't build out the penalty boxes and team benches in the above images. The walkouts from the locker rooms to the players bench is also covered by temporary seats. They'd also remove the first 2 rows of seats at the top of the image to make room for the hockey benches. It's the exact same set up as lacross where there are physical team benches and penalty boxes. See previous images from the Rock game for reference.
 
Mariner35 said:
Hamilton's best bet may be to go all in on a PWHL team. If the Takeover Game does well and with Ottawa likely looking for a new home, the Hammer maybe a great spot for a team to flourish.

The Forge have done well, considering the overall state of the CPL, and I could see Hamilton really latching on to a team in the PW.

NHL would be huge obviously but if Hamilton becomes a place where leagues with smaller footprints can thrive I think it makes them a great alternative to Toronto, the city with 1000 sports teams.

Between games during the break, I like to get distracted and play games. I quickly look for something on hotslots promo code and start playing, often win and immediately stop. Because the main thing is to stop in time.
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Agreed. Hamilton supporting leagues like the PWHL could build a strong sports identity and thrive as a viable alternative to the overcrowded Toronto market!
 
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Rink looks good on tv. I do wonder if they need so many service vomitories at ground level, especially behind each net. Would be nice if there were seats there. Prior to the reno they had only one zamboni entrance behind one net, with seats behind the other net.
 
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