There is no question the whole entertainment district and Stampede Trail is going to be a flop. It will obviously be better than what it is now, but if anyone thinks it's going to be some magical Disneyland Main Street, they will be disappointed. I have little hope that the new arena will deviate much in design from the original renders which will be the biggest disappointment. They should have ditched HOK and gone with Populous. At this point I don't even care anymore, just build it and lets move on.
Firstly, long time reader, first time commenter. Sports-development-curious, i'd call myself. Welcome to me! I do support partnerships like this with private/public dollars, for the simple reason that if the flames did not exist we would want a facility for entertainment, events, stampede....void of a tenant we would be on the hook for the whole thing. What's done is done, now the fun starts!
Whether is Populous, HOK, Manica...imo general direction comes from the client, it's the budget/space that dictates creativity on the designer end. The fact NOTHING about this new proposal is similar to the last one in size, scope, or even physical direction (rink orientated E/W now), let alone we now have an indoor entry plaza, I feel good that the design will deviate from the last. Retail on the N/W/S sides, leads me to believe we may find some similarities to Little Caesars in Detroit?? Are the flames still including offices in the layout (previously fronting stampede trail), or is that now in the NE multi-use corner? Little things like that will alter layouts. Just axe that god-damn flat projection wall
I think flop is a strong word, i guess it would depend on ur expectation. NONE of that exists now, so if we end up with 3-4 restaurants, market, public plaza, hotel, 2-3 commercial/multifamily buildings in area...isn't that a win??
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