How is that these supposedly creative minds can't think of a way to repurpose a building instead of the lazy "tear it down and start again".

As I said before, you can't really repurpose this building.

It was designed and built as a multi-purpose stadium and never designed to hold stores or other outfits. Before you get any ideas, it is not practical to put a minor league team in there of any sort, use it for concerts or put the CFL back there.

Full-scale renos would require the roof to be replaced and the lower bowl to be redone to install draining for real turf. The cost to renovate the stadium is greater than the cost to demo and rebuild it. That being said with all the concrete it could be used as a fallout shelter.
 
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Sunk cost fallacy. Doesn't matter if we paid for it or not, it's out of public hands. And the reason it was so damn cheap was because it was, and still is a pretty shit venue.

You must be confused. I'm not advocating one way or the other on whether they should repurpose or build a new venue. I'm simply expressing my distaste at the thought of half a billion dollars in tax payer money going to a private corporation that is now considering tearing down the thing tax payers paid for. That $500m could've gone towards transit, etc. I think the poor billionaire owners of Rogers can afford to fund a stadium themselves. Maybe cut a few million from the 100s of millions that athletes are paid annually. There are far better and more humanitarian uses for that money than to fund some luxury expense. I have no idea how the trend of public money being used to build stadiums started, but it's downright disgusting. Yes, it brings benefits to the local economy, but those benefits would have also been realized if the venue was entirely privately funded.
 
I agree this is a real-estate play first and foremost. We must remember that Rogers does not own the land - just the building - so this is a play for them to be able to develop condos on the balance of the connected land they do not own.

So my guess is nothing will happen to the Rogers Centre (other than a long drawn out renovation) and in exchange Rogers will be allowed to throw up condos on the parking lot to the south, the adjoining square to the west and will probably slap a condo tower onto the land to the south that will hang above the roof.

Nothing else makes sense.

What is your justification around this? all the reporting says they will build condos to the north and move the stadium to the south. (I like the option u have proposed) just curious on why you think this..
 
Maybe we could go back to the 80s Zeidler concept?

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That is what I'm saying will be a big mistake. No other location will work as well for the team financially in terms of long term attendance/ticket sales.

I think they'd do quite well in that patch of grass within walking distance of 407 Subway station (at the 400/407 interchange); 2 highways feeding the location with room for abundant parking would be appealing to anybody who doesn't live downtown, plus still has strong rapid transit service.
 
It depends on what % of their sales comes from the corporate crowd. I think any location other than the current one will lose the majority of their corporate ticket/suite sales. The issue with baseball is there's so many games. There are tons of people in the City who go to multiple (5-10+) games per year. I doubt suburban families would buy anywhere near as many tickets. They may do better for weekend games in a location like that, but I could see some very low attendance to mid-week games.
 
Can you imagine the noise and chaos to dismantle this arena? All that cement will have to be drilled out, and hauled out and all that steel - the mind boggles at the inconvenience to locals. There is more traffic and residents downtown now than back in the day. How is that these supposedly creative minds can't think of a way to repurpose a building instead of the lazy "tear it down and start again". If the Jays want another stadium then why not on the Christie factory site in Humber Bay? Good transit links, both vehicle and public transit (new statioin soon?). They could have all that land to do something really amazing instead of inflicting another vanity project on the people of Toronto. Even a nice name - Christie Field (s).

The Christie's site is already slated for First Capital's condo towers.
 
I think they'd do quite well in that patch of grass within walking distance of 407 Subway station (at the 400/407 interchange); 2 highways feeding the location with room for abundant parking would be appealing to anybody who doesn't live downtown, plus still has strong rapid transit service.
People like to drink at games. The best location for a stadium is exactly were it is now. GO access from every suburb, TTC access, a huge population that can walk to games, and fairly easy car access. Not that they couldn't succeed elsewhere, but comparatively, everywhere else is suboptimal. Maybe Exhibition once the Ontario line is complete.. Portlands would be a maybe if they made Skydome last another 30 years.
 
Apparently the MLB has definitively said they wont let the team play elsewhere for any period of time. So I don't know how they ever re-use the existing site for the new stadium. Which is really sad, I think the current location is perfect in every way.
 
For those wishing to see a new stadium built in the Port Lands, for the views that such a location would offer with respect to the skyline, such an option is not viable. Why? MLB stadiums tend to have their fields oriented either in a northerly or northeasterly direction, in order to diminish glare from the sun. Were a stadium to be built here, with the objective of having the City skyline as the backdrop, it would have to be built in a westerly or north westerly direction, which isn't feasible, as that would face into the afternoon and evening sun, making it too difficult for the batters to see, not to mention adversely affecting the comfort of the fans. With that known, the Port Lands should be off the table, as an option. If a stadium was to go in here, it wouldn't have the dramatic views that some are envisioning, rather, the field would face somewhere out over the City, east of the Don River. This would be unremarkable as a backdrop, with virtually nothing of interest being visible, thereby greatly diminishing the atmosphere. Even if a prospective stadium in the Port Lands could face toward downtown, the views of the skyline from east of the Financial District, aren't the most flattering vantage points of the City. From downtown, the most dramatic and aesthetically pleasing direction from which to view the skyline is looking northeast from the Islands/lake; which brings to me to my next point.

Unfortunately, this is more of a 'pie in the sky' fantasy, but the most ideal location for a new stadium for the Blue Jays would be on the site of Billy Bishop Airport, facing northeast, either where the airport structures are located, or southeast of that, toward (not on) the edge of the runway that juts out into the inner harbour. This would more or less offer the same kind of views that were historically used in many Toronto postcards, prior to CityPlace, when the CN Tower, SkyDome, and Financial District could be viewed from this sort of vantage, mostly uninterrupted by condos. Below are some examples of what I mean:

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Abutting the portion of the runway, in the foreground, is where I would love to see a new stadium built. This, more or less, offers a slightly elevated view of what the stadium would have looked onto circa the 1990s.
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(Refer to the satellite image, below) The further to the right of this area of Centre Island (as close as possible to the inner harbour), the more unobstructed the views would be toward the CN Tower and the CBD (Central Business District). CityPlace's lacklustre skyline would most only be seen in one's peripheral vision (unless one was sitting on the right side of home plate). Views of the Mirvish/Gehry towers would also supplement what would be one of the greatest, if not the preeminent, backdrop for a stadium in Major League Baseball. Obviously, even if the prospect of building a stadium on the Islands was viable, getting to and from the mainland, and the stadium, would require at least a bridge, in addition to the extant tunnel, to accommodate that many people.

My preferred site for the stadium would be north of the tree line, where the runways join in a point, adjacent to the harbour. Those views (refer to the ensuing images) toward the CN Tower and the City's main cluster of office towers would remain relatively unhindered by future development.
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Michael Muraz

Potential ground level views. These photos were taken closer to the channel, however. The location I have in mind would be further south:
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Though, evening glare from the South Core towers might pose an issue.
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Imagine the views of the lake that one could have from the concourse of a hypothetical stadium, at this location. One could also get incredible views of the inside of the stadium from the CN Tower's main observation deck (where this photo was taken from). The runway portion that juts out into the lake could be removed, thereby expanding the harbour, or that land could be turned into a massive pier or some other park use, tying in with other revitalization plans for the vast amount of open green space at this end of the island.
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I'm just curious: What alternative sites could Billy Bishop relocate to? Demolishing the current airport wouldn't be too expensive, given its small scale. Have there ever been serious talks about moving it elsewhere? Its such a waste of prime land. The only building project that I would support here would be a new MLB stadium (perhaps with a few restaurants), with additional tree planting, and a revitalization of the surrounding park land to accommodate fans, before and after games, as well as other visitors to the Islands.

Lastly, I echo the sentiments of those who wish to see the SkyDome preserved and repurposed (what for, I don't know). It is an integral piece of our central skyline, and an engineering marvel of its time. With respect to whatever ends up getting built ― wherever that may be ― an international design competition, bringing together the world's foremost architects, should be strongly considered.
 
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$1B is ridiculous for a demo. Can you source that info? Yankee stadium was dismantled for only $20-22M about ten years ago.

I wish I had the quote handy. It might’ve even been posted here early in the thread. But when asked if it would just be easier to start over, a Rogers rep insisted that it would cost twice as much to tear it down than it did to build it ($500M) because it’s a concrete bunker in the middle of a residential neighbourhood.

Conveniently forgetting that they insisted that they had no intention of knocking it down, this has all the hallmarks of building up public support to preserve a city icon which would lead to public money to save it. The SkyDome isn’t going anywhere, though I’d love to see Rogers get out of the baseball business and a new owner taking over and restoring the stadium’s name. Seeing a statue of Ted Rogers outside the SkyDome always leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
 
I think they'd do quite well in that patch of grass within walking distance of 407 Subway station (at the 400/407 interchange)...
People like to drink at games. The best location for a stadium is exactly were it is now. GO access from every suburb, TTC access, a huge population that can walk to games, and fairly easy car access. Not that they couldn't succeed elsewhere, but comparatively, everywhere else is suboptimal. Maybe Exhibition once the Ontario line is complete.. Portlands would be a maybe if they made Skydome last another 30 years.
Has there ever been any big or moderately-sized sports or entertainment venue that has succeeded in the GTA suburbs?
Those junior hockey arenas in Brampton and Mississauga have been largely ignored, as was the Leafs attempt at having their AHL team (now the Marlies) in Newmarket. I guess The Kingswood Music Theatre briefly did okay for a couple of years when it opened in the 1980s, but it was quickly forgotten and abandoned after the new downtown venues were built.
 
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