I have two problems with this, first, the vast majority of the hockey fans in Gatineau are Montreal Canadian fans, moving an arena closer to them is not going to change that. It's been my experience with so many francophone friends that most are not going to switch allegiance regardless if they move downtown or not. When Montreal comes to town, they come out in droves to see their team same as when the leafs come to town their fans also come out in droves. The team has been here for 25 yrs & suddenly moving the arena downtown will not change that for either Leaf or Hab fans IMO.
Not immediately, but if the Sens ever want to grow their fandom in Gatineau over the next generation or two, moving downtown would definitely help. There's a serious opportunity to really grow the fandom there, and a much larger one than in Kanata.
Of course there is an opportunity to develop the land around the CTC & it's been happening for 25 yrs.
Oh yeah, man. After the game, all the cool kids want to hang out at the Tanger Outlet Mall, with its hip and happening nightlife scene! Or the Kanata autopark! Freakin' jumpin' after a game!
I'm talking about a legitimate entertainment scene with bars, restaurants, etc. right outside the arena. Think Lansdowne, or heck, the Scotiabank Arena/ACC, where I can walk a mere 5 minutes and find plenty of options. Where are they going to build that near the CTC without gutting the parking lot that is a necessity given the arena's location relative to where the majority of people in the city live? The closest nightlife scene right now is the Centrum, and that is quite a ways to walk, especially in winter. And the Sens don't own any stake in the Centrum.
Also, nobody is buying a pricey condo to live near the autopark.
If EM would have gotten the go ahead to build a casino/hotel complex as he wanted the area would have grown even quicker & maybe they would had the LTR go out that way.
IMO if he can get a gambling license from this new government in Queens Park he could essentially try & redo that casino project but IMO this mayor & city council are constantly at odds with what he wants to do & keep thwarting him. There is & has been a divide between this owner & the mayor & city council since those things first occurred & it seems to continue to this day.
Perhaps, though I doubt it. A hotel/casino would be pretty luxurious and attract a certain type of crowd, one that owns nice cars. They wouldn't be riding an LRT out there. Also, would a casino really attract people to live in the area or other businesses? I would think it would do the opposite. Why would I move my young family to live near a casino?
If the tech park and arena already being there didn't get LRT to Kanata, I don't think this would have tipped the scale. Heck, were many people in Kanata pushing for LRT until AFTER the Phase 2 plan was announced and didn't include Kanata? Seems like prior to the announcement people out there were quite content with the highway expansions. Say what you will about the LRT going all the way out to Trim, but the councilors in the east end lobbied the provincial and federal governments hard. What were the west end councilors doing?
Granted, now that we've got Glen Gower representing Stittsville at City Hall we can look forward to every council meeting devolving into speeches about how Stittsville deserves everything over other parts of the city. So...yay :p
While I found City Hall's strong refusal on a casino in Kanata a tad odd, I can also see them thinking "why are we allowing the construction of a new casino out in the suburbs, which is primarily for family dwellings?" While the Raceway is in the boonies, at least it was already there.
Even the partnership with Ruddy seems disingenuous since he seemed to be friends with the mayor & city council. They didn't seem to have any problems offering him free money to clean up the soil & allowing his company to build the tallest building in the history of the city. Something doesn't smell right but then again EM could be the one who torpedoes everything with his stupidity, who really knows for sure?
Yes, Trinity is cozy with City Hall. They've worked to build that relationship up. It's the unfortunate reality of politics.
As for 900 Albert, a big reason City Hall jumped at that opportunity wasn't just the relationship with Trinty, but because the project served as a prime example of the kind of major development they've claimed the LRT will spur, which helps justify the line. While Watson et al may dislike Melnyk, they were also pushing hard for LeBreton to get done.
