Will the Canucks ever leave 800 Griffiths Way?

[End on a Hinote]

Rogera Arena is 30 years old this year, which is fairly old for an arena (Wells-Fargo Arena is a year younger and is already being scheduled for demolition).

Made me think, seeing as they are renovating Rogers with new seats, and it's obviously a primo location do you think that they will play in Rogers for as long as they exist? Will the Canucks ever get a new arena built from scratch or just keep renovating/gutting Rogers?

 

[Jyrki]

The location is too good, Surrey is locking in a smaller arena and Blueberries is a cheapo outside of payroll. Good chance we end up with the oldest arena in the NHL eventually.

I think the only scenario they would demo Rogers before the end of its lifespan is if they acquired the Plaza of Nations land across the street and had a big ass real estate project around a new arena. But that land was sold earlier this year to a group that wants to redevelop it themselves. And IIRC, Concord owns the parking lots nearby so near zero chance they get sold to the Aquilinis.

 

[credulous]

they'll have to move eventually. the site isn't big enough for a modern building (even without the viaducts) so renovation isn't on the table

 

[StreetHawk]

Rogera Arena is 30 years old this year, which is fairly old for an arena (Wells-Fargo Arena is a year younger and is already being scheduled for demolition).

Made me think, seeing as they are renovating Rogers with new seats, and it's obviously a primo location do you think that they will play in Rogers for as long as they exist? Will the Canucks ever get a new arena built from scratch or just keep renovating/gutting Rogers?

The Main issue is the square footage of the arena not the age or condition of it. Boston, Philly and StL all spent 9 figures renovating their arena which all opened in the 90’s. Philly is only looking at a new one now because for some reason they sold the Sixers vs a portion of both teams. Thus the Sixers were looking at building their own arena.

I think any arena built in the 90’s and 2000’s so long as the square footage is there should just renovate. Main reasons are:
1) location. Where are you going to find land that is for sale that you need to build an arena?
2) transit. Need something close enough to skytrain to ensure you get people to the arena and home efficiently.
3) costs. Who will pay the bill for a new arena?

If Aqua family is going to sell the team as Frank gets into his 70’s (not sure if other members at the grandchildren level want to take over). Then it could fall on a new owner to make that call. Outside of the land by the waterfront that the whitecaps wanted to build their stadium not sure where in downtown is enough land.

 

[Jyrki21]

It's been many years since I lived in the Lower Mainland, so I'd be curious for thoughts here -- could you imagine the Canucks ever moving back out of downtown if public transit were decent in a new location? It seems crazy now, but there is certainly no hard and fast rule about where to put an arena (downtown-at-all-costs is mostly a Canadian thing), and a potential Whitecaps move back to the PNE grounds has reopened the question a bit.

I think it would be a shame, but if the building becomes unusable and the cost/availability necessitates a new site one day I wonder how much it would be considered. Or would there be the potential to play in a temporary arena while something new is built on the rubble of a torn-down Rogers?

 

[BOBBY9]

He is doing what most owners do because theyre shameless.

He will run it in to the ground make tax payers subsidize most of it

 

[StreetHawk]

It's been many years since I lived in the Lower Mainland, so I'd be curious for thoughts here -- could you imagine the Canucks ever moving back out of downtown if public transit were decent in a new location? It seems crazy now, but there is certainly no hard and fast rule about where to put an arena (downtown-at-all-costs is mostly a Canadian thing), and a potential Whitecaps move back to the PNE grounds has reopened the question a bit.

I think it would be a shame, but if the building becomes unusable and the cost/availability necessitates a new site one day I wonder how much it would be considered. Or would there be the potential to play in a temporary arena while something new is built on the rubble of a torn-down Rogers?

Any relocation to a new arena would need to be near a Skytrain. Take the Surrey proposal for the 10K arena North of city hall, which is located at 104 Avenue and University (2 blocks west of King George Highway) where Surrey Central skytrain station is. There is another one at Gateway, just north which is near the BC Lions practice facility. There is land there that should be available for a major redevelopment.

But, we are talking about Canuck games, concerts, etc. Unless that new location which is to have corporate offices takes some from the Downtown core, probably not the best to decision to move away from downtown.

Probably the only reason why I mention the Whitecaps space near the Waterfront, if Kerfoot still owns it.

Whitecaps going to PNE grounds is a bit different since it's open air thus limiting their events from April to October really.

Again with Rogers Arena, it's the available space to expand the footprint of it. Unless there is that space, I don't see Rogers Arena location being a tear down and rebuild. Probably would have to be in a different location.

IMO, if the Aquillinis do sell the team, I think that is likely to spur on a new arena.

 

[StickShift]

Several years out of the loop and who knows how plans have changed under different mayors and councils—but I believe the city was open to plans for a new arena on the false creek south lands as they intend to redevelop that land when it returns to their domain in the 2030s and 2040s.

 

[Jyrki]

Any relocation to a new arena would need to be near a Skytrain. Take the Surrey proposal for the 10K arena North of city hall, which is located at 104 Avenue and University (2 blocks west of King George Highway) where Surrey Central skytrain station is. There is another one at Gateway, just north which is near the BC Lions practice facility. There is land there that should be available for a major redevelopment.

But, we are talking about Canuck games, concerts, etc. Unless that new location which is to have corporate offices takes some from the Downtown core, probably not the best to decision to move away from downtown.

Probably the only reason why I mention the Whitecaps space near the Waterfront, if Kerfoot still owns it.

Whitecaps going to PNE grounds is a bit different since it's open air thus limiting their events from April to October really.

Again with Rogers Arena, it's the available space to expand the footprint of it. Unless there is that space, I don't see Rogers Arena location being a tear down and rebuild. Probably would have to be in a different location.

IMO, if the Aquillinis do sell the team, I think that is likely to spur on a new arena.

I think there's also a serious problem in the region with public transportation between non-CoV cities. I live in Richmond and it would take me no less than 2 hours to get to Surrey Central. If I were living right by Brighouse, it would be faster to go all the downtown then back down via the Millenium line, than to take a bus there. That makes no sense. Then imagine living somewhere like PoCo, with Surrey right across the river but it takes at least an hour to get there. You actually have to go all the way to Lougheed in Burnaby to take the one bus that will take you across Port Mann so you might as well ride the SkyTrain by the time you get there, after crossing three different municipalities...

Even the proposed SKyTrain extension to Langley, it's basically facilitating connections into the CoV rather than trying to build a belt better connecting the suburbs with each other.

 

[StreetHawk]

I think there's also a serious problem in the region with public transportation between non-CoV cities. I live in Richmond and it would take me no less than 2 hours to get to Surrey Central. If I were living right by Brighouse, it would be faster to go all the downtown then back down via the Millenium line, than to take a bus there. That makes no sense. Then imagine living somewhere like PoCo, with Surrey right across the river but it takes at least an hour to get there. You actually have to go all the way to Lougheed in Burnaby to take the one bus that will take you across Port Mann so you might as well ride the SkyTrain by the time you get there, after crossing three different municipalities...

Even the proposed SKyTrain extension to Langley, it's basically facilitating connections into the CoV rather than trying to build a belt better connecting the suburbs with each other.

I agree. Plus most people would work in Van/Downtown and live in the burbs. So easier to go to a weekday game after work. All transit really tunnels into the downtown. As you said much harder to go from one burb to another burb.

Think the Canucks remain in around the downtown or just outside it.

 

[LemonSauceD]

They should just renovate it.

 

[Regal]

It's been many years since I lived in the Lower Mainland, so I'd be curious for thoughts here -- could you imagine the Canucks ever moving back out of downtown if public transit were decent in a new location? It seems crazy now, but there is certainly no hard and fast rule about where to put an arena (downtown-at-all-costs is mostly a Canadian thing), and a potential Whitecaps move back to the PNE grounds has reopened the question a bit.

I think it would be a shame, but if the building becomes unusable and the cost/availability necessitates a new site one day I wonder how much it would be considered. Or would there be the potential to play in a temporary arena while something new is built on the rubble of a torn-down Rogers?

I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if more and more things move out of downtown. It’s just too small to be the business and entertainment capital of the lower mainland when there’s so much eastern expansion in terms of population density. But I don’t think it’d be anytime soon, and as you mentioned it would need to be a situation where the transit makes sense. I don’t think it would ever make sense to not have the arena next to a skytrain, and as you mentioned later, even a skytrain system would need to be built around transportation between communities rather than everything based on a COV end goal model

 

[Canuckle1970]

Visiting NHL teams require hotel accommodations that are top of the line - which means downtown Vancouver.

 

[Tables of Stats]

If you're com

Visiting NHL teams require hotel accommodations that are top of the line - which means downtown Vancouver.

If you're committed to building a new arena part of the deal will be building hotels and high rises near the rink.

 

[StreetHawk]

I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if more and more things move out of downtown. It’s just too small to be the business and entertainment capital of the lower mainland when there’s so much eastern expansion in terms of population density. But I don’t think it’d be anytime soon, and as you mentioned it would need to be a situation where the transit makes sense. I don’t think it would ever make sense to not have the arena next to a skytrain, and as you mentioned later, even a skytrain system would need to be built around transportation between communities rather than everything based on a COV end goal model

The lower mainland is clearly not setup logistically to have big events held in another jurisdiction. You can't travel from North Van to Richmond easily. Or from Burnaby to Surrey. We've had decades of funneling traffic from the burbs to downtown Vancouver.

If a new arena had to have shovels hit the ground by 2030, I'd say that new arena would still be in Vancouver. Even come 2040, with more renovations to Rogers in the meantime, I don't see them moving it to Surrey or anywhere.

We would need to see more businesses move their head office out of downtown into the burbs. A city does need to setup a couple of blocks of business towers, not just 3 office towers like at Metrotown, to truly build another downtown area.

Rogers Arena, its only issue moving forward as the home of the Canucks is its limited square footage compared to other arenas in the league where more and more revenue generating sources require a larger footprint internally, outside of the 18K seats and luxury boxes.

 

[Regal]

The lower mainland is clearly not setup logistically to have big events held in another jurisdiction. You can't travel from North Van to Richmond easily. Or from Burnaby to Surrey. We've had decades of funneling traffic from the burbs to downtown Vancouver.

If a new arena had to have shovels hit the ground by 2030, I'd say that new arena would still be in Vancouver. Even come 2040, with more renovations to Rogers in the meantime, I don't see them moving it to Surrey or anywhere.

We would need to see more businesses move their head office out of downtown into the burbs. A city does need to setup a couple of blocks of business towers, not just 3 office towers like at Metrotown, to truly build another downtown area.

Rogers Arena, its only issue moving forward as the home of the Canucks is its limited square footage compared to other arenas in the league where more and more revenue generating sources require a larger footprint internally, outside of the 18K seats and luxury boxes.

I know it’s not set up that way now, but realistically long term it doesn’t make sense to keep everything there imo, and I could see more and more commercial hubs centered around the skytrain and more lines making the cities within the lower mainland connected. But I’m talking like 30+ years down the line. I guess it depends on how long they could go with just renovations and what the prospects of a future arena site in Vancouver would look like.

 

[StreetHawk]

I know it’s not set up that way now, but realistically long term it doesn’t make sense to keep everything there imo, and I could see more and more commercial hubs centered around the skytrain and more lines making the cities within the lower mainland connected. But I’m talking like 30+ years down the line. I guess it depends on how long they could go with just renovations and what the prospects of a future arena site in Vancouver would look like.

Rogers is coming up on 30 years now (next year). Again, with renovations, it will be fine. But, it is also the narrowest concourse and interior of any of the post 1990 arenas in the NHL. Not sure what kind of revenue having a larger footprint would do for the team. That is really the only issue the team will have with the arena. Moda in Portland is at 30 years now. Blazers are for sale, but assume that there is going to be a 9 figure renovation to the arena in the coming years once the sale of the NBA team is finalized.

If you can extend the life of Rogers to the 50 year range, then maybe, sometime in the 2045 it may make sense to build a new arena elsewhere than in downtown Vancouver.

 

[arttk]

Rogers is coming up on 30 years now (next year). Again, with renovations, it will be fine. But, it is also the narrowest concourse and interior of any of the post 1990 arenas in the NHL. Not sure what kind of revenue having a larger footprint would do for the team. That is really the only issue the team will have with the arena. Moda in Portland is at 30 years now. Blazers are for sale, but assume that there is going to be a 9 figure renovation to the arena in the coming years once the sale of the NBA team is finalized.

If you can extend the life of Rogers to the 50 year range, then maybe, sometime in the 2045 it may make sense to build a new arena elsewhere than in downtown Vancouver.

I thought there were plans to take down the viaducts. I would imagine once they are taken down, you could do some exterior expansion plan to expand the concourse and create some type of experience around the stadium.

 

[Nucky]

Outside of the costs and shit owner, one of the reasons I hate going is that narrow ass hallways, it really makes you think twice before deciding to leave your seat to go buy a drink or snack. I don't really enjoy being able to smell what each person ate or drank and if they bothered to use enough deodorant or not during every intermission.

It's straight up embarrassing that soon the Canucks will be the only team without a practice facility + have the oldest building in the league that hasn't been properly renovated.

 

[rypper]

Outside of the costs and shit owner, one of the reasons I hate going is that narrow ass hallways, it really makes you think twice before deciding to leave your seat to go buy a drink or snack. I don't really enjoy being able to smell what each person ate or drank and if they bothered to use enough deodorant or not during every intermission.

It's straight up embarrassing that soon the Canucks will be the only team without a practice facility + have the oldest building in the league that hasn't been properly renovated.

And as much as some people might play it off like it's not a big deal, players notice and it could start playing into free agents coming here.

 

[StreetHawk]

And as much as some people might play it off like it's not a big deal, players notice and it could start playing into free agents coming here.

For the home arena, players care about the dressing room and stuff that impacts them. But, they 100% care about the practice facility and those who come from another team, like Sherwood, Forbort, M. Pettersson, and others notice right away when they arrive from other clubs with good facilities.

Despite all of their winning and tradition, Pitt, KC, NE rank lower than average on their NFLPA report card, mostly do to their practice facility and everything that goes with it, not being up to par with other clubs.

 

[LuckyDay]

Aquilani could make a fortune selling the property or turning it into condos.
Then build the new rink in Blaine where real estate is half the price of Surrey and taxes are better.

 

[WTG]

The difference between Seattle's stadium (climate pledge) and Rogers is laughable.

 

[credulous]

The difference between Seattle's stadium (climate pledge) and Rogers is laughable.

it's hard to find a worse building than rogers honestly

the saddledome is definitely worse but the replacement is already under construction. canadian tire centre is nicer AND is scheduled to be replaced in about five years. anaheim and san jose play in buildings about as old as rogers but both are much nicer. the newer generation of buildings like the ones in vegas, seattle and detroit absolutely blow away rogers

the only ones really close to rogers are scotiabank and the bell centre altho i haven't been to tampa, columbus, buffalo, pittsburgh or winnipeg so maybe those buildings are bad too

 

[ratbid]

Outside of the costs and shit owner, one of the reasons I hate going is that narrow ass hallways, it really makes you think twice before deciding to leave your seat to go buy a drink or snack. I don't really enjoy being able to smell what each person ate or drank and if they bothered to use enough deodorant or not during every intermission.

It's straight up embarrassing that soon the Canucks will be the only team without a practice facility + have the oldest building in the league that hasn't been properly renovated.

This is so accurate.

I never really thought of it when I lived in Vancouver, but I was at Scotiabank Arena a bunch the last few years. And when I go to a game I fully intend on blowing several hundred on hot dogs, beers, and overall just feeling pretty sick by the 3rd period. The last time I went, they've been renovating and it was horrible to get around. I spent a quarter of what I normally would have (thankfully).

Even during their renovations though I'm pretty sure it's easier to move around Scotia than Rogers.