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kissno1
Joined: 21 Jan 2008
Posts: 174
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 Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 2:14 pm Post subject: Moncton Coliseum |
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| Does anybody know what happened to the Coliseum website?
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SummerRocknHeckYes
Joined: 28 Feb 2008
Posts: 89
Location: Moncton, NB
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 2:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Maybe they're just doing some updates.
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timcormier
Site Admin
Joined: 21 Jan 2008
Posts: 87
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 2:55 pm Post subject: |
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| It's BACK!!
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shawnward2
Joined: 14 Feb 2008
Posts: 53
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 3:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Well, this topic wasn't created for this reason, but it the same location, so I'll use it. I heard that Moncton was investigating (finally) the possibility of replacing the Coliseum with a newer arena in a downtown location. Great news!! Hope this pans out. Let's keep some updates flowing in this thread.
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kissno1
Joined: 21 Jan 2008
Posts: 174
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 3:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Also with that new stadium they are building, things are looking up for Moncton.
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SummerRocknHeckYes
Joined: 28 Feb 2008
Posts: 89
Location: Moncton, NB
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 3:40 pm Post subject: |
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| On the news they said the new stadium at the UdeM would be a new place in Moncton to hold concert events.. So yeah that's cool.
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kissno1
Joined: 21 Jan 2008
Posts: 174
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 3:54 pm Post subject: |
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| You have to wonder though, if they are building the stadium, would they really look into building a new coliseum?
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SummerRocknHeckYes
Joined: 28 Feb 2008
Posts: 89
Location: Moncton, NB
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 3:56 pm Post subject: |
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| I can't even think of an area down town large enough to provide the amount of parking the coliseum has.
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john holmes
Joined: 21 Jan 2008
Posts: 219
Location: In a van down by the river
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 3:58 pm Post subject: |
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| shawnward2 wrote: | | Well, this topic wasn't created for this reason, but it the same location, so I'll use it. I heard that Moncton was investigating (finally) the possibility of replacing the Coliseum with a newer arena in a downtown location. Great news!! Hope this pans out. Let's keep some updates flowing in this thread. |
Kind of old news if you're a Moncton resident. There was a survey that went around and 90% or residents voted in favour of a new arena. The idea was presented to Moncton city council last year during the capital works budget but it was placed on the back burner until the next capital budget process (apparently 4-5 years). There were supposedly too many other pressing issues at the time.
It is municipal election time and one the the candidates, George LeBlanc who is running for mayor has included in his platform the development of a new downtown entertainment complex.
Here's an article that was in today's Times-Transcript. It sounds like Ian Fowler, as usual, is a big part of process of trying to make it happen.
Moncton metro centre moves forward
Study to assess economic impact of entertainment complex in city core
In coffee shops, at water coolers, and especially in the seats of the Moncton Coliseum, Metro Monctonians have spent years discussing whether Moncton can or should build a downtown metro centre.
The City of Moncton is about to take the first step in a process that will move that question past hypothetical conversations and into the public debate.
City council approved $50,000 in this year's budget to conduct a feasibility and business plan for a new downtown entertainment complex which will get under way this summer after a request for proposals is conducted by July 1.
Ian Fowler, General Manager of Recreation, Parks, Tourism and Culture Department says the study should be in the hands of the city's new council by late fall.
"What we realize is that the Coliseum is closing in on 40 years old. The building is in pretty good shape but it doesn't have the amenities of a modern facility, so it restricts some of the type so business we can do," he says.
The study will look at what would be the best size for the potential development, as well as cost to build the building and operate it, and the avenues through which the City of Moncton could fund the project.
Fowler says a new downtown centre is by no means a done deal due to the city's fiscal constraints.
However, the man renowned across the region as the city's concert czar who brought the Rolling Stones and an immense crowd to Magnetic Hill says the city's drawing power across the Maritimes allows it to see big, in fact much bigger than most cities of Metro's size.
"We need to look at a building that just doesn't meet local needs but serves as an economic catalyst that it will draw people from around the region just as the Coliseum does now," he said.
Fowler said Metro Monctonians needn't look further than the role downtown metro centres have played in Halifax and London, Ontario, in energizing the those cities downtown core.
"You look at what the hotels and restaurants do, how it is all interconnected, and that is as good an example."
While a downtown entertainment complex has generated lots of chatter, there doesn't appear to be much opposition to the project.
In fact, the Times & Transcript's CityThink survey indicated recently that 89 per cent of residents say they are in favour of building a complex in downtown Moncton.
However, it isn't known what taxpayers' appetite is for paying for a brand new facility, and the feasibility study will help compare the costs of a new facility to the economic impacts it will create.
Besides government funding, Fowler says the study will look at how much new revenue could be generated to pay for the modern facility through amenities like corporate boxes and concession stands.
"You have revenue sources that we currently can't generate much off of because of limitations," says Fowler.
"There are no corporate suites in the current Coliseum. There is limited guest amenities space because we are only on one side of the building. You look at a new facility with enhanced concessions, and there is more potential for generating revenue for the building."
Fowler notes that a new state-of-the-art arena would also allow the city to attract a wider variety of events that are difficult, if not impossible, to host due to the low ceiling of the Coliseum and the absence of dehumidification equipment.
Those who attended the Memorial Cup in 2006 may remember the lengths to which event staff went to control climate conditions within the Coliseum.
And Fowler notes that high-profile events such as the Cirque du Soleil have simply fallen off the city's radar screen because of the Coliseum's ceiling.
"We are restricted from some events because of the height of our ceiling in the old building. Some of the shows that come can't do a full set up. Others like Cirque du Soleil just couldn't even come," he said.
"Some of the sporting events like world league volleyball, which we were tying to pursue, we didn't have the ceiling clearance."
While the study is expected to put all the cards on the table to help council decide whether a downtown entertainment complex is feasible, Fowler says it doesn't mean the city will be moving ahead on such a project.
For those wondering what would become of the current Moncton Coliseum and Agrena, Fowler says the city has no intention of demolishing the building if a new facility is built.
He says the Coliseum would continue to uphold its reputation as the best trade show venue in Atlantic Canada.
"We run into a number of conflicts between entertainment and trade shows," says Fowler of the current situation at the busy Coliseum.
"By developing a new facility downtown that becomes strictly an entertainment type venue, we keep the trade shows at the Coliseum complex."
Brian Baxter, chairman of Enterprise Greater Moncton, says a new arena, along with a casino project, are the economic triggers needed in the downtown area, where business owners have waited too long for a major project to bring more people into the city core.
"I would encourage it, and get on with it, because there is a lot of interest in building a bigger and better Coliseum," said Baxter, who sits on the board of Downtown Moncton Centreville Inc. "That would put the icing on the cake for the downtown area."
Baxter says a metro centre downtown would transform the way people look at events in the city.
"People before going to an event would use the downtown area, like Halifax," he said.
"If they did it in Moncton, they could park their cars and walk. It would invigorate the downtown area."
Baxter says the complex would help enhance the economic impact of the city's wide array of festivals and events.
"People like to come to Moncton, not necessarily to go to a rock show, but to go shopping. People come to Moncton and they leave. What we want to do is get them to stay, go shopping, go to an event, go out to eat," he says.
"One of the things we have not taken advantage of is the riverside walk that goes from Dieppe to Riverview.
While it may not be the first thought that strikes people when they think of a metro centre, Baxter says the project could help bolster the downtown's aesthetic appeal.
"We have all the walkways downtown and it is a beautiful city, and what it might do is help us get the old buildings restored," he said, noting, for example, the potential of the building located on the corner of Botsford and Main Street.
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john holmes
Joined: 21 Jan 2008
Posts: 219
Location: In a van down by the river
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 4:04 pm Post subject: |
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| kissno1 wrote: | | You have to wonder though, if they are building the stadium, would they really look into building a new coliseum? |
But you're limited with an open air stadium as far as the times during the year when it can be used. We need groups like the Irvings to become bigger players to make a new downtown entertainment complex/arena a reality
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kissno1
Joined: 21 Jan 2008
Posts: 174
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 4:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Sounds like a great idea, I just wonder where they would put it!!
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