The New Hamilton Arena

[Dogs Enthusiast 104]

Things are heating up with the new arena in Hamilton. I love this idea of a 10 000 seat arena on the Mountain. Seems like a much more fan friendly location. I would like nothing more than huge success in the Hammer for the OHL. It could be a great rivalry for the Dogs.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamil...ties-1.5270802

Hamilton city council will look at partnering with the private sector to build a new $130-million arena downtown to replace FirstOntario Centre. But that isn't stopping some councillors from suggesting that the facility go on the Mountain instead.

The city's general issues committee voted Wednesday to set up a steering committee, hire a project manager and look at partnering with private companies to replace the city's largest entertainment venue with a smaller one.

City staff recommend building new 'right-sized' arena downtown
The move came after city staff said Hamilton needs a "right-sized" venue to replace the former Copps Coliseum — one with about 10,000 seats rather than the 17,400 the aging arena has now.

This is interesting data:

The staff report proposes a main venue with a capacity of around 10,000. FirstOntario Centre has an existing capacity of 17,400 people, although the report shows that isn't met often. Attendance for all events, including concerts and Bulldogs games, averaged around 4,991 people in 2018. When looking at just concerts, that number jumps to 9,140.

That same year, only 13 of 98 events required use of the upper bowl seating.

[Red]

Is it built yet? Not sure how much longer I can hold my breath Hamilton can't even half fill a 10,000 seat arena. No elected official is going to win that argument.

[strohs]

Well to play devils advocate ... I never in a million years we would ever see an arena in the Niagara Region like we now have .....

And it appears at least in Niagara ... if you build it they will come ...


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[5 for fighting]

Originally Posted by Red

Is it built yet? Not sure how much longer I can hold my breath Hamilton can't even half fill a 10,000 seat arena. No elected official is going to win that argument.

What do you mean. They either renovate their current 17,000 seat arena or build a new 10,000 seat arena. Personally I would rather they renovate as I think only having a 10,000 seat arena will eliminate them from hosting some of the bigger concert acts.

[dogged74]

OHL arenas(unless you’re London) should be 5,000 capacity. In some cases, 5,000 would be having people lined up out the door. But for most, you could get a decent percentage of 5K most nights, but only a handful of sellouts sprinkled throughout the winter. The folks in the Hammer really need to be careful with this. OHL has never drawn much more than a couple thousand. Hamilton has been used and flirted with by the NHL more than once, and that has left Hamiltonians a little strange when it comes to junior hockey.
Frankly I’m really impressed with the Hamilton hockey fan: they have really put up with a lot over the years. The OHL Bulldogs are Hamilton’s (at least)3rd swing at the OHL. I quite well remember the Steelhawks were basically created solely for the purpose of having a team to put into Copps Coliseum. We’re all waiting for a Bulldogs/IceDogs playoff series. As a kid I went to NF Thunder games, and froze my butt off in that NF arena

[NiceDawg]

Originally Posted by strohs

Well to play devils advocate ... I never in a million years we would ever see an arena in the Niagara Region like we now have .....

And it appears at least in Niagara ... if you build it they will come ...

The IceDogs made a great case for this... almost an entire year of sell-outs after a five year history and a wide-spread demographic. It was still an uphill battle but they were able to convince the politicians the team would draw the fans in from across Niagara. The politicians in turn used the new arena as an anchor point to revitalize their downtown core.

[Dogs Enthusiast 104]

Originally Posted by 5 for fighting

What do you mean. They either renovate their current 17,000 seat arena or build a new 10,000 seat arena. Personally I would rather they renovate as I think only having a 10,000 seat arena will eliminate them from hosting some of the bigger concert acts.

You are right, the biggest bands that have played there in the last decade would never have happened, like Paul McCartney.

However, I don't believe they have enough of those size of concerts to justify the cost. When Copps was built they were banking on the NHL from day one. Plus it was a cheap build back then when compared to modern arenas with lots of corporate suites etc. It wouldn't make sense without an NHL team. That aint ever going to happen.

[Thunder Hawk]

Build the 10,000 seat arena on top of the escarpment in a better area of the city with proper marketing and it will do well IMO. Hamilton is a big city that supports a CFL team. The current Arena is too big, old, out dated for the OHL and not in a great area of the city. If Hamilton can draw 4- 5,000 a game in that old facility then I think they will do well in a new one in a nice area of the city. ..Most concerts the city does is under 10,000 anyway.

[three dog night]

I read the decision has been delayed looks like a move out of town soon

[ckg927]

Based on the Bulldogs' home opener last night, that move might get accelerated.

The Hamilton Spectator's Scott Radley did a write-up on the game last night(they lost to Erie 8-5), but here's the fun part: He noted that not one....not TWO....but THREE escalators were out of service. (One's been MIA for years, another was on and off for a while(mostly off).) They got one of them working, but it broke again later on. Radley leveled this blast: "Considering all the hot air that's been expended recently about how owner Michael Andlauer is respected and appreciated around here, this was the equivalent of council lining up and mooning him as he entered the building." Ooooh. That's nasty.