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| Exterior view |
This week I went to see my first Australian
Rules Football game between the Sydney Swans and Geelong Cats. Sadly, Sydney
lost but it was a good game to watch. The game was played at the Sydney Cricket
Grounds at Allianz Stadium in Moore Park. I go by the stadium every time I go
to the CBD and wonder how often it hosts events. Australia has a strong sport
culture, and strong spectator sport culture! I remember visiting Olympic Park
in March and seeing two massive stadiums standing in it. Obviously when Sydney
hosted the Olympic Games they had to provide venues for all the sports. I did a
quick Google search on stadiums and arenas in Sydney and was surprised at the
number! There are 15 stadiums, ovals, and indoor sports venues in Sydney.
I ramble about sports venues because I
wonder about their contribution to communities. They are like market squares,
they attract groups of people for a specific purpose. They encourage
interaction among the spectators, and there is a strong sense of community
between the groups supporting their teams. There has been some debate in
planning over the use of major sports venues such as stadiums and arenas
located in city centres as a tool to bring people to the area. Around the venue
residential areas and entertainments areas pop up to support the people coming
and going from the sport venue. A few years ago it seemed that building a new
arena in a city’s downtown would contribute to inner city revitalization by
bringing people into the area outside of 9-5 working hours. Billion dollar
stadiums were built in North America following this guidance, but now it seems
the pendulum has swung in the other direction and sports venues are not a
guarantee for downtown revitalization.
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| Close up |
Edmonton has been working towards building
an arena in it’s downtown for years now. They are very close now having struck
a deal with the owner of the NHL team in the city. They settled on a building
design and even acquired the land they plan to build on. The city’s Light Rail
Transit will pass right by the arena to shuttle the crowds to and from while
limiting parking in the already limited parking area of city centre. I was in
total support of the arena a few years ago, now I worry it is not the answer.
For the record, the current NHL arena in the city is WAY overdue for upgrades
and it is located in the inner city, north of the city centre.
There are some major political reasons why
the city doesn’t support the refurbishment of the current arena or even the
building of a new arena on the site of the current arena, so that option no
longer exists. The city has been fighting so long for this new arena, I know
they’ll get eventually. But I wonder how it will improve the landscape. Seeing
all the sports venues in Sydney, I see that multiple sports complexes can exist
but how valuable are they to the urban landscape? The Allianz Stadium is
located in a park, so it doesn’t take up space for housing, etc. But what about
the stadiums in Olympic Park? It would be interesting to see their cost of
maintenance, operation, etc compared to how often they are used.
Article:
City of Edmonton website:
Images:
http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/01/18/good-vibrations-on-edmontons-downtown-arena/
http://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/projects_redevelopment/downtown-arena.aspx
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