Chris Ilitch, president of the Detroit Red Wings and son of team owners Mike and Marian Ilitch, told the Detroit Economic Club yesterday how totally awesome the new arena the team is building (with the help of about $300 million in state and city money) will be:
He said the arena will have five restaurants, seven clubs, a concourse area three times the size of Joe Louis Arena’s and several stories of glass enclosing a “vibrant, urban experience.”
And there, in a nutshell, is what’s driving the new sports venue craze. (That and the ability to get $300 million checks from the local government by crying about how your old building is just so old, anyway.) You’ll note that none of the above has anything to do with actually watching hockey, but rather about all the things you can do (and buy) while not watching hockey, because who goes to a hockey game to watch hockey?
Okay, Ilitch also promised (in the Detroit Free Press’s paraphrase) “seats closer to the rink with better sight lines,” which in the paper was accompanied by this rendering of Wii characters accompanied by the caption, and I am not making this up, “‘gondola’ seating that will put fans closer to the action”:
All this should be a reminder of why sports stadiums and arenas have been found to be terrible economic catalysts — they’re designed to get people spending more money inside the gates, not across the street at whatever stores and restaurants are there. Also that some people will say that absolutely anything is done “for the fans,” and say it with a straight face. Though after the recent New York Yankees ticket resale fiasco, I’d hope that everyone would have learned that lesson already.
And, of course, the state should have instead been spending money on things like safe water for the people of Flint, Michigan and other places we do not even know about yet.
Don’t know how any sport with boards surrounding the playing surface can begin to provide better site lines.
Move the seats actually closer to the ice?
Steven, you could make the lower portion of the boards clear as well, although that might make the ads they’re festooned with less visible.
How do the people get out of those front-row glass boxes? Ejection seat? Climb over the tables?
Is the height of the glass intended to keep people from throwing octopuses? If I paid $$$ for a box, the last thing I would want is a full sheet of glass in my view. In San Jose, at SAP, the glass in boxes is only high enough to keep me from spilling my $15 beer on poor saps below.
And why do all the patrons look like they are on the john? Do those seats double as porta-potties?
@Neil: Your next best seller should be in the humor section:
“Zombie Fans, Electric Light Shows and Violating the Laws of Physics. Or, How I Learned to love Vaportecture.”
Sports architects need to spend more time playing Minecraft. Watch enough villagers clawing at each other in a desperate attempt at escape and it’ll teach you fast about the need to provide exit doors.
The spotlight aimed to illuminate the top of the scoreboard is a nice touch, too.
Been to Venice and ridden in gondolas – not sure what a ‘gondola’ seat in an arena would be like except a bit wobbly.
It’s copying off the Madison Square Garden “sky bridges,” aka lousy seats suspended from the roof with sky-high ticket prices:
http://deadspin.com/here-are-the-new-sky-bridges-at-madison-square-garden-1445151314
Nobody over 3′ tall has ever had their view obstructed by the boards at a hockey rink.
That video screen over center ice is so hi-res that I thought they’d decided to put the Red Wings bench into a “gondola”.
I want each “gondola box” to be on rails. Visits various sections around the perimeter during the game. “In 5 minutes we’ll be docking at the ladies room. 15 minutes until we arrive at the Stella Artois Refill Center.” (Maybe, since it’s hockey, it has to be a “Centre”?)
Actually this reminds me of the old MacArthur Court at U of Oregon. Only been once (over 25 years ago –road tripped with my hoops college team), but it seemed like their were 7 stories of balcony seats that only went 5 rows deep (reality was more like 3 tiers that went 10+ deep). Fans were right on top of the game. Louder then hell and no safety glass.
If I was a fan under the gondola, I would feel like the ceiling is caving–a bit claustrophobic.
As for the area around the new stadium?
http://www.districtdetroit.com/press-releases/olympia-development-launches-retail-office-space-developments-in-the-district-detroits-woodward-square-neighborhood
Dug – Development that would have likely happened regardless of a new arena or not. If there is sufficient update of office space and retail sales high enough for new stores to open, this sort of development will get built. The new arena has nothing to do with it except maybe location choice which is a poor reason to spend $300 million public dollars.
No, the rendering is about right; tons of empty red seats in the lower (read: corporate) bowl. The last Wings game I went to, I noted 53 seats in one section that never saw a tuchus all game. In. One. SECTION.
Mary Collier, you want someone to blame, how about the local plant boss that decided against using anti-corrosion phosphates in the water. Too many idiots acting like the governor himself is supposed to do the day-to-day operations.
Steven, you improve sight lines by cantilevering the upper decks out over the lower deck. Joe Louis Arena is one large bowl, like a college football stadium.