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taoistlumberjak
(The Next Level!)
133 Posts |
 Posted - 02/07/2011 : 8:32:15 PM
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I was going to post this as a reply, but it probably deserves its own topic.
The Gardens will not be making a comeback. Let's consider;
A) Hockey is a tough sell in this town. A central location and free parking helps, yes, but the are itself does not (sketchy reputation, even if not fully true).
B) The building needs some major renovations. New seats, probably a complete redo of the building's hvac system. A lot of the spectator interaction areas will need massive upgrades (restrooms, concessions, concourses).
- Now, given A, B would be tough if not impossible to pull off. It could be done, but I don't think it's economically responsible to put any more money into the old Gardens. It's sad, because it's a historical building, but the reality is far worse. Like Brett Favre holding on for too long, the longer the Gardens hangs on in the state it is, the worse it'll be remembered.
The city could build a nice little 10,000-15,000 seat arena, maybe in conjunction with the casino. This would, of course, be contingent on the economy getting better. Still, the economy would prevent any hypothetical remodeling of the Gardens. |
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Gordon Bombay
(The Next Level!)
USA
160 Posts |
Posted - 02/08/2011 : 01:49:49 AM
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I think you make some good points in this post man, but there's a few things I disagree with. Mainly, I don't believe (and this is my own pure speculation/thought) the folks who run the Gardens are interested in making a "comeback." At least not with hockey.
quote:
Originally posted by taoistlumberjak
I was going to post this as a reply, but it probably deserves its own topic.
The Gardens will not be making a comeback. Let's consider;
A) Hockey is a tough sell in this town. A central location and free parking helps, yes, but the are itself does not (sketchy reputation, even if not fully true).
I agree that hockey is a tough sell in this town, some nights it's hard for the Cyclones to get a whole lot of people in without a beer or food promotion, although in recent years they've really been doing good. However, if by what you mean by comeback is the Gardens getting another hockey team - I don't see it happening. I don't think they're particularly interested in it. After the Railraiders failed to secure an NHL affiliation and the AHL was gone, the Clones came back and have been here since. I don't think the Gardens is interested in bringing in another team that would compete in the market that's already tough. The ECHL and AHL are two leagues that cooperate and work together whereas the AHL and old school IHL were competition when we had two Cincy teams. I doubt you'd see the AHL move into Cincy when there's an established ECHL team downtown unless the clones "moved up" to an AHL franchise. The CHL/IHL2 constantly has it's ups and downs financially and teams come and go, I doubt they'd be interested in moving in to compete against another AA class minor league team's market nor would I see the Gardens taking a gamble on renovating their facility to support a tenant in an often-shaky league.
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B) The building needs some major renovations. New seats, probably a complete redo of the building's hvac system.
I definitely agree, I don't think the place is too terrible by any means, but the same could be said for USBA. How many times have you taken a seat at USBA and been able to pull your armrest off or didn't have one? When I worked event staff there, people would constantly throw those things on the ice. When the clones go deep in the playoffs and it gets warmer outside + the arena is packed with fans, you can see they have a harder time maintaining the ice and puddles will form by the benches.
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A lot of the spectator interaction areas will need massive upgrades (restrooms, concessions, concourses).
I agree about the restrooms. I love the Gardens, but even I'll admit that the restrooms could use some work. For what they have going on there though these days, it seems complacent. The concessions don't seem all that bad and the concourses are no smaller than USBA's (which can be really packed when the Clones are drawing good crowds).
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- Now, given A, B would be tough if not impossible to pull off. It could be done, but I don't think it's economically responsible to put any more money into the old Gardens.
I think the set up they have now works fine for what kind of events they have going on there currently: Rollergirls, Indoor Soccer, Commandos football, etc. Those events are fun, but they're never really filling the place to capacity and testing it's infrastructure.
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The city could build a nice little 10,000-15,000 seat arena, maybe in conjunction with the casino.
There was talk of building a small arena for boxing/UFC type events at the casino. Mayor Mallory was really pushing that in the design, but I don't know if it was included in the final plans or not. I don't see a new arena coming to this city anytime soon. Without a major tenant or indoor sports team (We'd never get an NHL team with Columbus so close and the NBA doesn't seem poised for expansion (and if it is, there are larger markets)) to require the construction of a 20,000 seat arena, I think you'll see USBA hold on until it can't bring in major concerts and stuff.
For now though, I think the Gardens is doing just fine for the kind of events it has there. Keep in mind too that it does also have the small rink next door for a lot of youth hockey and they do have high school games as well in the main arena.
Now, if by "comeback" you mean getting a pro hockey tenant in there, I agree, it would need some renovation work ala Ft. Wayne's Memorial Coliseum. I don't see the Gardens pushing for a team though with the Clones in town and they seem to be doing fine with the events they have.
If I had an unlimited amount of money and Cincy was devoid of a hockey team, I'd love nothing more than to renovate the Gardens and get a team there. I think it's a great place to watch a game and like you said, historical. However, at the time, there's no need and I'll support Cincinnati hockey wherever it's played. I grew up as both a Ducks and Clones fan and while I went to way more Ducks games, I'm glad to see the Cyclones getting their brand and promotion out there more and more each year. People in this city need to realize how good of a sport hockey is. |
Recreational Trespassing, Rants about the Reds, Hanging out with Zamboni Drivers and Photography:
www.queencitydisco.com |
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