In Montreal, hockey goes down under
By Martin Patriquin - Sunday, February 3, 2013 - 0 Comments
Westmount, the Montreal city-within-a-city that is home to some of the country’s most exclusive…
Westmount, the Montreal city-within-a-city that is home to some of the country’s most exclusive postal codes, will soon have another boasting point: North America’s deepest hockey rinks.
The city is effectively burying two new full-sized arenas 10 m underground and plunking a 25-m-long outdoor pool on top. “To the best of our knowledge, it is the first underground, two-rink arena on the continent,” says Westmount Mayor Peter Trent.
It is an engineering feat akin to building an underground parking garage without the benefit of centre supporting pillars, which would make skating difficult. The steel-reinforced retaining walls will be nearly a metre thick and buttressed by 34 30-m-long, 1.5-m-high cambered metal beams. The new rinks are being built at the foot of Westmount Park under the previous above-ground arena, a view-destroying monolith built in 1958 that was demolished last spring. The project is expected to cost roughly $38 million, and will add over 4,000 sq. m of green space at the foot of the park. Continue…
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The other Canadian real estate boom
By Aaron Hutchins - Saturday, August 4, 2012 at 12:34 PM - 0 Comments
Sports stadiums and arenas are popping up across the country
There is another boom in Canadian real estate and it’s not in houses or condos; it’s in professional sports facilities. Several football stadiums and hockey arenas are set to sprout up across the country, and like the residential housing boom, they are largely being built on borrowed money.
The city of Regina unanimously approved a deal for a 33,000-seat stadium for the Saskatchewan Roughriders on July 23. The estimated $278-million cost has the team paying $25 million, while the bulk is split between the city and province (to be repaid in property taxes and higher fees attached to ticket prices). Other new CFL stadiums, meanwhile, are in the works for Ottawa, Hamilton and Winnipeg, and all will be funded by provincial and city governments.
Also on the horizon are some ambitious arena projects. Edmonton is pushing for a new home for the Oilers. Quebec City hopes to bring back the Nordiques with a $400-million arena, with the cost shared between the city and province.
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This week in opinion polls
By macleans.ca - Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 9:07 AM - 1 Comment
What Canadians across the country are telling pollsters
Atlantic provinces: Turns out those on Canada’s East Coast are the most prudish, at least when it comes to public displays of affection. According to a recent survey, only 63 per cent of residents there say they feel comfortable with couples kissing in public—the national average is 77 per cent. And Ontario topped Quebec as the nation’s most immodest province. Eighty-three per cent of Ontarians have no qualms with kissing in front of an audience. Only 77 per cent in Quebec said the same. Uniting Canadians was a common belief (held by 97 per cent) that fresh breath is essential for a great kiss. Of course, that wasn’t an issue for the 10 per cent who declared that they never kiss their partner.
Ontario: Ontarians are the most stressed about jobs. Twenty-three per cent say that they or someone in their family are anxious about losing their job. That’s slightly higher than the national average (20 per cent) and eight percentage points more than those in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta: A majority (62 per cent) of residents find the idea of federal funding for professional sports facilities irksome. That’s a bit higher than the national average (55 per cent) who oppose the federal government digging into public coffers to build arenas and stadiums for professional sports teams. Meanwhile, 53 per cent of Quebecers support spending public money on such ventures.
British Columbia: An overwhelming majority of British Columbians still holds fond memories of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, but a smaller share feel that hosting the Olympics was a good idea. About a year since the opening ceremony, 81 per cent of residents say that the Olympics were a success—a level of enthusiasm that has held steady since the end of the Games. But 28 per cent feel that picking up the tab for the Games wasn’t worth it.
