bladesruke
09-03-2008, 12:07 PM
http://www.saskatoonblades.com/News/Blades_News/339/
Major Investment In Cities Sporting Venues
Saskatoon - When two major expansions to Saskatoon sports venues are complete, Credit Union Centre will approach NHL size.
City council gave preliminary approval to both expansion projects Tuesday, which combined represent the biggest investment in Saskatoon's major sports facilities since the arena opened in 1988. The projects are contingent on CUC landing provincial support and the Gordie Howe Bowl project attracting federal and corporate funds.
The 2,981 upper-deck seats CUC is adding to the open west end of the arena - in time for the 2010 world junior hockey championship - will bump capacity for hockey past 15,000 and occasionally more for concerts. That puts it in the same league as Winnipeg's MTS Centre.
"I'd say it's fairly significant," said CUC general manager Ken Wood. "In terms of major sporting events and concerts, we definitely do compete with Winnipeg."
Most concerts the arena hosts will continue to position the stage in the open west end. The centre had earlier announced it is installing 1,000 removable seats on that end in time for the world juniors.
Some of the additional upper-deck seats may be used for concerts with the stage at the west end.
All of the new seats would be available for centre-stage concerts. Greater capacity would help especially at major sporting events like the world juniors, the Brier and potentially the Memorial Cup, Wood said.
To view the rest of this story, visit the Star Phoenix website by clicking here.
Major Investment In Cities Sporting Venues
Saskatoon - When two major expansions to Saskatoon sports venues are complete, Credit Union Centre will approach NHL size.
City council gave preliminary approval to both expansion projects Tuesday, which combined represent the biggest investment in Saskatoon's major sports facilities since the arena opened in 1988. The projects are contingent on CUC landing provincial support and the Gordie Howe Bowl project attracting federal and corporate funds.
The 2,981 upper-deck seats CUC is adding to the open west end of the arena - in time for the 2010 world junior hockey championship - will bump capacity for hockey past 15,000 and occasionally more for concerts. That puts it in the same league as Winnipeg's MTS Centre.
"I'd say it's fairly significant," said CUC general manager Ken Wood. "In terms of major sporting events and concerts, we definitely do compete with Winnipeg."
Most concerts the arena hosts will continue to position the stage in the open west end. The centre had earlier announced it is installing 1,000 removable seats on that end in time for the world juniors.
Some of the additional upper-deck seats may be used for concerts with the stage at the west end.
All of the new seats would be available for centre-stage concerts. Greater capacity would help especially at major sporting events like the world juniors, the Brier and potentially the Memorial Cup, Wood said.
To view the rest of this story, visit the Star Phoenix website by clicking here.