The New Little Caesers Arena Megathread

[Brodie]

Michigan Central Station is really the only vacant building in Detroit I wouldn't want to tear down.

That place is a beaut. However I understand it is unlikely to ever have a tenant ever again.

losing the Book Tower would be a crime, too.

it's too simplistic to just say "these old buildings should be torn down"... first of all, all of them have (very rich) owners. The Ilitch family are good guys at sports, but they largely let their holdings within the city sit abandoned when they could be renovated or torn down. Second of all, the architecture and urban environment in Detroit is important and a lot of the buildings in the city are historical.

 

[smurfyeah19]

One thing that really stood out to me was the trolley line on Woodward. Everything is so ripped up downtown

 

[LeighDx59]

One thing that really stood out to me was the trolley line on Woodward. Everything is so ripped up downtown

There is so much construction downtown right now its crazy, but it is gonna be worth it. My big worry is that (especially in October), having the Tigers, Lions, and Red Wings that close with the Woodward Rail System in addition to any additional concerts at the Fox, Fillmore, or even St. Andrews, parking and traffic is going to be stupid. Its one of the few things im not looking foward too. Luckily there isnt alot of time during the year that all three sports are being played at the same time.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

There is so much construction downtown right now its crazy, but it is gonna be worth it. My big worry is that (especially in October), having the Tigers, Lions, and Red Wings that close with the Woodward Rail System in addition to any additional concerts at the Fox, Fillmore, or even St. Andrews, parking and traffic is going to be stupid. Its one of the few things im not looking foward too. Luckily there isnt alot of time during the year that all three sports are being played at the same time.

Ohh Yeah that would suck.

 

[nina2001]

There is so much construction downtown right now its crazy, but it is gonna be worth it. My big worry is that (especially in October), having the Tigers, Lions, and Red Wings that close with the Woodward Rail System in addition to any additional concerts at the Fox, Fillmore, or even St. Andrews, parking and traffic is going to be stupid. Its one of the few things im not looking foward too. Luckily there isnt alot of time during the year that all three sports are being played at the same time.

A map of all the developments in Detroit
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zx6ICdFk8OeY.kUycz683ySJg&usp=sharing

It's quite busy indeed. Just look at all the stuff happening north of the arena. I'm not that worried about parking and traffic since the arena opens in 2017 and most of the work should be finished by then. I get the concern if all three teams are playing at the same time but you can always park farther away and walk or use the rail system. You can also park for free in the MGM garage and walk a few blocks while enjoying pre-game drinks/food (Bookies, Harry's and Bucharest Grill are all around the vicinity). Sometimes if you want to be frugal you have to expend the effort.

 

[Brodie]

The lack of viable parking is eventually going to force M1 to expand to 8 Mile. I'm hoping it also revives Michigan Avenue commuter rail.

 

[nina2001]

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2015/06/17/fans-may-dig-the-new-red-wings-arena/

By digging a deep hole for the arena bowl, those attending concerts, games and other events at the Event Center will be able to enter the arena’s concourse between upper and lower bowls at street-level and not have to take the stairs to reach the concourse.

The deep bowl will also allow the facility to be 20 percent lower than typical arenas, officials said.

 

[Coach Nate]

There is so much construction downtown right now its crazy, but it is gonna be worth it. My big worry is that (especially in October), having the Tigers, Lions, and Red Wings that close with the Woodward Rail System in addition to any additional concerts at the Fox, Fillmore, or even St. Andrews, parking and traffic is going to be stupid. Its one of the few things im not looking foward too. Luckily there isnt alot of time during the year that all three sports are being played at the same time.

The Tigers won't be an issue in October.

 

[redwingsphan]

There is so much construction downtown right now its crazy, but it is gonna be worth it. My big worry is that (especially in October), having the Tigers, Lions, and Red Wings that close with the Woodward Rail System in addition to any additional concerts at the Fox, Fillmore, or even St. Andrews, parking and traffic is going to be stupid. Its one of the few things im not looking foward too. Luckily there isnt alot of time during the year that all three sports are being played at the same time.

Not much hope for October baseball for awhile. Hopefully they will get the parking figured out before they make it back in a decade, or so.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

The Tigers won't be an issue in October.

Ouch.

 

[nina2001]

Foundation Work Begins on New Detroit Arena
http://www.districtdetroit.com/news/20150625-foundation-work-begins-on-new-detroit-arena

http://wingsarena.tumblr.com/

 

[nina2001]

Drone footage from 6.24.15

 

[ProPAIN]

 

[Shoalzie]

^ Came here to post that same video...it's a good sizzle reel to say the least.

 

[GBFP]

Bloody hell that looks brilliant. I can't wait.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

Hope it looks as good in real life as it does in the renderings.

Concept is brilliant.

 

[WingedWheel1987]

Can't wait to see Dan Cleary play his first game in the new building.

I'm joking...i hope

It sure looks awesome. Have they mentioned when they plan to offer season tickets or how they plan to carry over the program with existing ticket holders at JLA?

 

[Brodie]

My favorite part of the video, is the hilariously brief shot where you see the arena called "Sponsor Name Arena"

 

[jkutswings]

Have they mentioned when they plan to offer season tickets or how they plan to carry over the program with existing ticket holders at JLA?

Related to this, have they announced the official ticket capacity of the new barn? I had thought I heard it was less than The Joe, but I couldn't remember the specific numbers.

Gotta imagine the line will be out the door once they start selling season tickets.

 

[Bench]

Uh oh, the Red Wings and their stadium have found their way to Last Week Tonight.



"Two years ago Detroit got approval to spend more than $280 million dollars in taxpayer money on a new arena project for the Red Wings, just six days after the city filed for bankruptcy. Even though the Red Wings owner is Mike Ilitch, the founder of the Little Caesar's Pizza chain, who's worth an estimated $5.1 billion. That's a little hard to swallow, sure not as hard to swallow as Little Caesar's Crazy Bread with an assortment of Caesar dips, but still pretty hard."

 

[ArGarBarGar]

Not surprised. No reason Ilitch needed government dollars to build his new arena.

 

[ProPAIN]

Yeah just watched it. Not very good publicity, but he has a point.

Btw, Cowboys Stadium has a ****ing swimming pool? The ****?

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Guess I will watch it later, maybe half time of the USMNT game.... But I hope he at least recognized the fact they got virtually no money whatsoever from Detroit. They got money from the state setup for large economic developments in the city of Detroit which this certainly is.

Anytime somebody brings up Detroit's bankruptcy in argument against this stadium it shows a huge lack of understanding on how it is being funded and the contingencies necessary to tap into the State funding it is using.

Also Ilitch is going to wind up investing probably at least 500 million personally before this is all said and done around that area. Hard to paint him as the bad guy in my opinion, he is going well beyond what most owners have been doing.

Okay so watched the full thing. I understand the old argument, I disagree with it none the less. I also have some problems with the fact big arena projects have been tremendous winners but that is always swept under the rug. Most notably in our particular region you have seen widespread success in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Indianapolis with just these kind of projects. Cleaning up disaster stretches of cities and vitally pumping life into those areas. A city like Detroit with massive corruption having somebody tap into state funds to revitalize the area between Wayne State and the existing stadium district is great.

Sure the Marlins are a disaster and there have been other cases. I am excited for this project and I was not surprised that he didn't flush out Detroit, nice cheap drive by shot, that like I said completely misrepresented how the project is actually being done. I really like his show but occasionally you can tell the researchers have a point they want to present and the punchline is superseding the other information they likely have on the subject. Still do watch this almost every week and he is nowhere near as conniving with this stuff than Stewart's subtle agenda plays.

 

[Bench]

They got money from the state setup for large economic developments in the city of Detroit which this certainly is.

Sure, but... Is it a good economic development?

I guess I'm not convinced this is the best way to spend public funds when the Wings are profitable on their own. That's the crux of the argument. Ilitch might be better than the other examples, but he's still cashing in on public money which will essentially help him add to his empire. The idea of Ilitch as a generous billionaire looking out for Detroit like an old Batman doesn't really strike me as congruent.

Ultimately, I don't feel stadium projects are the beacon to revitalization they are advertised. And that feeling strikes at the heart of the conversation, despite my enthusiasm for a new arena.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Sure, but... Is it a good economic development?

I guess I'm not convinced this is the best way to spend public funds when the Wings are profitable on their own. That's the crux of the argument. Ilitch might be better than the other examples, but he's still cashing in on public money which will essentially help him add to his empire. The idea of Ilitch as a generous billionaire looking out for Detroit like an old Batman doesn't really strike me as congruent.

Ultimately, I don't feel stadium projects are the beacon to revitalization they are advertised. And that feeling strikes at the heart of the conversation, despite my enthusiasm for a new arena.

Depends in a city like Detroit, using state funds that are earmarked for big city development projects would seem ideal.

The idea that this would go to education, city streets, the police is ultimately misguided. That isn't what this fund is available for, it cannot happen. And boohoo that a bunch of corrupt Detroit politicians have been cut out of the process.

Very few people have a development of this magnitude to offer Detroit that applies to this fund. To buy up large tracks of land sometimes at poison pill rates to see the project through. Yes Ilitch is going to make money, but all of us know the exact area this arena is going in. Is that not good idea to strengthen the Woodward corridor and link Wayne State to the Entertainment district right on down to river?

Sure at times this doesn't make sense, but people are in my opinion pretty quick to judge a guy putting up likely in the neighborhood of 500 million dollars of his own wealth. They avoided tapping into money from Detroit because that was a non-starter for exactly the reason John Oliver's piece tried to make glancing blows at it.

Sure could we spend money on more socially acceptable principles? Yeah, um of course we don't live in a utopia though either and in the specific case of Detroit this makes a ton of sense and should not necessarily be examined in the same realm as the Miami Marlins or the Cincinnati stadium that took premium waterfront land.

Detroit is using an abandon area to connect two healthy areas and vacating waterfront property on their old site. Some of these are not the same and should not be analyzed in universal truths.

And like I said explain Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Cleveland where entertainment districts have been vital in fixing broken and misused areas of cities.