UPDATE 3/31- NEWSDAY - Coliseum gets $6M for renovation to host Isles
- Thread starter Llama19
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Steve55
Registered User
if anyone really thinks an arena will get built for the islanders in the suburbs of queens/LI they are out of their minds...never gonna happen in a million years
GordonGecko
First Ping Pong Ball
The thing is, that land is available because the venue is dying and underused. Belmont Park doesn't need the parking anymore. It's an area in decline and this whole big RFP project is trying to revive the area and I don't see how a half full Islanders arena is going to do that. I mean we'll see what they include in the proposal, but I don't see how anybody is going to want to go there
Steve55
Registered User
Even if the Isles submit a bid in Belmont RFP, it seems they will continue looking at other options, since there allegedly is no definite timetable for decision.
http://www.newsday.com/sports/hocke...tract-negotiations-into-the-season-1.14168354
'The state’s request for proposals to develop at Belmont Park closes on Sept. 28. A decision on the submitted proposals will likely take months after that. So Tavares seems willing to wait until the end of this coming season, close to the July 1 start of free agency, to make his call...'
I think there is a very good chance they will return there for a couple of years if Belmont gets the green light.
Islanders’ return to Nassau Coliseum creates playoff atmosphere
Cacciaguida
Registered User
would have to update the concourses, add a few freaking bathrooms, and add at least 2000 more seats, and add suites.
Weren't the dressing rooms downgraded? that'll need to be brought up to par.
Weren't the dressing rooms downgraded? that'll need to be brought up to par.
I think there is a very good chance they will return there for a couple of years if Belmont gets the green light.
Islanders’ return to Nassau Coliseum creates playoff atmosphere
I was there yesterday. I can't see the Coliseum as even a temporary home for more than 1 season.
If the Isles win the Belmont RFP I think they'll stay at Barclays Center on a temporary basis. If they go back to the Coliseum while waiting for Belmont to be finished, it's only because Jon Ledecky wanted to throw Islanders fans a bone.
GordonGecko
First Ping Pong Ball
This game puts the Islanders in a bad spot. People clearly want them back in Nassau where they were, but that "new" arena is substandard. They don't control the site
Steve55
Registered User
I think there is a very good chance they will return there for a couple of years if Belmont gets the green light.
Islanders’ return to Nassau Coliseum creates playoff atmosphere
'Ledecky deflected any discussion of the team’s proposal to New York State and the future home of the team.
“We’re continuing to study the RFP process,†he said. “There’s a deadline, Sept. 28, and it’s very interesting what they’re doing with that. But today is about the fans and today is about a guy like John Tavares telling me to go out to the tailgates. He told me that at the captains’ golf outing last week, about how much he enjoys seeing this environment. You can see the twinkle in his eye getting to play this game today...â€'
Perhaps Malkin and Ledecky are not sold on the Belmont RFP process...
Killion
Registered User
- Feb 19, 2010
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True enough however.... never underestimate the drawing power of tradition & history. A "coming home" in this case. If upgraded to even 15K I could easily see that old barn selling out for the rest of the season & beyond. With fewer seats, more exclusive, harder to get tickets, price-points reflecting that demand. Less can be more.
GordonGecko
First Ping Pong Ball
not a cheap retro-retrofit but certainly cheaper than a new arena in the middle of nowhere
the NMVC needs suites and concourses
Killion
Registered User
- Feb 19, 2010
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- 3,215
Yeah if planning to seriously extend the buildings life then absolutely, major reno's required & no, not cheap. Sky could be the limit, along the lines of what OVG's proposed with Key Arena in Seattle if you went all out. No idea whats required in totality for the old Coliseum or if perhaps structurally its just gotta go... cost to widen concourses, add suites, upgrade & update everything compared to a new building. I assume were talking a total gut-job, stripped right down to the foundations, shell?
That won't even do, as the footprint is too small to accommodate larger concourses. Original "renovation" plan was to drop the ice floor 10 feet to install mid-concourse suites and build a new exterior shell. By the time of the last gasp referendum, it was determined that it was not cost effective so that plan was to just tear it down and build a new building.
Kane One
Moderator
I'm no expert but I can't see how it wouldn't be cheaper to build a new arena than to renovate NVMC into a modern arena.
GordonGecko
First Ping Pong Ball
Hence the problem - I believe site control for the Nassau arena is in the hands of the Barclays group who want them to play in Brooklyn
Jester9881
Registered User
All this last renovation did was remove seats to add an interior concourse, slap some black paint on'er and call it a day. They needed to widen the lower concourse and build an upper concourse on top of it. And that doesn't even address the the biggest problem... lack of lux suits, public transit and ability to sell advertisements as a team in the suburbs. The Islanders will never call that building home ever again for the mere fact that it would cripple the current ownerships investment ($500m back to $300-ish).
Which the fan base has shown time and time again it will not show up on a regular basis.
I thought this whole thing started because Barclay's cahnged their tune and no longer want the Isles taking up dates in their arena?
Jag68Sid87
Sullivan gots to go!
All I know is my one and only trip to Nassau to watch the Islanders-Penguins was awesome! The sightlines were amazing, the low ceiling made you feel cozy, I absolutely loved that old barn. Compared to the old Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, well there is no comparison. Mellon had all the old, smelly things you'd find at an old arena sans any of the charm that Nassau had.
Maybe it's because it reminded me of when I used to go to the old Montreal Forum, or maybe it's because that is how hockey arenas are supposed to look/feel.
I hope they go back.
Maybe it's because it reminded me of when I used to go to the old Montreal Forum, or maybe it's because that is how hockey arenas are supposed to look/feel.
I hope they go back.
The big problem with Nassau is it doesn't have sky boxes, that is where you make the big bucks
Jag68Sid87
Sullivan gots to go!
Do you need sky boxes for a temporary home?
Would Tavares say I am not re-signing because Nassau has no sky boxes?
I think Tavares would sign up with the Isles if the Coliseum had no roof at all. He really seems to LOVE playing there.
As a temporary home for a season, a team could manage with the Coliseum for a year. Especially Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment (Barclays Center's operator) wants to give the Islanders a bigger subsidy to play there than they are giving them now to play at Barclays Center and free up those 41 dates in Brooklyn Barclays seems to believe they could fill.
