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TheCaptain19

'District Detroit': Red Wings' New Arena Details Released

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It looks like a new colloseum, the lighting effects with the RW logo are great. Gotta be the first arena to do that.

But overall I agree I think a place somewhere outside would have been a better choice.

Oops, sorry Frank. I was thinking outloud while reading your post. too late to delete my thought I see.

Name the stadium "Bongwater" if you want because we all know we shouldn't get too attached to a new name as one day (hopefully not for many years) it will be called Ilitch Arena.

Edited by Jersey Wing

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I think it looks amazing. Hopefully it all comes to fruition. I am so thankful that there are people out there who love the city of Detroit as much as I do and who refuse to give up on trying to make it a better place. I will miss the Joe in all its s***ty glory, and hope they don't tear it down. I'd like to see it repurposed, maybe as the aquarium they had talked about at one time, but I know that's probably a pipe dream.

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Hmm, pretty decent plan. I remain skeptical until it is all actually built and developers and investors have signed on. It will be a shame if it turns into something like Westgate, the "entertainment and shopping district" that surrounds the Yotes arena. What a failure that one was.

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Hmm, pretty decent plan. I remain skeptical until it is all actually built and developers and investors have signed on. It will be a shame if it turns into something like Westgate, the "entertainment and shopping district" that surrounds the Yotes arena. What a failure that one was.

Preach. Although the outlets are decent, everything is just plopped right off the highway. Certainly not a "district."

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So happy for the new arena but I do think the district would have been better suited somewhere in Oakland County like Novi.

There's just no money flowing in Detroit.

Novi is crowded as hell already. It doesn't have the infrastructure to add a project of this magnitude. Detroit does. Plus, we've seen with the Silverdome and the Palace, that suburban arena/stadium entertainment districts are not sustainable. There's next-to-nothing by the Palace. The points of this project are to keep the team downtown (Ilitch wouldn't have it any other way) and to help revive the city of Detroit.

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18k actual seats and into the 20s with standing room and suite capacity?

The article from Crain's Detroit Business states that the new arena will seat about 20,000.

The arena will seat about 20,000, rather than the 18,500 previously disclosed, Ilitch said. Joe Louis Arena seats 20,066, second in capacity in the 30-team National Hockey League only to the Bell Centre’s 21,273 in Montreal.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20140720/NEWS03/140719845/detroit-rink-city-ilitches-grand-plan-to-supersize-the#

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Meh, add it to the list of all the other things that were supposed to transform Detroit: Comerica Park, Ford Field, The SuperBowl, the All Star Game, the Casinos, the Cobo Expansion. I'll believe it when I see it. There was supposed to be a big entertainment and housing expansion with Comerica and Ford Field, too.

Not getting all the affection for Joe Louis Arena. That place was a dump even before it opened. It was totally thrown together without much thought.

So what is wrong with the Joe in your opinion?

I may have a slightly biased sentiment in the fact that obviously I'm a Wings fan and I saw my first hockey game there, but there isn't much I can say I don't like about it. The sightlines are way better than the other NHL rinks i've seen games at (ACC and Centre Bell), the standing room is the best in the league, the concourse and the general place has this old school atmosphere that makes me get really amped up for the game, and I don't know if i'm the only one, but I really really love walking up those steps before you enter the building.

Yes it's crowded as hell in the concourses and bathrooms, it's old, it doesn't look that aesthetically pleasing from the outside for some, the seats are worn, but frankly, I couldn't care less. I'd take a building like the Joe that has a million times more character than a septic, cold brand spanking new rink anyway.

Now, that's not to say that the new building will be like all the other ones that have been built. And after seeing and reading about the plans today, I'm definitely excited. But I will definitely miss being right on top of the action for sure.

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I live and work in D.C. now, and my office is directly adjacent to the Verizon Center where the Caps play. It was designed like this proposed new Detroit arena in that it has all sorts of other things going on besides whatever is happening at the arena (movie theater, restaurants, shops, housing, office space, etc.). It was put in the Chinatown neighborhood of DC in order to anchor that area and begin revitalizing it and has really been a positive agent in transforming that area of the city.

I don't know how this new arena will shake out in Detroit, or whether or not it will revitalize anything. I don't have that kind of expertise. But I do see an example of how it CAN work, ever single day when I go to work. And that makes me hopeful.

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I was at the Verizon Center for the final in 1998 (it was the MCI center then), and it seemed to be having an impact then, as the whole area seemed energized (though it was the finals). I don't think I'd have as easy a time getting an octopus now, though.

I hope the district and new arena pan out for Detroit as the area could use a boost.

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Guest Playmaker

All these same things were said when Ford Field/Comerica opened 14 years ago. The white suburbanites will go down to Detroit to see a game, then return to the suburbs to live, dine, work, attend school, etc. Without getting too political, it isn't about getting a few people down to visit, it's about rebuilding from the neighborhoods up, not the other way around. I really hope this helps to revitalize the city, but I'll believe it when I see it.

I just see the Joe along the same lines as the Silverdome. It wasn't like Olympia or Tiger Stadium in that it was around for generations or had that iconic character. The stadiums nowadays seem to be disposable. Joe Louis opened it 1979? It isn't even 40 years old. I love the teams that played there, but the building itself did nothing for me.

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The new arena indeed looks a little bit like the Allianz Arena in Munich. Which I'd treat as a compliment. And the whole concept around it seems solid. With all the memories I'd liked to watch my first Red Wings game in person at the Joe but I can't make it happen over the next three years.

But this new arena looks very compelling and for sure will be filled with new memories pretty fast. First Stanley Cup Final at this new UFO? I promise I'll be there in person (disclaimer: Provided I'll be able get and afford the tickets ;) ) .

Edited by derblaueClaus

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I am very happy for the residents of Detroit especially for Red Wings fans. The plan looks amazing. This supper modern entertainment district and the awesome arena will bring joy and economic values to the people of Detroit. We'll deserved and long overdue. Looking forward to visit one day.

Go Wings !

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All these same things were said when Ford Field/Comerica opened 14 years ago.

Those were simply arenas, and boring ones at that. This has an entire different level of potential primarily because it's not just an arena but an entire new inhabitable zone (that people can stay at versus going back to the suburbs to eat/whatever). It also blurs the lines between the arena itself and the surrounding concourse/street area. What if on days where there were no events the arena could actually be occupied? How great would that be. You could buy food/drinks/etc from the surrounding businesses and then sit down in the seating. Mad date potential.

Edited by Z and D for the C

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This is going to be great for the city of Detroit. I've been down there several times, and I personally love it there. Me and a few friends go down once or twice every year for the past 4 or 5 years to see games. I love the Joe and I'll be sure to visit it another half dozen times before the new arena is built but it surely will be missed.

Not only is this going to be great for the city, it should also benefit the Red Wings in my opinion. Doesn't anyone believe that this new arena and entertainment district should be a huge attraction for future UFA's? I would have to believe it would. I'm sure most players would like to have a brand spankin new arena to play 41 plus games a year plus practice and train all season long.

Add this to all the great prospects we have coming up over the next few years and the future is definitely bright in HockeyTown! :D

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I love the LED dome up top. That will look REALLY cool on game night.

Yeah I've never seen an arena doing something like this but it looks so damn cool. Also the options are endless if you artists are holding concerts there they could display the cover of their newest cds.

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I saw what the Van Andel and accompanying restaurants did to Grand Rapids. It went from a ghost town downtown after 6:00 to being busy most of the time. That was just an arena and a couple refurbished buildings turned into retail and restaurant space. Condos, other restaurants and bars, etc. came along on their own as more people started showing up. Hopefully this new district does the same for Detroit.

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Lets hope the entire plan comes to fruition. I seem to remember renderings of Ford Field and Commerica Park area that were to include outdoor shopping and restaurants that were also to be open all the time similar to this plan. All we got was Ford Field with an empty street in between the two parks.

That being said, it is an awesome plan, I love the Winged Wheel from the sky idea!

I am sticking with Cadillac Centre and I will also put my nod in for anther one I came up with The Illitch Centre for Entertainment Arena...affectionately to be known as The I.C.E. Arena.

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