Hamilton’s arena transformation on time and on budget, says developer

Concert and hockey venue at Bay Street and York Boulevard will see vast unused space turned into clubs, lounges, restaurants and concessions. Check out the gallery below!

From the outside, it may look like little is happening within the walls of Hamilton’s downtown arena. 

But that’s a long way from the truth. Inside, things look much different than they did seven months ago, the last time arena developer Oak View Group (OVG) took local media on a tour.

Then, it was a hollowed-out shell. Now, steel frame walls and millwork layouts on the floor show where the new arena is taking shape on all three levels. The seating bowl is stripped down to the concrete and large equipment is parked on the floor level.

It’s fair to say that frequent visitors to the arena at Bay Street and York Boulevard will be hard pressed to remember how it once looked when they visit again. A new name will be announced, but for now it’s simply the Hamilton Arena Project. 

Retaining just the exterior walls and roof, this will be an entirely new arena on the inside – a $290-million CAD investment. Construction began in May and the venue is expected to open in late 2025. 

Vast areas on the lower and street-level concourse levels that were closed off or used only for storage since the arena opened in November 1985, are now being built out with premium lounges, suites and clubs, bars, concession stands and automated walk-out markets. 

Crowds will move in, around and out of the arena in more efficient ways. Waits for concessions and restrooms will be shorter because there will be amenities on all three concourses. Accessibility features will also be enhanced.

When the building was operating as Copps Coliseum and then FirstOntario Centre, crowds came in at street level on Bay Street, actually the second level of the building, and were then funnelled up to the top concourse where all the concessions and boxes were located. 

From there, they either climbed up or down to their seats. That’s all going to change.

The tour begins at floor level.

Stretching along the north side,  just on the other side of the boards and glass for hockey, will be 10 private boxes. With enough room for 16 people, they will offer an up-close and in-the-action experience for concerts and games. Just behind them will premium lounges, and bars, kitchens, concessions and markets. 

“We haven’t found another arena with event-level boxes,” says Ryan Zrenda, vice-president of project management for OVG. “It is definitely a unique feature.” 

He points to the acoustic panels now affixed to the roof that will improve the concert sound. A newly installed 10-foot by 10-foot rigging grid will allow the arena to accommodate larger touring shows with varying set up requirements.

As well, a new artist compound on the lower level will feature five dressing rooms, a large lounge space, four production offices, a crew catering space and a meet and greet room for fan experiences with musical acts. An artist VIP entrance will be right by loading dock entrance and stage. The new dedicated space, along with easier load-in and load-out facilities, will make the venue much more attractive to today’s touring acts, says Zrenda. 

Previously, artists were set up in ad hoc spaces or even hockey locker rooms. 

Now up to the second concourse, there will be new access points to the seating bowl cut through the concrete. (Who knew they were descriptively called vomitories or voms for short?) 

Thousands of square feet on the street level that was closed off to the public before will be used in the new building for concessions, markets and restrooms. The Oak View team can’t explain all the unused space. Maybe the plan was to expand amenities for the arrival of a hoped-for NHL team. Maybe it was meant to be used for conventions. Probably it was both.

On the third level, there are now concrete shells for 11 new private boxes on the south side and on the north side, where there was once nothing but vast sets of stairs to exit the building, there will be a large club and restaurant. A few staircases will remain.

This really is a transformation and work is about 60 per cent complete, says Paul Young, senior vice-president of project management at Oak View Group. The project is both on time and on budget, he says. 

“We are very pleased with this project. EllisDon is a fantastic construction company and credit has to go to local trades. They are efficient and delivering good quality work. It’s all keeping us on track.”

There is an entirely new HVAC system, complete new wiring, technology and point-of-sale systems, and there will be an entirely new sound system.

“Everything is up to the quality and standards of the best arenas in the world,” says Young, who  has overseen a number of arena projects for OVG, including UBS Arena in New York, CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, and Co-op Live in Manchester, the U.K.’s only music-first arena, which opened last year. 

Oak View Group is the largest sports and entertainment developer in the world, with 400 arenas, stadiums, performing arts centres, culture institutions and convention centres worldwide under management. OVG has projects underway in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Cardiff, Wales and has committed $5 billion to developments over the next three years.

Click on image for full view of Hamilton's new arena!