Is it time for a new Portland arena?

And we should take some tips from Boston, how to squeeze things in and make it all more fun and exciting (Citizen M and CarGurus buildings). My favorite plaza now--over the freeway!

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TC_zoid said:
Exactly. Don't reinvent the wheel. It's already there.
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The area of Free Street is kind of a "Dead Zone" anyway.

Spring Street is more of a pedestrian walking corridor toward the Old Port, plus parking and traffic.

I can see how leaving this all where it is ... RATHER ... than creating potential dead zones in the middle of the city on Congress Street might be better. Then leave Top of the Old Port for some 30+ story towers (in my dreams).
 
So, the question is, does building a convention center separate and then skywalk it from One Portland sq site makes better sense-Option A? Option B-tear down the CIA after spending 30 million dollars? build a brand-new complex in its place? Option C-Build a complex at the Top of the Old Port, Convention-Arena, parking underground, extend the convention facility over the arterial, traffic diverted under the convention center utilizing the center strip which would allow Congress and Cumberland to be a more of a pedestrian friendly street to the hill? Option D- build at Tompsons Point. Option E- build on the land in Bayside-Midtown, or Option F build on land East Bayside (Play it again Sports, etc, Breweries) utilize the breweries in the area
 
PWMFlyer said:
So, the question is, does building a convention center separate and then skywalk it from One Portland sq site makes better sense-Option A? Option B-tear down the CIA after spending 30 million dollars? build a brand-new complex in its place? Option C-Build a complex at the Top of the Old Port, Convention-Arena, parking underground, extend the convention facility over the arterial, traffic diverted under the convention center utilizing the center strip which would allow Congress and Cumberland to be a more of a pedestrian friendly street to the hill? Option D- build at Tompsons Point. Option E- build on the land in Bayside-Midtown, or Option F build on land East Bayside (Play it again Sports, etc, Breweries) utilize the breweries in the area
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Good questions - esp if Franlkin is revitalized - then something like the Boston photograph could be built over the arterial.

I think keeping it on the Peninsula would probably be best??
 
Don’t worry @DanielPWM19 you aren’t the only one…😉😂
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All developable lots in Portland… and I hear/see comments all the time saying Portland has no more space for development LOL
ps this map is always updating with more lots the more I look!
 
The concert capacity for the Cross Insurance Arena is very outdated and the 9500 figure was for general admission without floor seats which is not an option anymore due to safety. The actual max capacity with floor seats utilizing the "in the round" configuration is around 8300. Allentown is also the third largest city in Pennsylvania and its MSA population ranks 66th in the country with 886K (+2.85%) and Greater Portland is 103rd with 571K (+3.59%) using just released 2024 estimates.

The other Northern New England MSA (2024) figures: #129 Manchester-Nashua 430K, #209 Burlington-South Burlington 229K, #276 Bangor 157K, #338 Lewiston-Auburn 115K
 
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One of the complaints that came from holding the AHL all star game was lack of media boxes. The renovation did not address this. There is no elevator to that level also. The loading docks are a disgrace, which is partially the Citys fault in design. The planning dept pushed for brick sidewalks and they had to be ada compliant, which does not work for backing a trailer in at an angle. Several trucks have lost their truck doors due to the poor design of the loading area. The CIA has a bad reputation now due to this. Depending on truck companies, Stage Call, Truck N Roll, (Disney-They use contractors), Upstaging, and Cirque, and the act, we get 2-18 trailers a gig. its all about the load in and out to a promoter.
 
I did hear a rumor several months ago that the new owner of the Mariners wants to build a practice facility closer to I-95, either Rock Row area or mall area.

That facility would potentially open up the opportunity to tear down the civic center and rebuild. The Mariners could spend a few years spreading their home games between a potential small arena with that rumored practice facility, as well as some of the other larger rinks in the state like the Colisee (2,600 capacity), Alfond (5,700 capacity), Watson Arena at Bowdoin (1,900 capacity), Kelley Rink at Colby (capacity 1,800 capacity), or USM Ice Arena (1,000 capacity). Challenge with the Bowdoin and USM rinks is that they're both full Olympic sheets. Not sure if that's allowed in the ECHL.
 
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mainejeff said:
Regional host Penn State is 165 miles from Allentown.
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I would imagine that Penn State athletics play a much larger part in Pennsylvania's cultural psyche than Orono's do in ours.

Also, and probably far more telling, I just checked and Allentown is 1:15 from Philadelphia. (And that was driving time to the actual arena from Independence Hall.)
 
Lancaster, Reading, Wilkes Barre, Scranton and Trenton, NJ are also within 70 miles of Allentown which are respectable sized cities in their own right.
 
mainejeff said:
Regional host Penn State is 165 miles from Allentown.
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It's probably the closest comp. for Portland/UMaine in this discussion (state school hosting a tournament in another city well over 100 miles away), but it's still an outlier and there other pretty significant considerations for why it likely wouldn't happen in Maine:
  • Allentown is a larger city/metro on its own
  • Allentown is close enough to draw from Philly as well as several small cities in Pennsylvania and NJ. It's not too far from the NYC metro either.
  • The PPL center is larger than CIA
  • The PPL is relatively new and modern
  • Penn State is a larger school with a larger alumni network
  • Penn State has a much larger endowment than UMaine
 
Providence is perhaps the best location for an NCAA tourney in New England. One hour from Boston and 3 from NYC along Interstate 95. Also, home to 4 prominent colleges and a basketball venue that seats 12,000.
 
PWMFlyer, your list of future cities and venues does show one site that is a little puzzling. Fargo (113K) is technically a larger city than Portland (70K) but its metropolitan count is less than half of greater Portland. Also, the Scheels Arena only has a hockey capacity of 5000 which is 1500 less than the Cross Insurance Arena but is 28 years newer. I do know that the passion for hockey at the University of North Dakota is equivalent if not higher than it is at UMaine so maybe a new 10000 seat arena could earn Portland a future host spot in the hockey regionals. And even though the SNHU Arena in Manchester is larger and newer I have a feeling that the participating colleges and their fan bases would prefer to spend a week in Portland at a smaller venue. :)
 
The fact that Fargo shows up in 3 of the 4 listings - even alongside Sioux Falls in one instance - makes me believe they're bringing something special to the table. Or, maybe it's just super economical to have it there.

(Personally, I am more perturbed that Union is the host college in Albany rather than RPI! Let's Go Red!)
 
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