New views for the MTS Centre

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/03/2016 (3603 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

AFTER an extensive review, True North is about to make obstructed-view seats at the MTS Centre nothing but a memory.

As much as safety and building codes will allow, that is.

A new “glass project” will be implemented throughout the building, replacing steel mesh and steel posts with seamless glass.

Beginning next week, workers will begin removing the existing steel structures from the base of all access points to the six-month-old loge seating, the new class of 278 seats that caused an uproar at the beginning of the hockey season because it blocked part of the view of the ice for hundreds of fans in the upper bowl.

“We owed a solution for all of the fans in the 300 level,” said Norva Riddell, senior vice-president of sales and marketing at True North. “It was our responsibility to follow through on that.”

True North plans to spend about $8 million before the start of the next hockey season as part of its TN2020 project, which will see nearly $30 million in enhancements throughout the building by 2020. True North spent $12 million on upgrades last year, most notably on a new scoreboard.

The first phase of improving sight lines came last fall when all of the 300-level seats were raised 2.5 inches. Because of the need to address the sight lines so quickly, True North didn’t have the time to raise the armrests at the same time but that is about to be rectified.

Fans who may have noticed the cushioning in their seats is getting a little thin will be happy to hear all of the cushions and seats covers in the lower and upper bowls will be replaced, too.

“We’ll go to a colour that fits our palate now, probably blue,” Riddell said.

“That’s going to be a big deal for all of the games we have in the building now between the Jets and the Moose.”

New bleachers and decking will be installed in the south end lower bowl and higher quality decking will be put in the east and west retractable seating areas. This will affect about 1,500 seats.

A two-year program will also begin this summer to install 350 new television screens, ranging from 42 to 80 inches in size, in the concourse areas and public walkways. They will feature digital menu boards, better game and social-media feeds and event information for upcoming shows at the MTS Centre and the Burton Cummings Theatre.

The capital investment plans come less than two weeks after the Jets achieved a 95 per cent renewal rate for their P1 and P2 season-ticket holders. That’s the third year in a row where virtually every single season ticket holder or group of holders has renewed their seats.

It also means about 200 seats will be made available to people on the wait list.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca