East Side Club on Flickr.
New Uses for 2 Former Hockey Palaces
I’m not sure how I feel about this, but 2 of the legendary venues in professional hockey are now being used for something very different.
Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto is now a grocery store. A very nice grocery store, apparently, but a grocery store all the same. The center ice face-off dot is now in the Spam isle. I’ve stayed in the hotel next door to the Gardens a couple of times and that neighborhood, like many urban neighborhoods, was in need of a full-service grocery. The last time I was there, almost 5 years ago, the building was standing empty, so it’s nice to see the building being reused rather than torn down for brand spanking new luxury condos.
The Montreal Forum is now a shopping mall and 22 screen movie theater. Again, this is probably a better outcome than tearing down a legendary nearly 90 year old building that was home to 22 Stanley Cup championship teams. Is that how they decided how many movie screens to install?
In these days when most stadiums and arenas are paid for with public money, it’s good to see at least some of them being given a new life after the billionaires and millionaires that run professional sports teams decide they’re not good enough anymore.
Photos: blogTO and Big Swede Guy
20120128-Bookless_at_Night-136.jpg by madisonpubliclibrary on Flickr.
Bookless at the Madison Public Library
