New Olympia Stadium A New Arena for the Detroit Red Wings

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Do you like the New Olympia Stadium Concept?

To clarify.....

This concept is not official or professional in anyway, so it has no affiliation with what the Red Wings are working on. These are totally amateur, just meant to convey ideas. I realize they aren't professional grade, but I think they turned out OK for a non-artist/draftsman, so I hope you enjoy them.

Modern Olympia

The goal was to create a larger, improved version of Olympia Stadium, inside and out. This includes a balcony overhanging the lower bowl, steel trusses with the same pitch and design as the original Olympia, but larger. Also, a level of "Wing-Hi" suites and seating on the ends that will feel right above the goal, which the original building also had. This will be a much larger building, with a capacity of just over 20,000 compared to about 15,000 in the original building. But the seating in the upper reaches of the arena will be much better than in other modern arenas. The seating bowl will be more vertical, less horizontal. Improvements would include more luxury seating (80 suites), more access tunnels in the lower bowl, fewer obstructed views (there would still be around 300), and a nice center ice scoreboard.

Old Olympia

This was the interior of the Original Olympia Stadium. About 15,000 seats, with an oval seating bowl. The arena had been expanded in the mid 60's and was well maintained up to its closing. It may have lived a longer life if not for the deterioration of the neighborhood along Grand River Avenue northwest of downtown. The building sat abandoned from 1980 to 1986 until it was torn down.

Arena Specifications

Seated Capacity - 20,434 Lower Bowl - 11,259 Balcony - 6,380 Wing-Hi - 1,675 Suites (80) - 1,020 Press Room- 100 Standing Room - 600

Building Dimensions - 450' x 315' Height from Street Level - 137 ft to peak of roof Total Square Feet - 512,000 (approximate) Concourses - 4 (Main, Club/Suite, Balcony, Wing-Hi)

Olympia Room and Executive Lounge on Club Level Concession Stands - 22 Restrooms - 34

Under the Balcony

With the balcony completely overhanging the lower bowl, support beams will be necessary. Along the sideboards, they are in between individual suites, so there should not be view obstructions there. Behind the end boards, there will be approximately 300 seats with obstructed views. These were not included when figuring building capacity, and seating in these locations need not even be installed. Most of the seating in these back 6 rows will have a good view of the game, though the scoreboard view would be cut off starting 6 rows from the back. Monitors could be installed under the overhang to provide score and replay information for those seated in these areas.

Inside New Olympia

Olympia Complex

The arena (1) would be part of a mixed use development that would include (2) A 9,000 square foot ballroom with a banquet capacity of 450 people. This would be a great venue for mid-sized event and wedding receptions. 3) A 6,000 square foot restaurant with an expansive kitchen and other facilities that would serve both the restaurant and ballroom above. 4) Ice rink that would host Red Wings practices and local youth and recreational hockey. This facility would be connected directly to the team locker rooms at Olympia via a below grade connection between the two buildings. Public locker rooms would also be available on the Woodward Avenue side of the building. 5) A 10-story high-rise at the corner of Elizabeth and Cass. 35-40,000 square feet of retail space would be at street level, on the second floor, and potentially below street level as well. Third and fourth floors would contain about 30,000 square feet of Class A commercial office space. Floors 5-10 would contain 36 residential units, averaging about 700 square feet each.