Senators’ VP Chris Phillips says club is studying upgrades to arena

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The Canadian Tire Centre still has a lot of life left in it.

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There’s been a lot of talk about a downtown arena since the Ottawa Senators won preferred bidder status from the National Capital Commission for an events centre at LeBreton Flats in June, 2022 but even if a lease is done in September they won’t leave Kanata immediately.

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The way the Senators are looking at the situation they’ll be at the CTC for the next four-to-five years and with the season ticket campaign already under way owner Michael Andlauer has been making investments in the building to make upgrades.

Senators’ president Cyril Leeder, chief executive officer Erin Crowe, VP of business development Chris Phillips have been studying ways with the club’s front office staff to make changes that will help with the fan experience.

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Talks with the NCC continue every two weeks with an eye towards getting a lease in place in the fall. That’s still the target date and both sides remain optimistic it will get across the finish line.

“This building is 28-years-old, our fan base is supporting us and we have to do our best to support them to give them the best experience possible,” Phillips, who suited up for a franchise record 1,179 games with Ottawa in his NHL career, told Postmedia in an interview Thursday.

“That requires some upgrades, some changes and it also gives us the opportunity to test some things and see what our market thinks of some potential things that we would consider for a new arena.”

As a result, the Senators have been having a lot of internal discussions about ways they can make the arena a better place. In the last couple of months, they’ve improved the rink just by installing LED lighting and last summer they put in a new message board above the 100-level.

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They’ve been throwing out ideas for changes they’ll make in the off-season and Phillips noted that these are some they are looking at. That doesn’t mean they’ll all happen right away, but they are getting consideration:

• The Senators are looking at changing some of the seats in the building because they’re the original ones that were in the building when it opened in Jan., 1996. “We’re looking at upgrading some of those,” Phillips said.
• The club installed a grab-and-go drink market on the 200-level to start this season and the Senators are likely to do a similar style for fans in the 100-level. It’s a popular option because there’s usually no lineups and fans can get through it fairly quickly. “It’s been very well received,” Phillips said.
• He also noted they’re also studying a grab-and-go option with hot food on the 200 level.
• Club CIBC, which was rebranded after the Senators signed a sponsorship agreement with the bank in the fall, will also get a new look in the summer. Phillips said they want to make it feel like more people are welcome there by trying to integrate as part of the concourse on the 100 level. “It’s inclusive for all and we want try to open that up a little bit,” he added. “We want to make that more of an enjoyable experience.”
• The Senators may bring back an ice level bar behind the club’s home goal at the 100 level. They used to a post-game show and called it the Lexus Lounge. It may not happen next season, but Phillips noted the organization is trying to determine a way to better use that space because of its proximity to the rink.
• The club will likely expand the Brookstreet Lounge section to include more seating. It’s located right behind the penalty box and there’s a dinner at Lower Gate 2 before the game. “We’re looking to add to the fan experience, add some seats and there’s already great food offerings,” Phillips said.

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The club needs to do these things because there’s no telling how long they’ll be here and a move won’t happen before the 2020-30 campaign so the Senators can’t just ignore the building in the meantime.

“The mission of everything we do is for people to come in and have a great experience,” Phillips said. “If somebody comes to one game, we want them to come to a second game. We want our season ticket holders to get the value and see that we are re-investing back in the building and the team.

“No matter what level of fan you are or how you often you come to a game we want you to have a great experience. One step at time, we’re just trying to build on that.”

It’s not like the Canadian Tire Centre is falling apart, but some of the changes the club makes will be done with an eye towards using that concept to a new a building.

“The team here behind the scenes had done an amazing job of keeping this building up with improvements, like Club Bell. Things have happened over the years to keep it new and fresh. You see some new seats in some of the areas already,” Phillip said. “There’s slowly been a lot of things happening over the years that we want to continue.”

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

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