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Facilities

Red Wings finding some new uses for old shipping containers

Don Muret
The Detroit Red Wings have found a productive use for shipping containers that played a part in their arena groundbreaking ceremony.

Olympia Development, the real estate arm of Red Wings owner Ilitch Holdings, bought 52 of the large containers from a foodservice distributor to help form the vision for The District Detroit, the massive mixed-use development tied to the club’s $450 million arena project. The containers were decorated with screens featuring renderings of the development, and many were arranged in an arena-shaped ring around the event last month.

The containers sported graphics at the Detroit arena groundbreaking. .
Photo by: OLYMPIA DEVELOPMENT OF MICHIGAN
With the ceremony complete, many containers will be converted to pop-up retail, office and entertainment spaces revolving around The District Detroit, the proposed $200 million sports and entertainment destination encompassing almost 50 city blocks in downtown and midtown Detroit. The area would include not only the Red Wings’ new arena but also Comerica Park and Ford Field.
 
The idea is to create scale and a sense of place in the five distinct neighborhoods making up the district, Ilitch Holdings spokesman Doug Kuiper said.

The containers will now help mold future events such as Red Wings block parties, ice skating, public art displays and other groundbreakings within the district.

“As we start to fill in these spaces, we can bring in some of the retailers instead of waiting for the whole project to be completed,” Kuiper said. “What we realized is this gives us a chance to invest in additional projects and not just use these containers once.”

For the groundbreaking, Olympia Development teamed with Charlotte-based Boxman Studios, which specializes in the design and fabrication of shipping containers for events, some in sports. The firm also serves as project manager to ensure the structures are safe as part of the permitting process, said Brandy Mills, Boxman’s director of business development.
 
The containers vary in size and weigh two to four tons when empty. As a result, the bulky units are often a “daunting media to work in,” Mills said.

In addition to Boxman Studios, Detroit advertising agencies Lowe Campbell Ewald and Gyro Creative Group, developer Street-Works Development and sports builders Barton Malow and Hunt Construction worked on the containers project for the groundbreaking.

> TEAM TORONTO: Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment has invested $1.5 million to rebuild the team store at Air Canada Centre.

The 3,000-square-foot space on the main concourse has been renamed Real Sports Apparel, a brand owned by MLSE, said Bob Hunter, the group’s chief facilities and live entertainment officer.

The adjustments come after SportChek, Canada’s largest sporting goods retailer, took over the old Real Sports retail space at Maple Leaf Square, the retail and entertainment district next to the arena, Hunter said.
 
MLSE ran the 8,500-square-foot retail portion for three years before signing a deal with SportChek to assume its operations.

In turn, MLSE moved the Real Sports brand inside the arena as part of renovating the team store.

“They wanted to take over that [outside] space and we were not keen on giving it up,” Hunter said. “But as part owner in the complex, we still participate in [the revenue] of the commercial piece.”

The revamped arena store has shelving that quickly flips 180 degrees between Leafs and Raptors apparel depending on which team is playing that night, he said. Those conversions now take 15 minutes, compared with four hours under the old manual system.

The system is similar to MetLife Stadium’s team store, operated by Delaware North Sportservice.

Don Muret can be reached at dmuret@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @breakground.

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