B.C. tenants evicted for landlord's use after refusing large rent increase to take over neighbouring suite
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
The design meetings have been going on for years. Technology has evolved throughout the process. Painstaking decisions were made time and time again, right down to what an inch or two difference in leg room between rows would mean or where cupholders should be affixed to the seats.
Finally, Steve Ballmer and the Los Angeles Clippers are ready to build their new home.
The Clippers' long-awaited, US$1.8 billion, privately funded arena officially got a name Friday -- Intuit Dome, it'll be called when it opens in 2024, the team making that announcement on the day of the formal groundbreaking ceremony. The practice facility, team offices for both business and basketball operations, retail space and more will all be on the site.
Ballmer, the team's owner, simply believes it'll be like no other building in the NBA.
"Basketball mecca! Basketball palazzo!" Ballmer, in his usual excitable way, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
He might be right.
Every detail -- from the huge halo video screen that will hover over the court, to how the bathrooms will be designed to get fans back in their seats as quickly as possible -- has a purpose. The halo will include 44,000 square feet of LED lighting, slightly more than one full acre and roughly six times the average size of other "big" screens in NBA buildings. The roof of the dome was designed to accommodate the halo, not the other way around.
Things the Clippers have seen in play at German soccer stadiums, other NBA buildings, NFL stadiums, even the Amazon Go checkout-free convenience stores all sparked various ideas that will be put into play at Intuit Dome.
"I had a lot of my own opinions ... and most of the things had some inspiration that came from someplace else," Ballmer said.
The Clippers currently play at Staples Center, also the home of the Los Angeles Lakers and the NHL's Los Angeles Kings. Ballmer began plotting a Clippers-only home years ago and formally unveiled the project in 2019, saying then that the Clippers would break ground in 2021 and open in 2024.
So far, even with a pandemic and following some legal challenges, he's right on schedule.
"When we started the questions were 'Do you want it to be the best for sponsors? Do you want it to be the best for musicians? Do you want it to be the best for fans? And if you want it to be the best for fans, then for the fancy seats or the fans in the back?"' Clippers President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker said. "And he said, 'yes.' That's what this place is all about."
Technology will be everywhere, such as some that would allow fans to leave their seat, walk to a concession stand in the concourse, grab a beverage or snack and then -- if they do as Ballmer hopes -- get right back to their seat. There would be no cashier, nobody to take the order, and the customer's account would be charged automatically. Other than the paying-for-it part, it would be akin to opening the refrigerator at home, getting a drink and going back to the couch.
Even the best suites won't have big televisions. The reason is simple: Ballmer wants fans watching the game from their seat and being part of a home-court advantage.
"It's about the game of basketball ... and we're trying to get you back in your seat as quickly as we can," Ballmer said.
He wants them comfortable in those seats, too. The leg room -- which will be a constant throughout the arena, from the lowest rows all the way to the very top -- is going to far exceed the standard in most buildings.
"We treated like the upper bowl like the lower bowl," Ballmer said. "Nobody gets a bad seat, no matter where you sit in the building."
His favourite feature: It'll be known as The Wall.
Beyond the end of the court where Clippers' opponents will have their bench will be 51 uninterrupted rows of seats, room for about 4,700 fans, with a standing-room-only section in the middle of it all. There's no upper or lower deck there, just row after row after row of what Ballmer hopes is a bunch of fans that, well, act like he does during games.
Again, it was designed with a purpose. Acoustics experts were brought in to ensure that The Wall generates as much sound as possible.
"I mean, if we've got to do it right, we've got to get the fans there activated," Ballmer said.
Put simply, one of the league's best-known fans, and one of the world's wealthiest men -- the former Microsoft CEO is generally believed to be worth around $100 billion -- may be building the coolest possible basketball hangout for himself and 18,000 of his closest friends.
"That's a very well-put statement," Ballmer said.
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
As Donald Trump was running for president in 2016, his old friend at the National Enquirer was scooping up potentially damaging stories about the candidate and paying out tens of thousands of dollars to keep them from the public eye.
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would still send Canada Carbon Rebate cheques to Saskatchewan residents, despite Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas or home heating, questions were raised about whether other provinces would follow suit. CTV News reached out across the country and here's what we found out.
A Montreal actress, who has previously detailed incidents she had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, says a New York Court of Appeals decision overturning his 2020 rape conviction is 'discouraging' but not surprising.
Caleb Williams is heading to the Windy City, aiming to become the franchise quarterback Chicago has sought for decades.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.