Bmo Field Expansion

[Still Kicking]

And GO two way service to the KW corridor - including Brampton = 15 years, so far from soon....

[OgtheDim]

Oh, that brings up a point I saw on Steve Munro's site for TTC watchers the other week:


Service on the Union Streetcar to the Ex won't be ready until August at the earliest.


This is, apparently, an issue with Waterfront Toronto coordinating everything, not the TTC getting their bit done.

[billyfly]

I was watching "Take this Waltz" this weekend. It was filmed in Toronto.

You could spot it was Toronto a mile away. For all its warts, I love my City.

[billyfly]

My Toronto

[Whoop]

Sorry I was confused earlier. Also I have thought more about telescoping bleachers, I am not reflexively not buying that idea, I just don't know on that one.

The kind where entire sections move forward, back, sideways, like in London and Paris, I stand by the view that they will not work in Toronto in the long run, because of the cost associated with frequency of use, and the weather.

The telescoping kind, like you see in high school gyms everywhere, those could maybe work, but I am less sure of the weather/engineering challenges there. They are clearly lesser. I also don't think they can be big/high enough to come close to replacing the existing south stand. But maybe that is OK, I could live with it personally.

Although if they do that, others need to consider whether the new south end experience (jumping up and down on moveable bleachers) could leave some people unhappy. It might be a worthwhile tradeoff if you have a roof. Not sure.

Re: telescoping stands

You touched on it partially.

If those are used in the north and south ends at what point won't they telescope anymore? I mean I figure people will be jumping up and down that over time things get bent/damaged that they won't telescope properly. Or can they withstand all that punishment?

[Whoop]

Re: SkyDome

When it opened it was a great marvel. People went down just to see the Dome and hopefully see it open and close. Luckily it also coincided with the rise of the Jays of the late 80s early 90s.

But then it was revealed to be a financial mess and then Camden Yards opened in Baltimore in the early 90s and boomers started feeling nostalgic for the ballparks of old and the Dome became this concrete abyss.

Also didn't help that following the Jays run there was the strike of '94 and then the team going into the hands of InterBrew.

It's almost like it just built at the slightly wrong time.

[ensco]

Re: SkyDome

When it opened it was a great marvel. People went down just to see the Dome and hopefully see it open and close. Luckily it also coincided with the rise of the Jays of the late 80s early 90s.

But then it was revealed to be a financial mess and then Camden Yards opened in Baltimore in the early 90s and boomers started feeling nostalgic for the ballparks of old and the Dome became this concrete abyss.

Also didn't help that following the Jays run there was the strike of '94 and then the team going into the hands of InterBrew.

It's almost like it just built at the slightly wrong time.

The 1982 Grey Cup was a big part of why people were excited for Skydome. I was there, conditions were worse than at any TFC game to date.

3 degrees, 40 km winds off the lake, and freezing rain. I thought I was going to die out there.

All the Forest Hill/Rosedale luminaries (see a trend here?) who froze their butts at that game got behind the Dome proposal straightaway after that.

[Whoop]

No question.

[jazzy]

They actually conceded pretty early on the downtown section (the complexities around building an expressway on Spadina itself were too great) so it was Forest Hill and the Annex against the suburban developers in the ultimate fight. The "compromise" was that it was going to run down the Forest Hill ravine and end nowhere (ie at at Dupont and Davenport).

That was the greatest civic battle this city has ever seen. They were going to build it, the money and approvals were in place. A lot of real estate developers were behind it.

The money went instead into the Spadina subway, which was a poorly thought through solution, the population clusters were/are on Bathurst and Bayview. The poor placement of the Spadina line is why we desperately need the new relief line now. (the key the understanding the Spadina line is that it goes to Yorkdale, if you are wondering why, see explanation for point above)

Anyone who thinks the Spadina Expressway should have been built must hate this city.

but a tunnel would have been nice.....along hydro right of ways

[james]

They should be on the GO Train. Which should be a proper, high capacity commuter train system, not the joke that it is.

I lived in New York for 10 years. There is a Metro North every 6 minutes in rush hour.

Boston, Chicago, San Francisco also all have much better commuter rail setups than we do.

There is still no commuter train between Toronto and Kitchener/Waterloo, one of the most important commutable city pairs in Canada. (London and Oxford, where the UK's tech centers are, are an hour apart and there are trains every 10 minutes.)

It is a farce. The GTA has been systematically starved by the province and the feds.

I lived in London for a bit. And the transit was great. Underground system is massive, the over ground system is massive and those that think Light Rail Trains are just like a street car you can be very mistaken. A big part of the South East Underground map is actually a light rail line that works fast, doe's not touch the street traffic, they are very close to what a subway is really, just smaller. I could get to places like Brighton or Birmingham every 10 minutes even tho they are 2 hours drive away. I even got a train to a small place called cheltenham every 15 minutes. Its crazy to think we can barely even get to Hamilton from Union.

[james]

Can't believe they're only now getting serious about a downtown relief line when this proposal was first made back in the early 80s.

The origianl subway plan was to include a relief line, that was before construction even started in 1950.

[Carts]

The origianl subway plan was to include a relief line, that was before construction even started in 1950.

Based on Toronto politics, we're right on track for it to be built in..........say 36-years from now...???

[james]

They actually conceded pretty early on the downtown section (the complexities around building an expressway on Spadina itself were too great) so it was Forest Hill and the Annex against the suburban developers in the ultimate fight. The "compromise" was that it was going to run down the Forest Hill ravine and end nowhere (ie at at Dupont and Davenport).

That was the greatest civic battle this city has ever seen. They were going to build it, the money and approvals were in place. A lot of real estate developers were behind it.

The money went instead into the Spadina subway, which was a poorly thought through solution, the population clusters were/are on Bathurst and Bayview. The poor placement of the Spadina line is why we desperately need the new relief line now. (the key the understanding the Spadina line is that it goes to Yorkdale, if you are wondering why, see explanation for point above)

Anyone who thinks the Spadina Expressway should have been built must hate this city.

It would of ruined this city I think. It would of been more like some American cities where neighbourhoods feel disconnected from the communities caused by big Highways ripping right through the middle and it makes it less attractive for people walking and living in the area. I bet Rob Ford would of loved the highway tho. Hes all about driving cars and wider roads, he hates walkers and bikers. lol

[ensco]

My Toronto

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3O4OAnZvXqI

[billyfly]

^Loved that show. they should start it up again.

[Petor]

Photos, Toronto 80's

http://www.blogto.com/city/2014/03/a_1980s_toronto_photo_extravaganza/

[Kaz]

For those hoping for a Train from KW to Toronto.. I take a bus it is 35-45 minutes from Brampton every 30 minutes or so. I hang out for a few hours to avoid the train. It is slow as shit. It takes me a good 45-80 minutes to get to Brampton by Train.. and it regularly just stops. Without significant upgrades to the tracks I don't see it. When I moved to this horrid city I picked my exact location for the amenities. (Though Port Credit would have been better in hind sight I had no way to know)

The worse thing this Provience did was dismantle the train tracks

[Areathrasher]

Don Peat ‏@reporterdonpeat3 minsCity being asked for $10 million for $120 million BMO Field expansion ($10 million from province & $10 million feds as well) #TOpoli

Interesting...

[Areathrasher]

If you dont want the argos at bmo start emailing your local political reps and tell them you don't want any tax payer money going to this.

Start making some noise.

[Fort York Redcoat]

If you dont want the argos at bmo start emailing your local political reps and tell them you don't want any tax payer money going to this.

Start making some noise.

And how can people find out who their rep is if they are interested?

[lanarkist]

And how can people find out who their rep is if they are interested?

http://app.toronto.ca/wards/jsp/wards.jsp

[Areathrasher]

And how can people find out who their rep is if they are interested?

List of federal MPs here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Toronto

Provincial http://ontla.on.ca/web/members/membe...e=QP&locale=en

I emailed local, provincial and federal as they are looking for money from all 3.

If you are in High Park/Parkdale area here are your 3.

Peggy.Nash@parl.gc.ca,
councillor_doucette@toronto.ca,
dinovoc-qp@ndp.on.ca

[GabrielHurl]

There it is in black and white

Expansion of the permanent seating capacity at the BMO Field stadium at Exhibition Place (the “Stadium”) to 30,000 (and allow for an additional 10,000 in temporary seating capacity) to enable the Stadium to be the home stadium of the Toronto Argonaut Football Club (the “Toronto Argonauts” or the “Club”);

MLSEL will take on the role of construction manager and will bear the risk of construction cost over-runs including all environmental remediation costs.

[Red CB Toronto]

Bez was on TSN radio tonight, talking about the expansion. The more I think about this, the more I like it.

http://blogs.canoe.ca/reds/

[Kaz]

I hate the Argos they are friggin' blight.

[jazzy]

Apparently there good odds that there may not be a CFL season as players and mgmt can't come to an agreement on $$$ players pay.......and residuals.

[ensco]

Bez was on TSN radio tonight, talking about the expansion. The more I think about this, the more I like it.

http://blogs.canoe.ca/reds/

I don't know if Bez made sense on the radio, but in that article it's like he was trying to not make sense.

Since when do bigger stadiums correlate with better atmosphere?

The idea that the 30-40K seats are for TFC is a joke, and I'm starting to not appreciate being treated like a moron.

[tfcocd]

Bez was on TSN radio tonight, talking about the expansion. The more I think about this, the more I like it.

http://blogs.canoe.ca/reds/

If BMO was under construction and TFC needed to play somewhere else are there any Pan Am stadia that would work as a temporary home? As an example would it be better to play in hamilton (brand new artificial turf/ hybrid grass?) as opposed to playing in sky dome? Half empty sky dome vs 2/3 full in the hammer?

[ensco]

I'm starting to see red about the nonsense we are being fed. They are not being straight with TFC fans.

Also I don't care what they say, or what they promise, or what's in writing, this facility will have fieldturf. Football and soccer cannot coexist on grass (or dessomaster or whatever) particularly in this climate. For those who don't know, read up on the bait and switch that happened re grass and fieldturf in Seattle.

This stupid outdoor hockey fad, which will run it's course in three years, will cause us to be co-tenants (and probably minority tenants) in a fieldturf facility until the end of time.

[Red CB Toronto]

I don't know if Bez made sense on the radio, but in that article it's like he was trying to not make sense.

Since when do bigger stadiums correlate with better atmosphere?

The idea that the 30-40K seats are for TFC is a joke, and I'm starting to not appreciate being treated like a moron.

After thinking about it more, I think to myself, my excitement is more about the roof. I appreciate that people in the south end have loved some of the rain games, but for the rest of the stadium, it is absolutely dreadful. All you have to see if the massive running for the exits not to return, regardless of how much time is left.