We may get a roof after all????

[Phil]

I would be comfortable saying out of all the upgrades they talked about, the roof was on the definite 'NO' list. Especially on the south end.

[OgtheDim]

Between this article and the picture tweeted by mayor Ford of Winnipeg's stadium...we might actually get something nice for a change. ...

Rob was the only councillor to vote against the BMO deal. He's angling for a football specific stadium.

He would support MLSE putting money into BMO, but not city money.

[billyfly]

When I asked for a roof he laughed. However he was pretty intent on maybe filling in the corners with seats and getting the concourses fixed up. I told him most have to choose to either go to the washroom, or get food / a drink - you only have time for one thing.

He had a tough time with how busy it was in there.

And you didn't mention my gate?!

Unbelievable.

[Ultra & Proud]

I don't see the big deal with filling in the corners really especially with more seats when we can't fill what we have. I could see them putting in the Wifi thing and making a proper bar or whatever under the north stand like they have in KC. Getting it winterized and putting in more washrooms and bank machines are no brainers. I remember years ago (2008 or 2009) talking to someone TFC related who said they discussed ditching the shitting iron bars around the stadium for a brick wall. Toss some proper gates on that and that'd be a good look.

[ryan]

We aren't getting a roof. We're getting more words. TFC loves giving us words, they've been doing it for years.

[Joe Kool]

They should use their survey tool to ask people but I think they know the answer so why bother. I bet they could actually get people to vote 100% in favour of a roof....but alas just a dream I guess. Winterizing the place and better washrooms would be my realistic vote I guess. Would be nice to have warm water in there to wash your hands in early April instead of just cold. Bank machines I don't get...BMO has a temporary setup of the ABM machines for the season but they could put alot better infrastructure and more machines in there if they wanted to considering they make more on game day in service charges than some regular machines do in a month. I have heard the figure before but don't recall exactly. No reason not to do it.

[Haddy]

How about something really simple and cheap...

Enough hot chocolate, tea and coffee to meet demand on cold days. 7 years in 119 and I've had ONE hot chocolate. They are always sold out. Drives me bananas.

[brad]

I suspect if a roof ever did come (and it won't), it would be over the expensive seats to make the game more comfortable for the people paying the most money.

[Marc"2L"]

I would be comfortable saying out of all the upgrades they talked about, the roof was on the definite 'NO' list. Especially on the south end.

Maybe he laughed at it because its the clubs secret fall back "No Playoffs and at the bottom" plan. So he was hoping they didn't have to pull the trigger on it.

[Ryan1984]

They should looking at expanding the field size to allow for CFL football

[ag futbol]

Cities and and levels of government don't invest in these structures just to lose money. The governments makes their money back pretty quickly, if it be income taxes, property taxes, taxes on event tickets, beer, concessions.

It's the choice between paying a construction worker lets say $1500~ a month to sit at home and collect EI, or pay him $3000+ a month to build a structure that will support more employment (income tax), to host more events (tax on tickets, concessions and liquor).
More employment is overall a good thing.

That being said, for the reasons above I can't see the gov pouring money into renovating a stadium that's 7? years old. Unless of course some of the new attendee's are screaming "Arrrrgoooosss"

Look what I started :P

There is an absolute ton of empirical evidence out there showing you don't get the economic benefits the sports teams would like you to believe. There are a group of researchers / paid lobbyists out there that try to spin their yarn for every Olympics / world cup / NFL stadium / whatever. They're always caught ex-post being too optimistic and then back-peddle with talk of intangible benefits and things that can't be quantified. The true academics have so much mud and hard evidence behind their argument the other side is loathe to even acknowledge their existence.

Anyway, even if you want to argue about jobs etc there are alternate theories and better places to spend money. Public infrastructure has a much better payback and if you don't spend that money "in theory" you could say that money is more effectively allocated by individuals / private sector as opposed to taxed and redistributed by government.

[Richard]

I would be comfortable saying out of all the upgrades they talked about, the roof was on the definite 'NO' list. Especially on the south end.

Was there a reason?

[Mark in Ottawa]

After all this franchise has promised over the years and what it has actually delivered ...
I'll believe it when I see it.

[Couchy81]

upgrade the stadium all you want if the team still sucks it will still be empty. bmo will be back to its old sold out self if we make the playoffs even without an upgrade.

[Dave67]

Two pages in less than 8 hours on a fairly quiet message board. Yep, this distraction will work. I would move all of the vendors that are currently against the gate [fence] in the East stand physically out to the other side of the gate but with the actual counter top just inside BMO. The unopened gates are already there so I think this is doable. This would widen the East stand concourse by about 8 feet and should not cost very much at all. I'm sure licensing would need to change. They would only need to protect the vending staff from the elements as the entire East stand concourse would not be enlarged.

[Doucet3]

Fill the corners I think is the most realistic one along with bigger concourse and more washroom. I'd be really happy with these three atleast, that means north section get re built to have same slope degree as east and west stands, and south side extended up more ?

[ensco]

I actually respect Leiweke for his honesty on this. It's refreshing.

Over the years, we have had a belly full of drivel from both Anselmi and Beirne about the charms of this high-school-football-meccano-set stadium.

The supporters don't care, except for the roof issue, but that's a tiny fraction of the fans. For the majority, BMO is something to be endured. A reason not to come. It's horrible. For those who say, so what, it's ours, I know, I feel that way too. But that's not the objective reality for most people.

For a long time, many felt we should just be grateful. Which I understood, even if I didn't agree (BBTB, wherever you are, how I remember those debates!). But I think we can all agree that the statute of limitations on whatever gratitude should be felt has now passed.

I nearly cried when I went to Chicago and saw Toyota Park. I felt like Oliver Twist, who had been grateful for his morning gruel until he actually saw what most kids get for breakfast.

[glaze]

As stated by others its all smoke and mirrors. Unless MLSE transfers some players and has to use the money for stadium improvements I dont think it will happen. And I think a championship season is more likely to come before a roof.
Right now BMO is underutilized. It can't be used for anything other than soccer, or the occasional rugby match. They tried a concert there first year and never attempted one again.
The argos can't come in, though they'd love to. Where is the return on investment for stadium improvements?
Their first priority should be to winterize BMO, so that they don't have the hassle of opening the season in the Dome from now on.
Secondly, listen to the fans and make minor low-cost changes that improve the game day experience.
Thing is, all stadiums I've been to, when full, have jammed concourses and long concession lines. That said, the bank machine lines are comical, considering this is BMO field.
They also have to look outside the stadium. Public transit is a hassle. Some express busses from Bathurst or Dufferin would help. A new pedestrian crossing at the go station would make a huge difference too.
TL has been talking a lot this past week. I'll admit its nice hearing someone with a different take. But this is MLSE. I'll believe it when I see it.

[jazzy]

^ Looks ok, not particularly spectacular by today's standards.

On a non-soccer related note, I have no problem with the city holding back money. Public funds being plowed into sports stadiums doesn't really sit well with me.

yes I understand your point,.... but, respectfully, as far as tax dollars go it is a huge bang for your buck , giving a lot of not so RICH Torontonians some hard earned pleasure. I mean lets face it someone always has their hand in the trough and it is usually the wealthy and high priced civil servants 'pet' projects.....so a little for the working munions isn't so bad...esp after 'skydome'...............Iam a bit tired in this so unprogressive city of the old world thinking that no vision is the most cost efficient way to prosper . Spending $$$ in many ways creates wealth and/or healthy progressive environments into which to grow. Proof/... the slug like non-vision of our transit. If it had been done 20 years ago as it should have been , before the I don't want to spend crowd took hold , (but always cashed in their large pay cheques, btw) we'd have a paid for system , now....instead of looking tommorow at a nightmare billion dollar bill for essentially nothing......One has to have vision...you are either going backward or forward......

[jazzy]

I might be mistaken, but since it is on exhibition grounds, I believe it must be owned by the city. I don't believe MLSE was allowed to build there without the cities hand being in it.

isn't it a 100 year lease?

[Phil]

Was there a reason?

A guess....very poor return on investment. Any money spent either increasing the seats or encouraging sales: more washrooms, better concourse = more business. When you look at our record over the years, very few games actually are called due to weather. Although it could be argued covered seats would equal more people in the stands for longer, it wouldn't be something easily measurable and really for that 'out of the box' stadium there wasn't an engineered roof option for the type of winds we get.

[OgtheDim]

So the whole idea of a roof creating the acoustic presence that would bring a wall of sound (of sorts), and thus creating atmosphere that people would come out to be a part of, is not something he is familiar with.

Hopefully his scouts point out this about KC.

Put a few thousand people under a roof, have them sing, and people will sit in the North End just to hear that while watching the game.


Roofs are not about weather.

[Gilberto9]

I'm more concerned about the roof because of the atmosphere it is going to generate!

[Fort York Redcoat]

So the whole idea of a roof creating the acoustic presence that would bring a wall of sound (of sorts), and thus creating atmosphere that people would come out to be a part of, is not something he is familiar with.

Hopefully his scouts point out this about KC.

Put a few thousand people under a roof, have them sing, and people will sit in the North End just to hear that while watching the game.


Roofs are not about weather.

Let's remember that's not automatic...

[Canary10]

I actually respect Leiweke for his honesty on this. It's refreshing.

Over the years, we have had a belly full of drivel from both Anselmi and Beirne about the charms of this high-school-football-meccano-set stadium.

The supporters don't care, except for the roof issue, but that's a tiny fraction of the fans. For the majority, BMO is something to be endured. A reason not to come. It's horrible. For those who say, so what, it's ours, I know, I feel that way too. But that's not the objective reality for most people.

For a long time, many felt we should just be grateful. Which I understood, even if I didn't agree (BBTB, wherever you are, how I remember those debates!). But I think we can all agree that the statute of limitations on whatever gratitude should be felt has now passed.

I nearly cried when I went to Chicago and saw Toyota Park. I felt like Oliver Twist, who had been grateful for his morning gruel until he actually saw what most kids get for breakfast.

I agree. I went to a New York Red Bulls friendly against Tottenham last year at Red Bull Arena and that stadium makes you feel like you're at a big time, real football stadium. The stadium itself is an experience. BMO on the other hand makes you feel like you're back at your old youth pitch. If the stadium doesn't invoke a professional, big time feeling, the fans will think the whole team is mickey mouse.

[Super]

Roof should be #1 priority - and should be ANY supporters #1 wish as well.

Then FINALLY we may be able to hear the south end from anywhere in the stadium. Right now you can hardly hear in 112 what they're singing in 111 or 113. It's embarrassing.

[Canary10]

Roof should be #1 priority - and should be ANY supporters #1 wish as well.

Then FINALLY we may be able to hear the south end from anywhere in the stadium. Right now you can hardly hear in 112 what they're singing in 111 or 113. It's embarrassing.

Yup, that would be awesome. A roof should be priority number one if they want a gameday experience like KC's.

They should host some sort of brainstorming session with local architects and see what interesting stuff they could come up with to put in a roof.

[Haddy]

Roof should be #1 priority - and should be ANY supporters #1 wish as well.

Then FINALLY we may be able to hear the south end from anywhere in the stadium. Right now you can hardly hear in 112 what they're singing in 111 or 113. It's embarrassing.

I'm a big fan of a roof. But I will say one thing, a more entertaining product on the field will certainly help return the decibel level to past heights.

Question: Are there no bathrooms at the north end?? I only leave through that gate. But I've never seen one. Just wondering.

[gdg_9]

roof should be #1 priority - and should be any supporters #1 wish as well.

Then finally we may be able to hear the south end from anywhere in the stadium. Right now you can hardly hear in 112 what they're singing in 111 or 113. It's embarrassing.

++++ this

[Super]

I'm a big fan of a roof. But I will say one thing, a more entertaining product on the field will certainly help return the decibel level to past heights.

Question: Are there no bathrooms at the north end?? I only leave through that gate. But I've never seen one. Just wondering.

Past heights multiplied by 10 if we have a roof. Imagine how crazy loud that would be. BMO would become an insane experience - and that'll certainly bring back the crowd, and quicker than a DP ever could. However, it's important that the roof is not just any roof. It has to be built with the atmosphere in mind. That's smart. Let's hope TFC under Leiweke is smarter as well.