Toronto mayor urges Ticats to rethink stand
Published On Fri Aug 13 2010
Vanessa Lu
Staff Reporter
http://www.thestar.com/sports/article/847696--toronto-mayor-urges-ticats-to-rethink-stand
Toronto Mayor David Miller says the Hamilton Tiger-Cats should rethink its decision to walk away from the downtown site for the Pan Am stadium.
“The idea of having stadiums at the intersections of expressways is an idea from the 1970s. It’s totally out of date,” Miller told the Star on Friday. “I hope the Ticats come back to the table.”
Owner Bob Young threw the Ticats’ future into doubt this week when he announced the team would not move to the city’s preferred choice on the west harbour, considered key to Hamilton’s revitalization efforts.
Hamilton city council voted 10-6 for the downtown site, which Mayor Fred Eisenberger had pushed hard, over a spot on the East Mountain, preferred by Young and the team.
The Tiger-Cats play in 80-year-old Ivor Wynne, which needs to be replaced, but Young has threatened to move the CFL franchise to another city.
“The American owner of the Ticats has done wonderful things,” Miller said. “But this is an American idea of where you put a stadium — out in the suburbs at the intersection of highways. It’s not a Canadian idea.”
Miller pointed to the success of BMO Field where the Toronto FC soccer club plays its home games, just a stone’s throw from the waterfront.
“You walk in the Liberty district before and after a TFC game and it’s booming. It’s helped rejuvenate Parkdale,” the mayor said. “That’s what a stadium can do if you put it in the right place.”
Miller said he hopes provincial and Pan Am officials will back the city of Hamilton, which does not know if the stadium can go ahead if there is no permanent tenant after the 2015 Games.
“They have made the right decision,” Miller said, adding the city deserves to host track and field, even though Pan Am officials announced last month amid the stadium wrangling that those events would move elsewhere with Hamilton getting soccer instead.
“Hostco apparently has made preliminary decision to move it. I don’t think it’s right. I think it should have remained with Hamilton,” he added.
Miller argued that part of the goal of hosting the Pan Am Games is to build legacies that can endure long after the Games.
“Rejuvenating Hamilton’s downtown would be an incredible legacy,” he said. “My view is the Tiger Cats should be proud to be part of that.”