Automation Gallery
Superstar
I would assume for a CFL stadium they would gobble the land south to Liberty street
It sure wouldn't hurt having the BMO, Ricoh, and a new Lamport Stadium all in that vicinity
- Thread starter unimaginative2
- Start date
I would assume for a CFL stadium they would gobble the land south to Liberty street
It sure wouldn't hurt having the BMO, Ricoh, and a new Lamport Stadium all in that vicinity
MisterF
Senior Member
True, but those renovations were full of compromises and arguably made the stadium worse for football. The south stands, which were right next to the field (apart from the track), were replaced with stands in the shape of a baseball diamond. They were farther away from the football field and at an odd angle. It went from this to this. The Argos haven't played in an ideal football stadium since. Trying to fit baseball and football in the same stadium is problematic at best.
ChesterCopperpot
Senior Member
Translude15
Frank the Tank
Yes I am aware of the original layout of the old Ex. Original poster sounded like they thought Exhibition Stadium was never a football-only venue, which it most definitely was before the Jays came to town.
Regardless, I don't think an Argos-TFC stadium partnership would be ideal for both sides. Argos should get their own stadium, and as Chester has kindly exemplified above, a 25-30k Lamport would do the trick.
Automation Gallery
Superstar
From that sketch up above...shift it a bit more south and they can actually add retail to make it more King Street friendly
Translude15
Frank the Tank
I don't even think the grandstands would need to be that large to begin with. Something similar to what they're constructing in Hamilton could easily fit onto the Lamport site. They could even shift the alignment of the field from N-S to E-W, which is what they also did in Hamilton (except Ivor Wynne was E-W and the new stadium will be a N-S alignment).
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T-Bor
Active Member
main issue I imagine would be transportation...there's only the king streetcar, and very little surface parking in the area. it'd be a pretty great atmosphere though with something that intimate
JasonParis
Moderator
Not necessarily advocating the site, but there's also Exhibition GO, Harbourfront and Bathurst streetcars and the Dufferin bus.
TOareaFan
Superstar
Yes....just as the King Streetcar currently brings fans to BMO Field...all the transit options to the Ex could serve Lamport....and just as the parking lots in Liberty Village fill up for matches at BMO Field, games at Lamport could use parking at the Ex.
That said, I still think it is easier, more effiecient and far more likely for BMO to be adapted than for us to have two 25k stadiums in the area.
Marko
Active Member
Simply mirroring the stacked west-side stands would increase capacity to about 28,000. Having the yellow sections as retractable seats for football would bring that back down to about 23,000 - which is too little to bother with the multi-million dollar changes.
Adding either additional end-zone seating that extends well past the yellow expandable sections - or a second level that wraps around the entire south side - would be what is necessary to get the stadium into the 30+ range for football.
The wraparound the south side of the stadium also makes it far more concert friendly, for those shows/festivals that are maybe too big for Molson Amphitheater and not big enough for Rogers Centre, or maybe big enough for Rogers but would prefer all-day access, open air acoustics, ample parking, etc...
Adding either additional end-zone seating that extends well past the yellow expandable sections - or a second level that wraps around the entire south side - would be what is necessary to get the stadium into the 30+ range for football.
The wraparound the south side of the stadium also makes it far more concert friendly, for those shows/festivals that are maybe too big for Molson Amphitheater and not big enough for Rogers Centre, or maybe big enough for Rogers but would prefer all-day access, open air acoustics, ample parking, etc...
TOareaFan
Superstar
I think the "plan" would be to build the second deck on the east side as you say.....might be mirror of the west or an even larger number.....and in the south you would demolish the existing south and build a new larger structure further back but with rows in front that pull out for soccer.
Not that hard to get to 30k that way. Clearly the budget of over $100 million they are talking about can do more and you are likely to see further enhancements (boxes on the east side, a roof over all/most of the fans, likely a "wrap" on the stadium to make the inner workings of the stadium more weather protected).
Not that hard to get to 30k that way. Clearly the budget of over $100 million they are talking about can do more and you are likely to see further enhancements (boxes on the east side, a roof over all/most of the fans, likely a "wrap" on the stadium to make the inner workings of the stadium more weather protected).
TrickyRicky
Senior Member
I don't know if this issue was raised earlier in the thread but it would be nice if any future Expansion plans address the issue of how windy it can get both on field and in the stands at BMO.
Woodbridge_Heights
Senior Member
If they build a second deck on the East side I would hope that they extend the footprint of the building by about 20-30 ft (or more) out. The East concourse (actually all concourses in general) is extremely tight and adding another couple thousand people would be nuts. Maybe even add a second level concourse and connect it to the West concourse.
W.r.t they could put baffles or a wall along the south facade to block or direct the wind from the lake up and away from the pitch. Never understood why that wasn't done.
W.r.t they could put baffles or a wall along the south facade to block or direct the wind from the lake up and away from the pitch. Never understood why that wasn't done.
TOareaFan
Superstar
I think, in general, all concourses at BMO are undersized....from moving around the stadium, however, by far the worst is the west side concourse...it is one concourse serving the two levels (upper level comes down to it while the lower levels have the concourse at their top level).
I have seats on west side and in south.....I typically sit in the west and bring family/friends/guests to the south...in the first couple of years I would try and visit them at half time...stopped doing it because you simply can't get from a to b and back to a in time for the 2nd half kick off.
Aside from expanded seating, I think the two major changes will be some sort of roof structure over fans and a "wrap" of the stadium (see the Houston Stadium for a very good example of modern stadium exterior wraps that use technology to block out the elements).