LOL, that's what I was wondering too. Can they even use the space in there for concerts? I was thinking maybe it's a Ryerson event, I thought MLSE prevents that from happening in MLG.
The hypocrisy of "Big Business" never ceases to amaze me:
MLSE dictates who can compete with them, yet would balk and scream to the highest court if anyone did that to them.
For MLSE to even have a say what can go on here is outrageous. The whole point of Capitalism is an open market with fair competition. To allow one corporation a legal monopoly on a market segment flies in the face of it. Healthy competition breads a healthy Marketplace, with fair pricing. A monopoly supports greed and overpriced goods with *substandard quality. Be that a "good" like your car, or a "service" like a concert venue.
I am in awe of the quality and care that has gone into the re-purposing of such a great landmark, but am disappointed if it can not be used to its fullest potential because of the corporate greed on behalf of MLSE.
(*Of course MLSE is also trying to block a second NHL team in the GTA for the same reason. God forbid the Leafs had competition for spectator dollars. Perhaps then the team would actually have to perform better to get an audience, but that would require the owners to spend more money on better players and management.)
The thing is it was sold with conditions, the big company is protecting it's interests so it is capitalism, when it's in the big corps. favour. Had Loblaws & Ryerson not agreed to their legalese MLSE wouldn't have sold the building and we'd have likely lost it in another 10 years or so due to neglect so there's still a huge positive there and that's the way I have to look at it.
The Ed Mirvish Theatre (formally The Canon/Pantages/Imperial Theatre) is another similar example that I know of. It can't be used as a venue to show films for 99 years from the date it was sold to Garth Drabinksy in 1986. It's a long tangled tale but when Famous Players finally sold their part of the building to Garth it was stipulated that it couldn't be used to show films. Presumably that is still in full force in effect even though Famous Players is gone now being as the film festival hasn't used the venue.
Looks great! I can't wait to get to finally check out Maple Leaf Gardens. Ryerson vs. Cape Breton on October 19th. Might go to the Wake Forest game the next day too.
I went in the other day and walked around the Ryerson facilities. The closest thing to still looking like MLG are the stairwells. Actually, I walked down the NorthEast corner stairs from the top to the bottom and came out at the underground parking of Loblaws. I swear there were no signs anywhere but when I opened the door to the parking lot, a VERY loud alarm went off. Oops.
what happened to the remaining mlg seats that they had b4 they started the renovations. i remember one side of the gardens still had the seats. i am interested in buying one.
