Stadium would be donated to U of T

[Jarrek]

Stadium would be donated to U of T

By PAUL WALDIE and MICHAEL GRANGE

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment is expected to lease the site for a new sports complex at the University of Toronto for 35 years and then donate the facility to the university, a U of T official said yesterday.

Under the plan, MLSE would not pay anything to lease the land, which is worth up to $50-million, but would finance construction of a $100-million complex that would include a football stadium for the Toronto Argonauts, a hockey arena and a second ice rink to be used by the Maple Leafs for practice, said John Dellandrea, U of T's vice-president of development.

"The idea, if this goes as it is currently structured, is that it would be leased over a specified period of time at which time it almost becomes a philanthropic deal, it is gifted to the university," he said.

The university and MLSE co-owner Larry Tanenbaum have agreed to the plan in principle, but the MLSE board still has to approve the deal. A decision is expected within days.

There is some concern among directors about the project's finances.

"The question is, is 35 years enough to recoup $100-million with a reasonable return on it?" said John MacIntyre, who sits on the MLSE board on behalf of TD Capital, a division of the Toronto-Dominion Bank and a 14-per-cent shareholder in the company.

"You don't own the land, there are 35 years of rights as opposed to rights in perpetuity, so that's an issue as well, and to have a first-class practice facility for the hockey team is a bonus, but not a must have."

He added that, "you put together enough pieces and the whole picture can start to make sense, I think that's what [Tanenbaum and management] are looking at now. Are there enough pieces here between rent from the Argos and the others things that would have to fall into place to make it sensible? But it isn't [a deal] that leaps out at you and you say you invest X and there's a clear analysis of what the returns will be. This is a much more difficult case."

Richard Peddie, president and chief executive officer of MLSE, said the deal was "tight."

"You've got to weigh how much money it costs and how much risk there is and how many resources you need," Peddie said yesterday.

One source familiar with the proposal said if the Argos can average 22,000 a game at the gate they would make $5-million a season.

Dellandrea said that under the current plan, the U of T will pay for some of the complex's operating costs. However, MLSE will contribute to an annual maintenance fund "to ensure that what's handed back to us is a first-rate facility that is suitable for the use of our students and others," he added.

He said negotiations with Tanenbaum have gone well and that MLSE even agreed to work around the schedules of student athletes.

"We literally provided MLSE with an hour-by-hour, day-by-day, week-by-week, season-by-season, list of what we needed and the question was, can you fit in your need for Leafs practice times for the Argonauts or soccer or whatever other rentals may be there, into those parameters? And the answer was, yes it can."

He added that the stadium field would be made from synthetic grass that is suitable for soccer and football. The building would also include an eight-lane track for international competition. Construction could start as early as this summer with the stadium ready for the 2006 CFL season, Dellandrea said.

The overall complex, located on the old Varsity Stadium grounds, would also include a shopping area along Bloor Street West. There are also proposals for a sports medicine clinic and weight training centre.

Toronto Argonaut co-owners David Cynamon and Howard Sokolowski have not yet agreed to the project and have said that they are still interested in building a stadium at York University. However, sources say they will likely agree to the plan if MLSE goes ahead.

Big thumbs down on the track

[SeanKeay]

A stadium is coming, a track kinda suck but WE GOT A STADIUM!!!

Back to the Duke of York HAZZA!!!

[torontosupport]

I remain unconvinced of anything and everything regarding this stadium.

That being said, I somehow remain positive that we will have a stadium by 2015.

[Gian-Luca]

But we've known about the FieldTurf thing for a while now. The soccer people can start calling the shots with respect to the playing surface when they have the money to call the shots with. Until then, we basically have to take what we are given (by others). Let's build the stadium first, worry about the grass later (the playing surface can always be changed, even if FieldTurf doesn't gain more acceptance between now & when this thing gets built).