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Loss of the National Football Stadium

Trillium

By Trillium
in Men's National Teams

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Fort York Redcoat1555362293 Rookie

Fort York Redcoat1555362293

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On 2/19/2016 at 4:10 PM, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Page 10 of 13. Under Appendix E. Dec 21st 2027. So for the next decade or so even if Canada goes "on the road" (our own country isn't really on the road), they are always likely to come back to BMO Field once a year.

"On the road" was to express no set City's stadium as home base.

 

Thanks for the info. 2027 is a lot of games if the documents agreement holds. 

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Joe MacCarthy Grand Master

Joe MacCarthy

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BMO extends stadium-naming rights with MLSE
Bank to remain Toronto FC's kit sponsor through the 2016 season
Kurtis Larson, Toronto Sun February 22, 2016

ORLANDO - The Bank of Montreal wants a piece of Toronto’s newly-renovated Major League Soccer — and CFL — stadium.

The Toronto Sun tweeted Monday morning that BMO has extended its agreement with MLSE to retain stadium naming rights at BMO Field for the next 10 years.

The agreement doesn’t line up with TFC’s jersey-sponsorship rights, though BMO has extended its kit sponsorship of TFC through the 2016 season.

Terms of the agreement weren’t immediately released. Toronto’s previous kit sponsorship deal with BMO brought in around $4 million annually, according to Sports Business Journal.

“Today’s long-term naming rights renewal with BMO is symbolic as construction progresses on BMO Field to provide a world-class stadium experience for Toronto FC and its fans, for the Toronto Argonauts as they move to a classic Canadian outdoor football environment, and for the City of Toronto,” said David Hopkinson, Chief Commercial Officer at MLSE. “BMO is a partner that has been with Toronto FC, and the stadium, since day one and plays an important, supportive role as we look forward to exciting things at BMO Field this season and in the years to come.”

MLSE is in the midst of a $140 million renovation of its soccer stadium in anticipation of the Toronto Argos moving in later this year.

Phase 2 of the renovations — including a canopy roof above three sides of the venue — is expected to improve the fan experience for Toronto FC supporters, too.

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Joe MacCarthy Grand Master

Joe MacCarthy

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BMO Field expected to be ready for TFC, Argos
Stadium will be ready on May 7
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press Apr 05, 2016

Toronto FC has long talked of turning BMO Field into a fortress. That has yet to happen but a $150-million renovation is turning the once bare-bones lakefront venue into a proper stadium — as well as a home to the CFL Argonauts.

While TFC plays its first eight games on the road, giant cranes have been installing a canopy roof over the east, west and south stands at the 10-year-old stadium. A new sound and lighting system is also being installed. Plus the venue is being configured to accommodate CFL football.

Toronto FC, which for the second year in a row has had to open the MLS season with an extended road trip due to the renovations, will finally get to play in its new home May 7 when it hosts FC Dallas.

"We can't wait," said captain Michael Bradley.

Stage 1, which took place after the 2014 season, saw a 8,400-seat second tier as well additional washrooms and concessions added to the east stand. A new video board was installed while the east and west stands were linked by a concourse above the south stand.

Neil Barrows, a senior project manager with PCL, has supervised both stages of the renovation. BMO Field has become a second home for him.

"This stadium definitely is my baby," he said. "I get a lot of phone calls from co-workers and friends driving by on the Gardiner [Expressway] and the Lake Shore [Boulevard], asking me if we're going to be ready for May 7. And for sure, we will be."

Work put into 'very basic' stadium

BMO Field, whose construction was linked to the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup and an MLS expansion team, was built on a shoestring stadium budget of $62.9 million.

"This is going to be a very basic, basic stadium," Bob Hunter, then executive vice-president of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, said during construction in 2006.

Hunter, now MLSE's chief project development officer, was right. Still a fervent fan base fell in love with its soccer team and BMO Field, owned by the city and operated by MLSE, rocked during games. As the MLSE-owned team struggled on the field, however, BMO Field was no longer the happening place to be.

MLSE has spent millions on and off the field since to remedy that. Marquee players like Bradley and Italian star Sebastian Giovinco led the team to the post-season, albeit briefly, for the first time last year.

The first round of renovations — with its expanded seating and premium fan options — will help MLSE pay the bills. The second should make the stadium a more enjoyable sporting experience, with cover and an improved sound adding to the atmosphere.

Each stage cost some $75 million.

Stage 2 involved fewer workers — the maximum on site was 150 compared to 400 for the first stage — but was more challenging from an engineering standpoint.

"Riskier, more intense, a lot more weather-dependent," said Barrows.

The weather co-operated for the most part, although high winds occasionally replaced frigid cold as the workers' enemy.

One of the most challenging aspects of Stage 2 was just getting materials and equipment to the site. A giant crane, originally from the Netherlands, came in on 100 tractor-trailers. Hundreds more brought in the steel needed.

Natural grass field to be laid soon

Configuring the stadium for CFL is costing $20 million with the Argos, whose owners also have a sizable stake in MLSE, picking up half of that as well as the full cost of the 10,000 square-foot dressing room being built under the east stand.

The CFL visitors' locker-room, which measures 6,000 square feet, encompasses the existing MLS visitors' locker-room. The space can be expanded for football or made smaller as needed.

A new natural grass field is scheduled to be laid this week, weather permitting.

The CFL endzones will be artificial turf but will be covered up during soccer games by some six rows of temporary seats at each end. Hunter says the stadium should look the same for soccer as it always does.

As for the football lines on the field, Hunter is confident they have the technology and time to remove them before the next soccer game kicks off.

The space is especially big over the south stand where room has been left to fit in temporary seating for Grey Cup, the Winter Classic or other special events.

The capacity for a Toronto FC game remains the same at 30,000. It will just under 27,000 for the Argonauts, whose regular-season home opener is June 23.

The new-look BMO Field should be able to accommodate 35,000 to 38,000 for the Grey Cup and Winter Classic.

As for future renos, Hunter says there is work to be done to make the walkways and concession areas more efficient. But that likely won't happen for a few years.

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Joe MacCarthy Grand Master

Joe MacCarthy

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Groundskeeper confident Toronto FC, Argos can share BMO Field
Neil Davidson The Canadian Press/TSN.ca April 6/2016

TORONTO - Toronto FC head groundskeeper Robert Heggie has a message to any TFC fans gritting their teeth over sharing BMO Field with the CFL Argonauts.

"I've always said there's one person in Toronto that should be worried about this and it's me. And I'm not overly worried about it," Heggie said.

"So if I'm not worried, everyone can just simmer down a little bit and let's see what happens in June," he added.

Toronto FC opens at home May 7 while the Argos kick off their regular-season schedule June 23.

Like Snoop Dogg, Heggie knows his grass.

In 2015, he was Sports Turf Canada's turf manager of the year. Heggie, who studied horticulture and turf grass management at the University of Guelph, has been TFC's head groundskeeper for seven seasons and has spent two years preparing for the advent of the Argonauts. He's talked to peers around the world to pick their brains, from officials at Wembley Stadium to those at MLS and NFL venues.

He acknowledges there will be growing pains, especially in a season with a compressed soccer schedule due to the stadium renovations. Weather, particularly rain around Argo games, will also complicate matters.

But Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which owns TFC and operates BMO Field, has seemingly spared no option to ensure the ground-sharing works.

"We knew from Day 1 this was going to be a very sensitive subject," said Bob Hunter, MLSE's chief project development officer. "Two of the three (MLSE) owners own the Argos, they're very sensitive to it and Larry (MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum) in particular has been very focused on ensuring we have a very very high-quality TFC pitch."

A new turf field — the third to grace BMO Field since artificial turf was removed in 2010 — is set to be installed this week, weather permitting. It has a much thicker base and should settle in much quicker and tighter.

It comes in rolls 60 feet by four feet (18 by 1.2 metres) and is laid on 12 inches (30 centimetres) of sand, which covers the heating and aeration system underneath.

"For all argument's sake, it's a two-acre golf green," said Heggie.

The surface starts as Kentucky bluegrass. Heggie's crew will add in perennial rye grass, which grows better in cooler temperatures as the season wears on.

A backup field is ready and waiting in the Hamilton area if any portions of the BMO surface need replacing. It could be installed within 36 hours — and played on 24 hours later.

A third option is a hybrid field, with natural grass growing around artificial roots to strengthen the turf. That was touted by former MLSE boss Tim Leiweke as the answer to grass problems. But it is less flexible because it is hard to replace, in part or in total.

A hybrid field can also harden.

"We've had this (TFC) team for about two years now so I know what they like," Heggie said, "And I know they don't like it hard."

More than $1 million has been invested in grow-lights to help keep the grass healthy. BMO Field finally got an exemption to use pesticides, which golf courses, lawn bowling clubs and cricket grounds already had. Heggie says he tries to avoid using them but they are another part of his arsenal.

Heggie has turned to Supaturf, an Australian company that specializes in line-marking systems, for the paint need to lay down the lines for football and the ability to remove them. It's not cheap but it is effective, says Heggie.

"They won't tell you the Caramilk secret, obviously on how it actually works," he said.

But the paint solution contains water and malt, among other ingredients. A remover product that reacts to the paint will be sprayed immediately after the game.

There may be some slight ghosting the next day but it will disappear after that, he says.

In Heggie's office at the Kia Training Ground, a calendar above his computer shows both the MLS and CFL games. There is plenty of white between the two — enough time to prepare the pitch, MLSE believes.

Repairing damage caused by the Argos is "basic agronomy," Heggie said. Seeding, watering and fertilization.

The grass will be kept a little higher for CFL games than MLS contests, if timing permits. That grass cut will help remove vestiges of the paint and Heggie says football players like a little more cushion in the grass.

Heggie also has some cosmetic cheats up his sleeve, like a green pigment and green sand that groundskeepers commonly use to touch up the colour as needed.

As part of the ongoing renovations to the stadium, two positions for the football goalposts have been installed. While just a yard or so apart, it means the football lines won't be laid down the same place every game.

All this work and new grass will likely still have to be installed in advance of next season. Heggie says the grass will suffer after being covered for weeks in the leadup to the planned Winter Classic.

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Joe MacCarthy Grand Master

Joe MacCarthy

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Remember the days before blogs and social media when we waited with bated breath for stories from a few select soccer writers (Alf De Blasis, Neil Davidson, Norm Da Costa).  Well it looks like Alf De Blasis has joined the new age with a video sports business series called Sport$trategies.  Part 1 of the premiere webisode focuses on the expansion and redevelopment of Toronto's BMO Field, with guest Bob Hunter of MLSE.

There's a few thoughts on MLSE's motivations for the expansion and also Hunter mentions a possible revisit to the idea of a reinforced turf ie Desso in the third video.

Expanding Horizons - The Multi Part Makeover of Toronto's BMO Field

 

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1996 Newbie

1996

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Still don't see the purpose of those roofs/canopies if your not going to fill those huge gaps you see in the south and west stands, when it rains your still going to get pissed on the  rain coming in through those huge gaps, fill in those  bloody gaps for goodness sake , all that money spent and you can't build something properly it just boggles the mind!

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king1010 Grand Master

king1010

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On 4/25/2016 at 10:55 AM, 1996 said:

Still don't see the purpose of those roofs/canopies if your not going to fill those huge gaps you see in the south and west stands, when it rains your still going to get pissed on the  rain coming in through those huge gaps, fill in those  bloody gaps for goodness sake , all that money spent and you can't build something properly it just boggles the mind!

the reason for the gap is to allow for a second level of temporary seats in the south end for events like the Grey cup and Winter Classic. 

the reason for the gap on top of the west stand is to allow for the potential addition of sky suites if demand warrants it

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king1010 Grand Master

king1010

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On 4/25/2016 at 2:08 PM, Alex1775 said:

What ever happened with the plan to place retractable stands in the south end??

the first few rows will be removable. the photos above show the first few rows removed as it will be in CFL setup. for TFC games the first few rows will be put back into place. 

the above picture also shows the CFL turf endzone in place in the north end

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