Richard White
Senior Member
What should be the only option on the table? Moving the team?
Toronto Rogers Centre Renovations | ?m | ?s | Toronto Blue Jays | Populous
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What should be the only option on the table? Moving the team?
EddyMCD
Active Member
Temporary re-locating to facilitate demolition and construction of a new building.
Richard White
Senior Member
Not neccesarily. They can in theory build a new stadium elsewhere in Toronto and play at Rogers Centre while doing so.
EddyMCD
Active Member
That is what I'm saying will be a big mistake. No other location will work as well for the team financially in terms of long term attendance/ticket sales.
And then as soon as the Jays vacate the Skydome the Feds will sell the land to condo developers anyway.
And then as soon as the Jays vacate the Skydome the Feds will sell the land to condo developers anyway.
Richard White
Senior Member
There are other locations that will work well. Downsview Park has a subway station and plenty of space. The Portlands could be made workable but a transit connection would need to be built.
Interestingly enough Downsview Park was considered for the location of Skydome but it was in the middle of nowhere at the time. Now it has direct access to the subway.
JohnnyRaylander
New Member
Even if they do have to miss some time due to construction, 3 seasons sounds like a gross overstatement.
From an article today on The Athletic re: Where will the Jays play during renovations?:
"While we don’t have precise answers, we can look at how the St. Louis Cardinals handled the building of Busch Stadium for an example of how this kind of project can be done with minimal disruption to the team. The current Busch Stadium was built next to Busch Memorial Stadium and actually incorporates part of the old building’s footprint in its outfield. Construction began in 2004 on the new structure while the Cardinals continued to play in Busch Memorial Stadium until the end of the 2005 season after which the old structure was demolished. The Cardinals opened the 2006 season in the new Busch Stadium. "
Richard White
Senior Member
Yes but you can't build next to Rogers Centre here. You would need to build outside the Downtown Core.
ChesterCopperpot
Senior Member
If you wanted to stay in the same location - you could start building on the parking lot south of Bremner. The team would have to leave for a few seasons whilst the old stadium was demo'ed, Bremner re-routed and the remaining portion of the new stadium was built. It's been done in other places - Busch Stadium as noted above and Tottenham Hotspur in London more recently.
SubHuman
Active Member
I think the attitude that still existed with many at the time was that a stadium should be surrounded by a big parking lot, since driving in their own cars was the way almost everyone would be getting there. I believe the Wilson subway station was open by then and not too far away from the Downsview domed stadium site proposed in 1984,
Building SkyDome somewhere out in the suburbs (Richmond Hill? -- Was that a serious possibility?) would have been a huge mistake.
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DtTO
Active Member
I just don't understand why this trend of allowing public tax dollars to fund these extravagant entertainment projects has become the norm. It really rubs me the wrong way that we're essentially subsidizing a luxury expense for billionaire owners who can afford to pay their athletes 100s of millions of dollars per year. Why should the taxpayer be on the hook? Need a new stadium?
The team and its fans can fund it.
The team and its fans can fund it.
JohnnyRaylander
New Member
What are you talking about? Every bit of information we have has indicated that it'll be privately funded.
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Johnny Au
Superstar
Some stadia are funded by personal seat licences that season ticket holders can purchase. The purchaser's name is often physically engraved on the seat. These are active as long as the purchaser maintains the licence and as long as the team plays in that venue.
en.wikipedia.org
Note that Toronto already has such seating for Leafs season ticket holders and Raptors season ticket holders.
Personal seat license - Wikipedia
Note that Toronto already has such seating for Leafs season ticket holders and Raptors season ticket holders.
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EddyMCD
Active Member
I don't think the parking lot south of Bremner is big enough for any substantial portion of the new stadium to be housed. So my 3 year estimate was 1 season of demo and then 2 for new construction. Demolishing the dome will take a long time. And any new stadium with a roof will take longer to build than a typical open air stadium (such as St. Louis).
picard102
Senior Member
Ya, they have enough to worry about with Baseballs shrinking fanbase. Best to not add any other impediment to attendance.
DtTO
Active Member
The stadium itself was mostly paid for by tax payers. That's what I was referring to. When they tear it down, just know that you, as a tax payer, paid >50% of the cost of something that is now solely owned by Rogers.