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Lamport Stadium Redevelopment

MetroMan

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I was looking into purchasing a loft @ Westside Loft and found a group on Facebook for purchasers. On that group I found out that Will Alsop's Phase III of Westside Lofts (including the bridge from King St. to Queen St.) has been replaced by some generic design. Maybe Alsop's reason to close his office here and take off... first Toronto pisses off Calatrava now Alsop.... anyway, that's another thread...

Part of Phase III's selling point is that Lamport Stadium will be redeveloped into a park:

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I'm happy with this since Lamport has been replaced by the better equipped BMO Field @ Exhibition Place and Lamport currently turns its back on King St.
Nonetheless, I'd rather have seen Lamport's land sold off to developers (that stretch of King could use much higher density) and that money used to insure that the city had a bigger stake in a higher quality BMO Field.
 
Except that BMO Field isn't really a "park", per se. Lamport at present is next to useless and adds little to the city, as you note, and its redevelopment as a real park would be welcome.

This part of the city, which is intensifying, needs more parkland. It's on the edge of Parkdale, which has been shortchanged on greenspace for years. The nearest real parkland is Stanley Park, which is several blocks away, under that forbidding railway overpass.
 
The building which will be located south of the tracks and just off King Street, toward the bottom of the picture, is known as "Bridge Condos". It is in the sales phase now. I don't recall a thread about it on this forum.
 
Chris Hume wrote in the Star today about Liberty Village and its need for green space. He is quite right and getting rid of Lamport Stadium, which is a nearly useless expense for the city, would be a great first step.

However, we need to avoid being knee-jerk. The best solution would undoubtedly be to demolish Lamport and replace it with a mix of green space, development (residential & office) and new indoor recreational space for all-weather use.
 
I think it might have been better to rebuild Lamport and not build BMO at the Ex. I went to a game while the Ex was open and the traffic was absolutely crazy - at least having TFC games at Lamport would utilise the 504 and the Ossington bus, and not merely slam the 511 and 509 with riders on top of the Ex. Alternatively Varsity might have been an option. But then that wouldn't have suited Joe Pantalone's desire to drag every Toronto event into the Ex would it. :rolleyes:

If Lamport's stands are demolished, why not retain amateur sports fields in the new park for the incoming residents to play on, rather than just create another patch of grass and trees?
 
However, we need to avoid being knee-jerk. The best solution would undoubtedly be to demolish Lamport and replace it with a mix of green space, development (residential & office) and new indoor recreational space for all-weather use.

That's terribly sensible.
It's a pretty densely packed residential neighbourhood with lots of medium-rise development in the area and I can't think of any indoor recreation facilities nearby.
 
Lamport does make money for the city, and is used by the community for field Hockey, Soccer and Football. It just had a new state of the art artificial surface installed, as well there's a new fence/wall being put in the north end.
 
It just had a new state of the art artificial surface installed, as well there's a new fence/wall being put in the north end.
With all that money spent I bet the bureaucrats have the wrecking ball ordered already :)
 
I think it might have been better to rebuild Lamport and not build BMO at the Ex. I went to a game while the Ex was open and the traffic was absolutely crazy - at least having TFC games at Lamport would utilise the 504 and the Ossington bus, and not merely slam the 511 and 509 with riders on top of the Ex. Alternatively Varsity might have been an option. But then that wouldn't have suited Joe Pantalone's desire to drag every Toronto event into the Ex would it. :rolleyes:

If Lamport's stands are demolished, why not retain amateur sports fields in the new park for the incoming residents to play on, rather than just create another patch of grass and trees?

The Ex is only 3 weeks per year, and Ex Place is a wasteland of useless parking lots the other 49 weeks. BMO Field (a) filled in one of those lots, and (b) brings hundreds of thousands of people to Ex Place. Yes, Ex Place is underserviced by the TTC during the Ex, but the whole city is underserviced by transit. The WWLRT will be a godsend...

I agree, however, with your views re-purposing Lamport. The site is big enough to accommodate both greenspace and community rec facilities.
 
Lamport does make money for the city, and is used by the community for field Hockey, Soccer and Football. It just had a new state of the art artificial surface installed, as well there's a new fence/wall being put in the north end.

Lets not forget Lamport's also a $$ generating Caribana venue as well, mon
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!!
 
I'd leave Lamport as is. The city can get even more out of it if it installs a bubble over the field during the Winter.

If Toronto wants to be "world class" it needs to have more sports facilities which the public and private sectors can utilize.

BMO Field made nearly $1 million in operating profit, half of which went to the city (other to MLSE). I'm sure that with proper management, Lamport can generate quite a bit of money as well (on top what it's making the city now).

There's some greenspace around Lamport which is in a advanced stage of neglect, if fixed up it can certainly add to the community.
 
BMO Field made nearly $1 million in operating profit, half of which went to the city (other to MLSE). I'm sure that with proper management, Lamport can generate quite a bit of money as well (on top what it's making the city now).

I agree that the city needs to be expanding the number of rec facilities, but I wouldn't hold out much hope that those facilities can be a cash cow.

From what I have heard, BMO Field runs at a loss during the off-season (i.e. for community use). The $900k profit would be much higher if there was no bubble and the facility was shuttered for the winter.

Still, there are many good reasons why governments should spend money on rec facilities, and I'm all for amending the management of Lamport to allow year-round use. But why not leave the field and get rid of the tiered seating? The space could be used for other rec facilities. Right now, the
only use for the stands is as a roof for changerooms.
 

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