The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board has agreed to transfer ownership of a parking lot by Ivor Wynne Stadium to the city to allow for construction of a new Pan Am Games stadium on a north-south axis.
Trustees emerged from a closed-door session on Monday to direct staff to enter into negotiations to hand over the 0.9-acre lot, located at the northeast corner of Melrose Avenue North and Cannon Street East.
In return, the city is being asked to provide an equivalent number of parking spots to the board at the Pan Am site "in perpetuity" once the stadium is built.
Board chair Tim Simmons said afterwards the deal, which still requires Ministry of Education approval, is necessary because the 22,000-seat stadium can't be built as planned without the lot, which serves Prince of Wales school across the street.
Ivor Wynne is built on an east-west axis and the new one will be north-south, he said.
The deal appears to confirm longstanding rumours of a change in the stadium's orientation. City officials have been sworn to secrecy on the design's details.
"They're going to shift it. I don't know how it fits into the structure, but from what I understand, the way they've got the stadium designed they can't build it without that piece of land," Simmons said.
"The school board definitely does not want to hold up the Pan Am stadium," he said. "We're sort of saying, 'Here's the land and you're gonna give us parking lots in the future, once the stadium's done.' It shows cooperation with the city."
Simmons said the deal will likely see temporary parking for the 100 or so displaced cars provided at Jimmy Thompson Pool, located at the northwest corner of King Street East and Balsam Avenue North.