Toronto BMO Field Renovations | ?m | ?s | MLSE | Gensler

isaidso said:
Are you trying to tell me that if they preferred building the stadium 20 metres further to the east to accommodate potential expansion on the west side down the road, the city would have said no because it would make the BMO Field parking area on the same lot smaller?
Click to expand...
No, I don't believe that was what I was telling you. And how you got that out of my post ... it should have been obvious that I was thinking 12.823757892363478958972489 metres not 20.
 
MTown said:
They said 8K two days ago. Maybe they changed their minds or are dreaming bigger now.

Though, I think the story is an eventual 20K addition, over time, in phases.
Click to expand...

A 40,000 seat soccer stadium with real grass, that would be sweet.

rdaner said:
TFC has 16,000 season-ticket holders and a waiting list of about 14,000.
Click to expand...

It makes sense to add the additional 20 000 seats when aprox 30 000 seats are already accounted for, 10 000 extra seats to the general public is no big deal for a soccer-crazed city the size of Toronto.
 
jn_12 said:
They have columnists that are Metro interns. The "news" of them adding 20,000 seats stems from one of those poorly written uninformed columns.

They didn't change their mind or decide to dream bigger and give the scoop to a ryerson student.
Click to expand...

No, I don't imagine they did but a Torontoist article I read yesterday about Toronto in 2020 also claims an extra 20K capacity through their own research.

None of this means much (I'm not delusional) but it's coming at us from multiple sources......oh, and it's a nice thought, besides. :)

As a gold waiting list member, I have a vested interest in expansion (or the untimely demise of multiple current season ticket holders) and a rabid hunger for my share of guranteed matches so I'm extremely (read: overly) optimistic about any talk of expansion.
 
ya I'm on the waiting list as well, so I hope they expand by as much as they think if possible/realistic.

I'd even suggest that Torontist's info isn't right. MLSE has never said they were going for larger than an 8,000 seat expansion. Until one of the more reputable sources speaks up, I'm not about to trust a bunch of Ryerson (Metro) and U of T (Torontoist) students. Really, Torontoist's sports coverage is pretty horrible, so I don't even know if they'd know where to look for such information.

In fact, I don't even know if the current stadium is structurally capable of adding 20,000 seats. I know the east side was built with expansion capabilities, but I'm not sure where the other 12k could go.


Also, just because there is a significant waiting list and they could theoretically have 30,000 at every game (even though I'm sure some of the waiting list stems from people who signed up 3 years ago and have lost some interest), you're essentially losing out with "supply and demand." It'd be a poor business move on MLSE's part. Plus, who says there are 10,000 other people that would want to attend the games? I'm sure the number of people who buy individual tickets today that are also on the waiting list for season tickets is fairly substantial. So it doesn't make sense for them to expand to this big.
 
Last edited:
You're right, I wouldn't trust a bunch of U of T students (Torontoist) either. Nothing wrong with them Ryerson kids though. :p

Like I said (though in a rather roundabout way), I'm not really believing the stories, I'm just hoping they're true. This doesn't mean they'd expand by 20K within even the next ten years.....just eventually (20 years?).

Of course, they have to keep demand high which is why the're only talking of expanding enough to accomodate a bit more than half of current wait listers and not all of them. The fan base will grow though and I don't think it'll be completely out of the question to have added an extra 20K capacity by 2030.

I don't know the first thing about structural engineering beyond a few basics I picked up working construction but I'm sure a lot can be done with the north, east and south ends if there's the will to drop the coin on it which MLSE certainly has no shortage of.
 
The issue with expansion has little if anything to do with structural engineering. It has to do with space (what's the maximum footprint that the stadium is permitted to occupy), financing (who will fund the expansion), and demand for seats. From a structural engineering perspective, the addition would likely be an independent structure, and its size would not be limited by the existing structure.
 
From today's National Post:
Toronto FC cranks up expectations in Year 3
Full Article Link

...The volume of those people remains staggering. Toronto FC was again forced to cap season-ticket sales at BMO Field at 16,000, and now boasts a waiting list of 14,000, even after moving 700 fans off the list and into smaller blocks of tickets.

The team's average attendance at home, 20,116, ranks among the highest in MLS history, second only to the David Beckham-fuelled Los Angeles Galaxy (22,128). That popularity has spurred talk of expanding Toronto's $63-million stadium by 8,000 seats....


Who writes for the NP? York students :eek:?
 
Chuck said:
The issue with expansion has little if anything to do with structural engineering. It has to do with space (what's the maximum footprint that the stadium is permitted to occupy), financing (who will fund the expansion), and demand for seats. From a structural engineering perspective, the addition would likely be an independent structure, and its size would not be limited by the existing structure.
Click to expand...

I see, thanks for clearing that up. I remember on a few footy forums, the talk centred around the structural engineering of the endeavour so I may have been confused.

Seeing as the east side is abutting a waste of space surface parking lot, I don't see why they couldn't, eventually, match the size of the east stands with that of the west. The north end can also support some expansion of capacity and the south, with a re-routing of the road through yet another waste of space surface parking lot can as well, I'd think. If it's down to simply footprint, I don't see the problem if the will and the money to back up a serious vision is there.

I don't see why they'd have to rebuild elsewhere from scratch. Though, I'm not gonna lie, the current stadium (though much beloved by myself) is a serious cheap-out so rebuilding from scratch might not be the worst idea.

It's all about the dollars. The city's already been playing games around this stadium (ie, possible addition of Argos as tenants :( ) and it'd be nice if they'd let MLSE run things properly if they're willing to drop the cash.


ellett44: By bringing up university students, we were talking about the 20K expansion rumours, not the very real 8K expansion talk. Besides, everyone knows, a bunch of nunces writes for the NP; forget York students.
 
MTown said:
I don't see why they'd have to rebuild elsewhere from scratch. Though, I'm not gonna lie, the current stadium (though much beloved by myself) is a serious cheap-out so rebuilding from scratch might not be the worst idea.

It's all about the dollars. The city's already been playing games around this stadium (ie, possible addition of Argos as tenants :( ) and it'd be nice if they'd let MLSE run things properly if they're willing to drop the cash.
Click to expand...

Check out some of the present and future world stadium size and designs.

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgu...in+portugal&gbv=2&ndsp=20&hl=en&sa=N&start=20
 
Last edited:
They wouldn't need to rebuild the stadium from scratch. The lower part of the west stand was built with concrete, so that would probably be untouched. I wouldn't be surprised if they replaced the south stand with a concrete stand, and put metal bleachers on top of that (Similar to the way the current west stand is). That would make for a pretty good supporters section.
 
Very cool renderings of a purposed BMO field on the second page but I would prefer the north side of the stadium to remain as it. Some of the time hanging out in the beer garden is the best place to watch the game! :D
 
How about doubling seat prices and keeping the stadium capacity the same? Sounds like the perfect MLSE solution!
 
No final word on expansion yet ... but the Board of Governors of Exhibition Place voted today to let MLSE replace the field turf in BMO field. According to this report they will spend $3.5 million on the grass and another $2.0 million to move the winter bubble to Lamport Stadium and other compensation. Construction would start in November and should be ready by May 1, 2010.
 
And MLSE will spend another 800K to put in a Fieldturf field near the Lakeshore Lions Arena.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top