Does anyone know if construction has started on the new stadium yet? If not, then any idea when they will begin?
Demolition is supposed to start in January. The tennants of the building(s) that are being demolished have received notices to move out (I'm pretty sure they should have moved out by now). As for the design, I think four different architectural firms are bidding on the project. Therefore the final design has not been chosen yet. The construction will have to start in the spring, as the ground will be too cold to lay the foundation of the stadium until then.
The Hall of Fame building won't be vacated until Jan 31st by all accounts. Not sure if there are tennants in the Food Building but I would imagine it's a similar timeframe if there are. The SSS for the Columbus Crew was built in 9 months and a day so if they can get the site preparation work done by March they should be able to do all the major structural stuff in a single construction season, then fit the place out over the winter to bring it up to major FIFA tournament standards with a bit of time to spare.
But will it be a McStadium? It just seems awfully, awfully tight scheduling, given how long other stadia have taken to be completed. What would the options be if it can't be finished by '07? Where would the team play for that season?
The scheduling is tight but the timeline is doable given what happened in Columbus. From what I understand a sizable portion of the bowl for the seating would probably be created by simply digging downwards, which should simplify matters somewhat:- http://community.webshots.com/album/82244538RJVrur It has to be ready for July 2007 for the World Youth Cup finals so MLSE has basically had to guarantee completion by that date and to pay for cost overruns due to stuff like extra overtime shifts to get the job by then before the Federal government would agree to even consider the project.
Even though FIFA requires the stadium to be done by July 2007, the MLS season starts in April. The Toronto Whatevers will have tough first season playing their first 12 games or so on the road. If they follow the RSL example, they will be 0-11-1 going into the first home game.
a lot of the moving parts in that stadium setup would be eliminated if the CFL would just have normal field dimensions. otherwise, the stadium has a real english feel with the one covered grandstand, almost like a beefier craven cottage.
It's been almost 1 month since the last post in this thread...anyone know if construction has FINALLY started? Does anyone regularly drive by the site?
Construction was possibly started this week, as MLSE have stated that they will go ahead with the project without waiting for final funding approval. Due to the crap weather we've had most of the week though, I'm not sure if they've started yet. Apparently there will be an 'official' groundbreaking ceremony at the end of the month.
Elias at the Voyageurs forum posted the following: One could take this to mean that the stadium is on schedule and will be ready by July 2007.
Not so far. They wouldn't be too exciting at this point. The major activity should start next month with demolition of the Hall of Fame Building.
It has to be 20,000 minimum to host the WYC final in 2007. Latest numbers I've seen are 22,000 permanent seats and easily expandable to 30,000 with temporary bleachers.
The url for The Star story just in case the moderators on here get concerned about the posting of an entire article:- http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1138273309810&call_pageid=1044529386722&col=1044529386490
Two questions: 1. Will the Lynx be involved with the new club? 2. Will Roberto Bettega or Eusebio be the GM's?