I wish you had kept your Expos. The Expos getting a stadium in DC has practically killed DC United's chance of getting one there.
It's ironic. Jeffrey Loria is the man who sold the Expos to the MLB, which lead to the team's relocation. He then bought the Marlins. I will laugh if the marlins relocate to Montreal and Labatt Ballpark is finally built. Labatt Ballpark: http://www.ballparks.com/baseball/national/monbpk.htm
also, at the time of that article, they were still looking for a constuction company. Theyère still most likely looking.
Well, if things don't go according to plan, perhaps they could say they meant it when they said it would be ready by 2012... ...just not 2012 AD.
I agree. DC gave away the store to get the expos and succeeded in poisoning ANY chance for a stadium. Consequently, one of MLS's charter clubs is now stuck with an absurd situation that even if the stadium is financed privately, the government won't even pay for the infrastructure to support the development. I can't stand the DC government or the Nationals as a result. After having a Billion dollars thrown at them, the Nats are still holding their hat out for more money. Meanwhile, United can't even get a commitment for infrastructure that they would have to provide in any development project.
Quote: As part of the 2011 Awards Night, on Tuesday, the Impact will proceed to the official groundbreaking of the Saputo Stadium expansion project http://twitter.com/#!/impactmontreal
here are picture from the construction! http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150402659985979.405238.116861190978&type=1
2 things: They are tearing up the grass it looks like. I wonder if that's just because there's going to be a lot of machines in the infield during constructions or if they are going to put heating elements underneath Also, they pretty much bulldozed the washrooms building. I thought that they'd be adding one or 2 more similar buildings but I guess there are different plans entirely. Anyways, it's great to see progress!
until the stadium is ready you guys will be playing at the Big "O" apparently they are placing the supporters in Sections 101-108 there (area in black). http://www.montrealimpact.com/Tickets/documents/Plan_Stade_Olympique_2012.jpg
Skate park will be moved. Most of 7,000 new seats will be behind goal. Poutine is good this time of year. Stade Saputo set to open in mid-June. Early season home matches will be played at Olympic Stadium. 5,000 season tix sold so far (a record for this time of year).
merci. poutine? skate park? you crazy french canadians ... any word on how many home games at olympic stadium they are expecting?
In the video, they said 5 or 6. There was no mention of poutine (I liked the joke though), but they're definitely preserving and moving the old concrete entry that skaters love.
Relocating the Big-O at Stade Saputo One of the biggest challenges for engineers during the whole expansion project MONTREAL – The Montreal Impact and Broccolini Construction Inc. have successfully moved the Big-O, Friday morning, one of the biggest challenges for engineers during the whole expansion project. The 175-ton concrete structure known as the Big-O is an historic monument that was built in 1976 for the Montreal Olympic Games. It became a symbol for the international skateboarding community. The structure was moved 25 meters and will keep the same incline at its new location. “We understood when we first build the stadium that the Big-O was a huge deal to the skateboarders,” said Montreal Impact President Joey Saputo. “When we decided to expand the stadium, we had no choice but to put a big column in its location. We needed to move it to save it. Everyone in the project was pretty confident it could be done.” http://www.impactmontreal.com/en/news/2011/11/relocating-big-o-stade-saputo
It's possible that the construction site is under a foot of snow at the moment and construction may not start again until late winter/early spring. Who knows?