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Originally Posted by Djeffery
Of course it would be expensive, likely more so than what Skydome costs. But since they've decided the stadium is being kept by spending all this money on the roof, something needs to be done with the interior. They can decide to keep it as a substandard (by today's standards anyway) floor plan, but I guess that depends on what they hope to get out of the place. It wouldn't shock me that the brain trust doesn't want to give up on a baseball configuration just in case it's needed as a temporary home for their long hoped for return of the Expos. If the current layout suits them fine for concerts, car shows and the odd soccer or football game, by all means, keep it as is (although at least some new seats would be good).
I think for LA, that plan works well for the temporary usage of the Olympics. They can probably grow grass on trays there just like they did for the 1994 World Cup in all those turf stadiums.
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Something absolutely needs to be done, and again, if it's going to cost $2 billion to demolish the thing safely, then they might as well do it proper. I don't see the renovation being considered a success if it keeps the multi use stadium format, due to the huge size requirements for an MLB playing field:
Quote:
Originally Posted by northernlights99
CFL field covers 2 acres or 87,750 square feet using 2026 dimensions, including end zones
NFL field is comparatively smaller only covering 1.32 acres or 57,780 square feet, including end zones
MLS field using 75 yards by 105 yards covers 1.62 acres or 70,875 square feet
MLB field covers 4.5 acres or 196,000 square feet including Infield and Outfield and assuming 325 feet down the foul lines and 400 feet out to center.
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If Olympic stadium got a proper reconstruction of the lower bowl, and completely got rid of the baseball scoreboard and baseball configuration, it would become Canada's largest football/ soccer stadium. I trust they'd eventually come up with an economical solution for growing natural turf, or simply bring in the real grass for every event that requires it. They've
already proved the latter is possible, but I really think the former will be possible one day too using artificial light.
If Olympic Stadium was a 70k person stadium for football and soccer, it would not just be an incredible asset for Montreal, but for the entire country. I could see the NFL hosting some pre season and regular season games in Montreal like they've done with the games in Europe, if Olympic Stadium gets a proper renovation for football and soccer. Perhaps the New England Patriots vs New Orleans Saints?
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Same with soccer matches, it could host major soccer matches, or even the finals for the Copa America one day.
Had Olympic Stadium got a baseball specific renovation after the Olympics, like the Skydome eventually got, maybe the Expos could have actually stayed in Montreal. Olympic Stadium probably could have been a pretty great ballpark had they gone all in on baseball. It's too bad Canada's two MLB teams had to play in ballparks with such janky configurations for so long, all because they shared facilities with CFL teams, which i'm sorry to say is pretty much an obscure league in the context of North American sports and when compared to the NFL.
I think a lot of people don't really get how big of a deal it was for Canada to host the Summer Olympics, and Olympic Stadium was the single most expensive facility from that Olympics. The stadium has been much maligned since then, but really, compared to many other Olympic Stadiums, it's actually served a pretty useful post Olympic life, despite the horrid multi use configuration it used for baseball that played a major role in Montreal losing the Expos.
Canada will never host another Summer Olympics unless Toronto invests in a new stadium, which many on here seem to think is unlikely. I'd love to see Skydome get one final renovation one day as a football/ soccer stadium, and see the Blue Jays build the nicest ballpark in the MLB.
I think Toronto tearing down the Skydome would be akin to Rome tearing down the Colosseum or the Pantheon.
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