May 31, 2006

Recreation

Stadium expansion one step closer

IRWIN RAPOPORT

correspondent

MONTREAL

The Montreal Alouettes football team must expand its stadium’s seating to ensure the financial viability of the franchise.

With the first stage of public hearings complete (May 24-25), the proposed $27 million expansion of McGill University’s Percival Molson Stadium — the home field of the Alouettes — is one step closer to becoming a reality.

Located within the protected heritage zone of Mount Royal, the stadium will increase its seating capacity to 25,000 from 20,000.

“Our goal is to start construction at the end of this year or the beginning of 2007 and to have everything ready for the start of next year’s season in June,” said Louis-Philippe Dorais, Alouettes’ director of media relations.

“It’s a program that we must complete as an organization. In the CFL, stadiums have between 30,000 and 60,000 seats. We have a 20,000-seat facility and it will not be possible to survive another five years. We absolutely need this for our long-term survival. The city is behind us.”

PATRICK SANFACON/MONTREAL ALOUETTES

The number of seats at the Percival Molson Stadium, home of the Montreal Alouettes, may expand to 25,000.

The team will contribute $4 million towards the construction, with federal, provincial and municipal governments providing the remainder of the costs.

The City of Montreal has signed on to the project and once public consultations are completed and the project receives final approval, Dorais says the federal and provincial governments will come forward with their financial contributions.

The stadium was built in 1919. After playing in the stadium in the 1950s and 1960s, the Alouettes returned to the university stadium in 1997 due to a double booking at the Olympic Stadium. The setting proved popular with fans and the team made the formal move to Percival Molson for the 1998 season.

An initial $300,000 was spent to get the stadium ready for the 1997 game and since then, renovations have been ongoing on an annual basis, totaling more than $1.5 million. The stadium’s seating capacity was increased to 20,000 from 18,000. In 2003, $12 million was invested to renovate the press box and locker rooms, upgrade the lighting and to solidify the structure in anticipation of the second phase of expansion currently in the plans.

Strengthening the structure is key to building the upper deck on the south side of the stadium that will house approximately 4,500 seats.

“We must cut the current stands by 12 rows in order to build the second deck, which will provide a net addition of 3,000 seats,” said Dorais.

Also planned are expansions of the stands in northeast and east end sections for an additional 2,000 seats.

The stadium’s main entrance, currently at the south entrance, will be moved to the east entrance where the ticket office will be built and integrated into the mountain. Nearby, the ticket office will be the team’s Stadium Builders Club, a wall that will be adorned with bricks of fans who contributed funds to help the team expand the McGill stadium.

“We want to make sure the stadium does not ruin the look and feel of Mount Royal — we want to integrate into the environment,” said Dorais.

The second round of public hearings are scheduled June 13-15. Concerns have been raised by environmental groups such as The Friends of the Mountain, who are worried about the loss of green space.

“We certainly don’t want to jeopardize anything,” said Dorais, who noted construction could result in the loss of 68 trees, but that 160 new trees and 500 bushes will be planted to improve the biodiversity and overall health of this wooded area. The Alouettes have consulted forestry engineers to analyze the woods in question and to provide solutions for replanting and improvements to the green space in general.

HOK, an architectural firm based in Kansas City, has been hired by the Alouettes to design the expansion. The firm, which designed the 2003 expansion, has been active in stadium design throughout the United States and Europe.

Tenders for a general contractor will be published later this year.

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