Newf
11-29-2009, 03:33 PM
Mark Grimes, a Toronto city councillor who is also chair of the Toronto Argos Foundation, said he has been actively involved on a plan to possibly move the team from Rogers Centre to BMO Field, perhaps as early as next year.
Grimes helped orchestrate the construction of BMO Field, which the city owns and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment manages. The city recently agreed to a conversion to a natural grass field from its current artificial turf.
"I’ve had discussions with the ownership and I have had some meetings with the city on the possibility of maybe relocating the Argos to a couple of different locations and BMO Field was one of them," Grimes told sportsnet.ca. "The Montreal model (a 20,000-seat stadium that will be expanded to 25,000) would work well in Toronto and I’m going to do everything I can within my power to work with the city to make it happen."
Grimes said it is a possibility the Argos could move to BMO next season. He said there are "a couple of different options" to reconfigure the field size, which is currently fitted for soccer dimensions, to make it football friendly. It is a major reason, along with capped seating of just under 21,000, why the Argos haven’t moved to BMO, although it’s a subject that has been floated in the past.
There would be political hurdles that would need to be addressed first, both at the city council and Canadian Football League board, if the Argos were to move to BMO and play on a reconfigured football field.
"We should be doing everything we can to support the Argos and make sure they’re strong," Grimes said, adding he is speaking as a city councilor and not on behalf of the collective board. "It’s not only good for the city, it’s good for the CFL. They’re a very community-oriented team, they’re working with youth, and that’s what we need."
The Argos signed a 15-year lease agreement with the Rogers Centre in 2005, but it consists of three five-year contracts that include two five-year options. The first five-year segment concluded after this past season
Grimes helped orchestrate the construction of BMO Field, which the city owns and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment manages. The city recently agreed to a conversion to a natural grass field from its current artificial turf.
"I’ve had discussions with the ownership and I have had some meetings with the city on the possibility of maybe relocating the Argos to a couple of different locations and BMO Field was one of them," Grimes told sportsnet.ca. "The Montreal model (a 20,000-seat stadium that will be expanded to 25,000) would work well in Toronto and I’m going to do everything I can within my power to work with the city to make it happen."
Grimes said it is a possibility the Argos could move to BMO next season. He said there are "a couple of different options" to reconfigure the field size, which is currently fitted for soccer dimensions, to make it football friendly. It is a major reason, along with capped seating of just under 21,000, why the Argos haven’t moved to BMO, although it’s a subject that has been floated in the past.
There would be political hurdles that would need to be addressed first, both at the city council and Canadian Football League board, if the Argos were to move to BMO and play on a reconfigured football field.
"We should be doing everything we can to support the Argos and make sure they’re strong," Grimes said, adding he is speaking as a city councilor and not on behalf of the collective board. "It’s not only good for the city, it’s good for the CFL. They’re a very community-oriented team, they’re working with youth, and that’s what we need."
The Argos signed a 15-year lease agreement with the Rogers Centre in 2005, but it consists of three five-year contracts that include two five-year options. The first five-year segment concluded after this past season