So Mark Routtenberg and my old pal Eric Gagne are pushing to get a Can-Am baseball league team put into Muntreeyawl! This is exceedingly good news.
But where on earth will they be scooping those grounders and shagging those flies? Me say right back on Ontario and Delormier which is where they had the park since Jacques Cartier used to go down there to gets his merry gang of Frenchmen to practice the 6-4-3 twin killing on scalp collective natives. But this might be seem as invading the squeegie/biker/used transmission section of town.
The three main candidates now seem to include Blue Bonnets. Some, including aging city politician Marvellous Marvin Rotrand have long pushed to have the old abandoned track turned into housing. Well housing is boring, natch, so nix to you Marvin. It's a great space and would be easily accessible, right in the heart of baseball-lovin' Western Montreal. There are highways and metro stations and space for parking. So Yes! Let it be!
The Mayor of Flashwood Laval North of Laval is also pushing for a stadium. We don't hate Flashwood. You'd have to scoot up the highway 13 and hit the 440 which is a bit of a haul. But unless you're planning to attend 50 games or something, it should be a sacrifice you can make.
There's a third proposal by Marc Griffin who wants to put the ball stadium down on the South Shore. I say nah. The bridge access is just too terrible, who knows what the chaos will be when we have to endure the Champlain Bridge repair- reconstruction or whatever is happening down there.
The ideal, as it has been stated, is to build something like Winnipeg Stadium. If you don't know how cool that place is, google it. The players sit right under the downtown skyline. I don't even want to think about this because it's too depressing as we could have had just that here had we played our cards right.
Now that the province has promised money to a new arena in Quebec City, we've definitely got to push them to finally get a similar promise for our baseball park, to renew our love affair with a sport that goes back over a century
But where on earth will they be scooping those grounders and shagging those flies? Me say right back on Ontario and Delormier which is where they had the park since Jacques Cartier used to go down there to gets his merry gang of Frenchmen to practice the 6-4-3 twin killing on scalp collective natives. But this might be seem as invading the squeegie/biker/used transmission section of town.
The three main candidates now seem to include Blue Bonnets. Some, including aging city politician Marvellous Marvin Rotrand have long pushed to have the old abandoned track turned into housing. Well housing is boring, natch, so nix to you Marvin. It's a great space and would be easily accessible, right in the heart of baseball-lovin' Western Montreal. There are highways and metro stations and space for parking. So Yes! Let it be!
The Mayor of Flashwood Laval North of Laval is also pushing for a stadium. We don't hate Flashwood. You'd have to scoot up the highway 13 and hit the 440 which is a bit of a haul. But unless you're planning to attend 50 games or something, it should be a sacrifice you can make.
There's a third proposal by Marc Griffin who wants to put the ball stadium down on the South Shore. I say nah. The bridge access is just too terrible, who knows what the chaos will be when we have to endure the Champlain Bridge repair- reconstruction or whatever is happening down there.
The ideal, as it has been stated, is to build something like Winnipeg Stadium. If you don't know how cool that place is, google it. The players sit right under the downtown skyline. I don't even want to think about this because it's too depressing as we could have had just that here had we played our cards right.
Now that the province has promised money to a new arena in Quebec City, we've definitely got to push them to finally get a similar promise for our baseball park, to renew our love affair with a sport that goes back over a century
I vote no for the Laval option. Traffic nightmare up there. Hwys. 13-440-15 interchanges include some pretty sharp turns and the junctions are usually congested with lots of criss-crossing to get on and off service roads, etc. etc. Plus, the drivers are the craziest in the province.
ReplyDeletePeabody
Gee, a downtown ballpark with a view of the city skyline...where have we heard that before? (*sigh*)
ReplyDeleteI've got a bit of a soft-spot for Laval, it's sorta still wild West out there.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah I'd much rather have the stadium downtown, or in the West End.
But if it were a choice of having it in Flashwood Laval or not having it at all, I'd take it.
YES!West End baseball! LOVE it! Hope it happens. And soon.
ReplyDeleteGreat Idea!
ReplyDeleteLaval!
Roofed stadium that opens!
Pro basketball and bowling and Bingo in winter!
Wonderful!!, as long as it does not cost the Taxpayer a cent!!!
They will need the money to rebuild the Champlain Bridge, Pont Mercier, the Metropolitan and the roads leading to the Turcot Interchange.
Thank You.
Get 'er done!
ReplyDeleteMy own thoughts re the Expos: http://www.taylornoakes.com/?p=346
ReplyDeleteSites to consider:
1. The old Canada Post mail sorting facility.
2. The end of Bridge Street, right next to the Victoria Bridge
3. That empty lot near the Jacques-Cartier Bridge between De Lorimier and Parthenais.
We totally need baseball back in this city, and we need the MLB specifically, so that we can get Americans to focus on our city, know about us - in effect, for all the same reasons Drapeau came up with.
Also -
ReplyDeleteDock Ellis' LSD No-No - perhaps the greatest achievement in sports by an individual on psychedelic drugs.
Baseball has become stagnant with power-hitters, juiced-up millionaires and a seemingly endless cavalcade of hyper-precise Japanese outfielders.
I say: 'No more!"
We need the Expos to be like a strange combination of the late-1960s Pirates and very early Mets, with a dash of Black Sox infamy. I'd also suggest finding the very best in modern-day deadball types - what an exciting, baffling team that would be!
Point is it would get us on to the map; it would almost definitely provide for some very exciting, entertaining baseball.
I think that in terms of stadium placement, the closer the stadium can be placed to working-class urban neighbourhoods, the better. Aside from providing many jobs, it would doubtless spawn the development of many new businesses in and around the stadium, stimulating local economic development. The issue will be how to balance residential proximity and traffic diffusion, but I think the model set up for the Molson Stadium has worked quite well, with the STM providing excellent service.
I guess we need to ask ourselves whether we want Skydome, Camden Yards, Meadowlands or Fenway?
They played baseball on Mill Street in the Point back in the 1880s. So that would correspond to the suggestion they build it near the entrance to the Victoria Bridge.
ReplyDeletehttp://coolopolis.blogspot.com/2010/07/mill-street-driving-grounds-and-its.html
http://www.ruefrontenac.com/sports/baseball/37318-baseball-montreal
ReplyDeleteAlso, that "old lot" between DeLorimier and Parthenais is now a soccer field. No Jackie Robinson stadium to be built there.
ReplyDeleteThere was a rumour here in Toronto that the Jays were considering putting their AAA team in Montreal. This is the last year of the deal with Las Vegas.
ReplyDeleteToronto would just love that eh?
ReplyDeleteNever forget they voted to contract the Expos.
I'd rather have either an Independent League team, or a major league team. To be a minor league team for Miluwakee or something would be absurd.
I posted a similar thread on facebook and got over 30 replies btw, most like the Blue Bonnets site.
I should mention that in the 1880s games were played on Mill and on Shamrock (where the Gene Tallin Market now stands).
Yeah, I thought the idea of a Jays farm team was crazy - seems to be something floated by Rogers.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Montreal could get the Dodgers out of bankruptcy and call them the Royals and put the farm team in Brooklyn...
Blue Bonnets would be okay, but by the Victoria Bridge would be better, Black Rock Stadium...
Where would a AAA franchise play in Montreal next year anyway?
ReplyDeleteDon't know about next year, but the rumour was Rogers was looking at building a stadium downtown - mostly so they could have their name on a big building, use it for a baseball team and concerts and things like they do the Rogers Center in Toronto.
ReplyDeleteI'd go for the old Canada Post location. It's almost perfect.
ReplyDeleteIs it me or would bringing hockey back to the Forum completely revitalize the Atwater/Shaughnessy Village area? I think the Forum would likely have to be razed (recycled?) to accomplish this, but perhaps it could be much more than the Bell Centre currently is. At the very least, a combined cinema megaplex and concert hall would inject much needed cash into this area, which I think not only needs to be revamped, but has an awful lot of potential too.
ReplyDeleteIf we wanted to get really crazy, we have a few options to keep the proposed stadium within proximity of the downtown core, though it would require demolition.
Consider the empty lots between St-Maurice, William, Longeueil and Duke streets. Or, what about the area bounded by St-Antoine, Notre-Dame, de la Cathedrale and the Bonaventure viaduct. Both would require major alterations to the downtown street system, but both present interesting opportunities to re-invent poorly-used and run-down portions of the city.
How about Verdun Quebec.The Metro goes to Verdun .I'm sure the're willing to replace the area behind The Verdun Hospital for a stadium .It's right next to the Verun Auditorium.
ReplyDeleteSteve