The devil is in the details at B.C. Place Stadium.
Three weeks remain until the B.C. Lions reopen the stadium after its $563 million renovation by hosting the Edmonton Eskimos. The list of things to do is long and daunting:
- Finish laying the Polytan LigaTurf synthetic turf, assembling the shoebox-style, centre-hung scoreboard and installing the new red and grey seats.
- Weld the permanent fabric roof panels together to prevent leaks, wash the new blue/green windows and vacuum, mop and sweep the floors.
- Hang a new sign with a new name. B.C. Pavilion Corporation chairman David Podmore still wont deny Telus is paying the Crown corporation to rename the stadium for its Optik Internet TV product.
Another detail is the labour negotiation. The contract for members of the B.C. Government and Service Employees Union local 1703 expired May 31 and talks with mediator Mark Brown were planned Wednesday and Thursday. Union members will meet Saturday to discuss their next move. Both parties have agreed to not discuss this in public and Im going to adhere to that, said PavCo CEO Warren Buckley. Were very optimistic were going to have a resolution. Are we having discussions about alternative locations? Absolutely not. The PNE has Empire. If worse came to worse, the Whitecaps and Lions would have to make a decision, but Im not speculating on that at all.
BCGEU also represents workers with stadium caterer Centerplate, but the two sides agreed to delay their bargaining until after the stadium reopens.
The white retractable roof was closed for the first time during a general media tour Wednesday, allowing filtered sunlight to bathe the stadium. The permanent fabric appears beige from inside, but is supposed to turn white with prolonged exposure.
Football and soccer dominate the stadium events calendar for the rest of the year, but Buckley said a big gig could be coming this fall to showcase the new sound system.
Weve been out there in the marketplace, working closely with Live Nation to try and find not only whos on tour, because youre subject to that tour and the routing, but actually looking to see if we can bring in a big name and to invest in that opportunity, he said.
PavCo awaits Major League Baseballs opinion on the new, centre-hung, shoebox-style videoboard. Buckley said it could be temporarily removed to make way for baseball, but dont hold your breath for a baseball exhibition next year. Is it practical? Probably not, he said. We havent spent a lot of time looking at baseball.
Meanwhile, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi said the Major League Soccer club isnt going to fill all 54,500 seats when it hosts the Portland Timbers Oct. 2. The club will employ a soccer curtain to obscure the upper bowl and limit seating to 22,000 on the lower bowl.
Our biggest objective is to have people come here and go away feeling like they were at a special event, Lenarduzzi said. What we wont do is try to compromise the atmosphere by trying to squeeze a few more people in.
