Toronto Rogers Centre Renovations | ?m | ?s | Toronto Blue Jays | Populous

[Bogtrotter]

Exactly. I don't think the Blue Jays are going to settle for anything less than real grass- the baseball fanbase would go bonkers.

If you look at that and see something to be emulated instead of something to be ridiculed, I'm not sure how to respond.

It is indeed ridiculous. Are we not talking about professional sports?

 

[rbt]

I'm not sure there would room for moving platforms of grass- but it's a really interesting concept.

There is room if you stack it (multi-level greenhouse); perhaps even underneath the playing field. But yeah, the system as shown takes a massive amount of land for little benefit.

 

[Bogtrotter]

There is room if you stack it (multi-level greenhouse); perhaps even underneath the playing field. But yeah, the system as shown takes a massive amount of land for little benefit.

I think seams in the turf might be an issue there. Some sort of elevated floor paneling laid over the grass perhaps? It could be assembled on the occasions when a concert is staged and then removed immediately after. If it's only a few times a year this might be a solution, but they intend it to be venue hosting a lot of concerts then I'm not not sure how viable that would be.

 

[Hairball]

are going to settle for anything less than real grass- the baseball fanbase would go bonkers.
It is indeed ridiculous. Are we not talking about professional

Given that we've never had real grass even at Exhibition Stadium, the new stadium needs to have it, no ifs and buts. Hopefully the Jays get it right.

I don't know how it can be feasible to have a sliding grass field in Toronto, in that spot. Having something similar to what the other retractable roof stadiums has is probably the best we can hope for.

 

[ChesterCopperpot]

I think seams in the turf might be an issue there. Some sort of elevated floor paneling laid over the grass perhaps? It could be assembled on the occasions when a concert is staged and then removed immediately after. If it's only a few times a year this might be a solution, but they intend it to be venue hosting a lot of concerts then I'm not not sure how viable that would be.

Tottenham Hotspurs new stadium in London has 2 surfaces in it. A Desso grassmaster hybrid for the soccer games and a full synthetic pitch underneath for NFL games. The "grass" pitch splits into 3 and slides underneath the south stands of the stadium and into a parking structure when they are converting it for an NFL game. So you don't need the space for a full pitch outside your stadium footprint. When the NFL game is over - they bring the grass back out and stitch the seams together again. If they are ok with seams in the surface for playing Premier League Football - it shouldn't be an issue for MLB.

You can see the tracks here in this picture.

There's a great video showing the engineering / transformation here

 

[Tony]

Somehow very cool even though it's Tottenham.

 

[Towered]

I remember Exhibition Stadium - it was AWFUL!! Cold, Wet, windy, miserable. Only works when you get great weather and for us to build a stadium hoping for lots of great weather just isn't realistic.

And remember, the reason Minneapolis doesn't have a domed stadium (or a retractable roofed stadium) isn't because they didn't want one - they simply couldn't afford one. It's a much smaller city and a smaller market.

To dream of open air games on a grass field is a wonderful dream - but just a dream in this climate we need a retractable roof. We were the envey of the world when we opened the world's first stadium with a retractable roof - why would we consider anything else?

I agree. If I were inclined to spend a ridiculous amount of money on tickets to see a game, you're damn right that I want to be able to enjoy said game in comfort. That means no cold and no rain. Those would be unacceptable conditions at that price point.

 

[Haljackey]

If you look at that and see something to be emulated instead of something to be ridiculed, I'm not sure how to respond.

lol

Yes it is excessive, but this is how you get real grass in a dome.

The other ways of doing it is to create a retractable dome that doesn't cast so much shadows on the grass so it has sufficient sunlight to grow. Or have a full dome but maybe insert a large artificial lighting structure over the grass between games?

Other videos about the new stadium in Vegas:

As to where something like this may fit, perhaps the grassy area could be built over part of the rail tracks if the new stadium was built closer to the Gardiner Expressway?

1 Blue Jays Way · 1 Blue Jays Way, Toronto, ON M5V 1J1, Canada

Building

www.google.ca

 

[T.E.C.II]

How about the roof itself?

The Vikings and Raiders of the NFL use translucent roofs. Presumably they've figured out how to make it so that it doesn't feel like you're in a greenhouse.

The NFL's First Translucent Roof Is a Super-Tough Monster

Innovative new materials have been creeping into sports stadium construction around the world, providing both practical and aesthetic benefit.

www.wired.com

We know the Rays are hoping to build a new stadium that has a translucent roof.

Admittedly, these stadiums don't use retractable roofs

 

[T.E.C.II]

Sorry, posted just after Haljackey's post.

 

[Haljackey]

Do these translucent roofs let in enough light to let real grass grow?

The brand new Sofi / 2028 Olympic Stadium in the Los Angeles area has this tech too. It does not have a retractable field or dome.

But it does not have real grass- it uses MatrixTurf so maybe not good enough for baseball? It is used for NFL.

A detailed breakdown of SoFi Stadium's turf

SoFi Stadium - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[ProjectEnd]

Allegiant = $1.9bn
SoFi = $4.9bn

It's an utterly absurd amount of money to waste on this stupidity. Should be a nonstarter from the get go.

 

[Haljackey]

Allegiant = $1.9bn
SoFi = $4.9bn

It's an utterly absurd amount of money to waste on this stupidity. Should be a nonstarter from the get go.

So long as this new stadium is 100% privately funded, it can cost however much they want it to. Not a dime of public money should be spent or else we may have another Skydome cost overrun fiasco on our hands.

 

[ProjectEnd]

And that's really the rub. There's almost no way that public funds won't find their way into this fantasy, be it through tax breaks, direct funding, grants, or some other nonsense.

 

[christiesplits]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1332441692461522946