Lansdowne Stands Are Falling … Someday: PATTON
If we wait two decades, the northside stands will collapse. So we must move now:
Lansdowne 2.0 Will Only Cost Half a Billion
Mike Patton is the former communications director for Mayor Larry O’Brien and a Conservative activist.
– The Bulldog – News Feed Enter 
I wonder about the rush too. Are retail leases coming up for renewal soon? I’m sure there will not be any bad news there. Then is OSEG financing coming up for re-negotiating? Will an approved plan with the City and good retail occupancy make the results of this more favourable? I heard a BIA rep at audit committee saying we had to rush to build a 5,500 seat arena to save the women’s hockey team where average attendance is almost 2,000 more than that. And then if the contractors rush, they may not have to comply with the pending high performance environmental standards that might cost more to build. But of course, the North Stands have to be replaced because among other things they are not energy efficient. But the North Stands will fall down some day – particularly if routine maintenance isn’t kept up – not surely by design.
It was stated over and over in council meetings and the “mute the mike” sessions (claimed to be public meetings) that there is no emergency to address. Menard was clear in all his comments there is no emergency. The latest is staff want to finish teh design as fast as possible so we can beat the deadline for the updated 2024 building code (the 2024 code is designed to save building costs). That means more mistakes will be made for the false hope in “saving money” with the old code. The functional obsolescence argument most councillors bought in on, was all about accessibility, and the new code brings in updated standards. Yet these staff want to get the design locked before next May so the old and outdated code can be used! INSANE!