New stadium receives facelift before it’s even built

First it was Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) that slowed down the process of building a new Varsity Stadium. That was derailed by the fact that the government did not offer enough money to support the project.

Then a new deal was reached with the Toronto Argonauts and both the federal and provincial governments. Then Trinity College and others did not like the new plan because of noise and space issues.

Now the university has drafted a new proposal to try to appease everyone. The funding will still be the same, but the design of the actual stadium itself has been drastically altered.

The majority of seats will now be built on the east side of the new stadium, instead of on the west like the original project had called for. Some seats will now have to be place atop Varsity Arena to accommodate the new plan.

Diamond Schmitt Architects Inc. is the firm that composed the proposal that had these modifications in it. They unveiled this new design at a public meeting on September 7.

A new design was needed in part because of objections by many to the closing of part of Devonshire Place, which would have had to occur with the old model. Devonshire is home to various buildings associated with Trinity College.

Trinity has had the loudest objection to the project to date. Salterrae, the official newspaper of the college, reports that two meetings were held by the Trinity College Board of Trustees, in which they decided to condemn the new stadium project and fight it. The meetings took place on July 15 and August 5, the latter happening just days before Diamond Schmitt unveiled their vision of the sports complex.

Trinity College fears that the stadium will infringe on Trinity land and that the constant noise from the facility will disturb all Trinity buildings. Salterrae also questions the need for such a large facility, claiming that a smaller one would suffice.

The college still has objections to the new plan, even though it would not involve any land on Trinity property.

Read the Varsity in upcoming weeks for more news and reaction regarding the Varsity Stadium plan, which has not yet been approved by governing council.