Argos to lease Lamport Stadium: report
The Toronto Argonauts and the University of Toronto are teaming up in a plan to lease and renovate Lamport Stadium and will submit a letter of intent to the city, the Toronto Sun reported Wednesday.
The city, which has set a deadline of Monday for plans to operate Lamport Stadium, will examine all letters of interest it receives before deciding on one and starting a negotiation process.
"We're moving down the road and Monday will be a big step forward, but it's not the final step," Bruce Kidd, U of T's director of physical and health education, told the Sun.
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The plan would expand Lamport's 10,000 seat stadium by at least another 5,000 seats, install a new playing surface and build new locker rooms.
It's believed the renovations would cost at least $2 million.
"They're experts in managing a facility of that type and they have a need for a (stadium)," Argos president Jeff Giles said of U of T. "We, have a need for a stadium that we have control over, but we don't necessarily have the finances to build that stadium.
"This is a marriage of two organizations that have complementary needs."
U of T will need a temporary facility between the time Varsity Stadium is demolished later this year and the building of a new 5,000-seat complex in three to four years.
The Argos are looking to move out of SkyDome when their lease expires at the end of next season.