Roger Moore

A few renderings of a possible @Montreal_Expos ballpark. None of the companies are involved, all strictly for educational, academic purposes. But, can you 'mage. Also: #PeanutProject Day 300 update coming today/tomorrow...

As I wait to hear back from @MTL_Ville on an outstanding land option for an eventual @Montreal_Expos stadium... In today's episode of "Clearly, I've got time" OBVIOUSLY, I realize this particular idea probably won't work. I'm citing it merely as an example of how I'm looking at potential sites. I noticed a baseball diamond next to Complexe Gadbois, so naturally, I decided to drive by. Gadbois is already in the midst of ongoing improvements, so walking into City Hall now and saying, “Here's a curveball: let's incorporate Gadbois into 4C,” may not exactly land well. Timing-wise, it may also simply be too late. (Although nothing is really too late, but I digress.) And obviously, the existence of a baseball diamond doesn't mean you can plop an MLB stadium onto it. A stadium needs seats, concourses, back-of-house facilities, circulation, infrastructure, etc. But imagine we'd shown up a few years earlier, when Gadbois was deteriorating and the city was considering its options, and said: “Let us help rebuild and improve this as part of 4C.” And then you look next door... Oh, there's already a baseball diamond. Oh, there's an empty field. Oh... wow. There's a whole parking lot behind it. Technically, you could imagine a few different approaches: a) Replace an aging complex, rebuild a new and better Gadbois on the parking lot, with underground parking serving both the community complex and stadium—then use the combined existing Gadbois + diamond footprint for the ballpark. Or b) Preserve/integrate Gadbois into a larger development, improve the existing community facilities, and design the stadium and 4C around it. Again, I'm not proposing Gadbois as the site. That's not the point. The point is how we're thinking about land. When I say perhaps Montreal's winning location isn't one perfect empty parcel but rather a “combo”—existing land + adjacent land + infrastructure + something that already needs investment or redevelopment—this is what I mean. Sometimes the answer may not be finding 20 pristine acres sitting there waiting for a baseball stadium. It may be looking at several imperfect pieces and asking: Could these pieces solve one another's problems? Now... possibly, somewhere in city hall, someone is discussing a similar location and maybe, the stars align.

Thanks for the many applications, reviewing them all & even started meetings/interviews. It's crazy how much I drove around this past summer scouting random locations for a possible @Montreal_Expos stadium. Never complained or whined about traffic or wasting time, just a sense of gratitude that I had the time and energy to do this for fans and @Montreal Here's one that was intriguing but too small... and sitting next to a water treatment plant, perhaps not even workable even if wider... Here's my assessment on this day 285 of the #PeanutProject wrt land and a stadium location. 1) One default, backup option that is there and be more than good enough... and with a few adjustments can be great. Perspective matters: if this was the only option, we'd all take it... but given the possibilities, our mind strays at what could be... as such: 2) Meanwhile, continue to inquire re the "preferred" locations until we know for sure these are not options (I might share one more video of another, such place later today). 3) The Combo "Double Play:" In the back of my mind, I always wondered if eventually, land would not be one parcel, but a combination. And indeed, in recent days/weeks, with the help of the fans & supporters, we have identified possibilities that were unseen by most. Find the owner info of plot A, then dig to find out what the adjacent plot B owner is thinking... suddenly, one after another... options appear out of seemingly nowhere. The primary purpose of the forthcoming press release will be a public call out to any and all land owners who fit that 3rd option... at some point, we will then make the call and identify one parcel as @MLB will not take @MTL_Ville's word that "we promise to build a new stadium if you give us the franchise..." More to come. But yes, keep sending land ideas!