With a walk through the unfurnished rooms and windswept concourses of BMO Field, one can already recognize the future of professional soccer in Canada.
"We see this as the top-of-the-line soccer specific stadium in Canada," said Marc Petitpas, general manager of BMO Field and the Ricoh Coliseum.
BMO Field, being built as we speak at Exhibition Place, is spectacular, even in its unfinished form. By April, the doors will be hung, the latest generation of FieldTurf will be applied and a facility the likes of which the city has never seen will begin accommodating visitors.
BMO Field will offer ample views of the Toronto skyline, the kind of vistas modern baseball parks like PNC Park in Pittsburgh and Jacobs Field in Cleveland have incorporated into stadium architecture. Fans will find a one-of-a-kind stadium where disabled patrons will be allocated some of the closest seating to the field. Every detail has been taken into account for the comfort and enjoyment of the 20,000 fans who will witness Toronto FC's first season in Major League Soccer beginning April 28.
Also, there is no dome here.
"Its the only place in Toronto where fans can sit outdoors and enjoy the elements at a professional sporting event - whatever the weather," said Paul Beirne, director of business for TFC. "Our fans will face Mother Nature head-on and they embrace the opportunity to support their team in all four seasons."
The tour begins at what will be the reception area in the Northwest corner of the stadium. Ticket staff, communications personnel, business operators, coaches and sales managers will have their own office, as will the BMO Field staff.
Down the hall and one passes into a vast group VIP location. The room will offer food and beverage for premium club customers who can then pass unencumbered from the lounge to their seats in the stands. The lounge, accentuated with deep leather couches and high-top tables, can handle 300 clients at a time.
Take the side stairs to the ground level and arrive at the community dressing rooms. There are eight of them with access to the field. A bubble will be installed on the pitch for winter play and national team development program. The same floor houses FC's spacious gymnasium. A side wall is devoted to windows so the outside environment is never far away.
Honeycombed around the ground floor are referee rooms, a home dressing room for the Canadian Soccer Association, a medical examination room and a gargantuan dressing room for FC which includes a huge changing area, a TV production space, media workroom, press conference area and hot and cold tubs. In all, the FC dressing room is about 2,000 square feet, the size of a medium house.
Exit through the closest door. That leads to the Supporters Section, a 4,000-strong section at the Southwest corner of the grounds.
"This will be, by far, our loudest section," said Petitpas. "A lot of the supporters in cities like Chicago don't even sit down. They make more noise than two or three times the people and they are organized and ready to go in Toronto."
"The supporters at BMO Field are part of the show," said Beirne. "We have high expectations of them. ... Their voices need to be heard not only in Parkdale, but across the country."
The concession area between the first and second deck of the West grandstand is the most elaborate of the stadium.
"We want to represent the ethnicity of Toronto," Petitpas said. "That's why we're looking at everything from fish and chips to samosas."
This summer's FIFA U-20 World Cup will feature games at BMO Field. Additional press and medical rooms, mandated by the soccer body, will be converted once the tournament is over. The final game will be played July 22.
TFC have already sold the 30 suites between the first and second deck and are considering building an additional six suites for next season. The suites accommodate a dozen people on a patio with room for four more at the bar. Two free-standing group sales pavilion locations can also accommodate parties of 150 people.
Did we mention the latest generation FieldTurf, a mammoth $1 million scoreboard in the north end of the stadium, two ancillary boards and seven portable stand-alone cart operations dispensing food, drink and souvenirs?
All of which, operators know, guarantees nothing.
No matter how great the foresight, bad execution can ground any opening. Petitpas aims to make sure it doesn't.
"Look, we know people will come but we also know if the food is bad or the beer is warm, people also have a lot of other places to go," he said. "That's why we are working so hard to get everything right."
