Montreal has potential site for MLB ballpark
The first thing needed for a return of MLB to Montreal is there: ground.
According to Canadian Broadcast Corporation, the ground of former Montreal children’s hospital has been acquired by a high profile real estate investor in Montreal, Luc Poirier.
In a statement he announced that he acquired the 1.4 million square feet (about 130000 square meters) surface. In this statement he mentioned several purposes for the location. One of them can be a baseball stadium.
But as the location of the former hospital is in the Western part of downtown Montreal, it is enclosed by several streets. If a stadium will be build there, it will absorb some adjacent streets and an adjacent park. Of course the latter will lead to protests.
IF the ballpark will be build there it will be ballpark like Fenway Park and Wrigley FIeld as it will be squeezed into other appartment blocks and buildings.
As you can see above, the hospital (on the right side of the green zone) is surrounded by other buildings.
Poirier also said the following: “I have a meeting scheduled in the next week with one of the biggest major league baseball persons,” he said. I have only one person, but a big one. A big, big one.”
Who he is referring to is a big question. This is only speculation from my side, but could it be the big boss of MLB himself, Rob Manfred? Or when we are talking about big, could it be Frank Thomas, the Big Hurt?
The first big person that came to my mind was Randy Johnson, who pitched for the Expos.
Anyhow, nothing is engraved in stone yet. Especially when you know that it will take over $1 billion to get a team to Montreal again. It remains to be seen who is willing to spend that kind of money? Since business man Mark Cuban has expressed interest in buying an MLB team, perhaps he is the perfect candidate. In the recent past Cuban has bid on the Chicago Cubs ($1.5 billion) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (about $1 billion).
The city of Montreal itself is not sold on the idea of using the area for a downtown ballpark, so if a downtown ballpark will ever become reality remains to be seen.