Crews Inspect BMO Field After Several Bolts Come Loose
Posted May 18, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Perhaps the celebration was too great when Toronto FC scored its first goals and captured its first wins in front of a home crowd at BMO Field Saturday and Wednesday.
Whatever the reason, workers have checked and tightened thousands of bolts at the newly-opened stadium after they found roughly half a dozen fallen bolts and fasteners. Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which owns the club and the $62.9-million stadium, believes sellout crowds stomping their feet could be to blame just three games into FC’s home schedule.
“The good thing was it identified the problem,” said MLSE executive vice-president of operations Bob Hunter, “and we think it’s very isolated. We’ve only found six to eight of these things. We think they’re isolated cases where they may have been tightened but not tightened enough.”
Initially the debris was thought to have been excess material left by workers but after an inspection of the grandstand was done more bolts were found at the next game. Another inspection followed and then two more bolts were found following the Canada-Argentina under-20 game May 11. At that point the call was made to check them all.
“Over the last three days, they’ve been doing it. They’ll finish doing the entire stadium today,” Hunter said Friday. “It was a pretty major undertaking,” he added of the inspection, which covered every row in the stadium.
MLSE is also reconsidering its ban on umbrellas in the stadium after Wednesday’s big home win was played in constant rain. The policy was intended to preserve the sightlines.
“We’re going to do a little bit more homework,” Hunter promised.
MLSE officials have promised everything will be in ship shape for Saturday’s home game against D.C. United.
