Margaret Atwood in ‘turf’ war with U of T over synthetic grass
Posted March 13, 2013 8:45 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Canadian writer Margaret Atwood is in a turf war with her alma mater, the University of Toronto, over plans to replace the school’s back campus field with synthetic grass in preparation for the 2015 Pan Am Games.
Atwood is supporting an online petition opposing the move on change.org. As of 8 p.m. Wednesday it had nearly 4,000 signatures.
The project would see two synthetic turf fields installed between University College and Hoskin Avenue.
On its website the U of T said the change would allow the university to host field hockey games at the Pan Am Games as well as provide “greatly expanded playing time for a variety of recreational activities and sports in addition to intercollegiate and high performance sports.”
The total cost is pegged at $9.5 million.
But Atwood has been taking to Twitter to express her disapproval.
She also hinted that she would leave the school out of her will if it went ahead with the renovation – slated to begin this summer.
