VANCOUVER -Â From the outside, it looks like a ring of scaffolding that has been thrown up in a hurry.
But once you’re inside, you’d swear you were back in a grey version of old Empire Stadium.
Empire Fields – the temporary home of the B.C. Lions and Major League Soccer Vancouver Whitecaps – opens in less than seven weeks and you can already picture 27,500 fans screaming wildly as Geroy Simon hauls in a Casey Printers pass for an 80-yard touchdown.
B.C. Lions vice-president George Chayka said you can tell the team’s new venue will be a very intimate facility.
“You can see how close the fans will be to the action,” he said Thursday during a sneak peak of the site. “They’re literally going to be right on top of the players and it’s going to make for a very exciting atmosphere.”
The new facility is scheduled to open June 15 and the Lions play the first game there just five days later.
The temporary venue built on the site of old Empire will host the Lions this season and both the Lions and Whitecaps for part of their 2011 seasons before they move into a renovated BC Place, scheduled for completion between mid-July and early September next year.
BC Place general manager Howard Crosley dismissed suggestions the $14-million facility has been deliberately made to appear less than ideal so fans won’t get too attached to the site with the spectacular North Shore mountain views.
The galvanized metal roof that covers half the spectators will be sprayed with grey primer and nothing else, while portable toilets will be used almost exclusively on the stadium’s east side.
“Of course we want people to go back to BC Place but we’re going to make this as good as we can, within budget, because we don’t want to do anything that would hurt Lions or Whitecaps ticket sales,” Crosley said.
He said much of the stadium will have washroom trailers but portable toilets are the only option on the east side because of space limitations caused by an embankment.
“If we painted the roof orange, the Whitecaps wouldn’t like it, and if we made it blue, then the Lions wouldn’t be happy,” Crosley said.
The stadium will feature a 28-foot-by-16-foot video screen at the north end and scoreboards in the northeast and southwest corners.
The Lions have not yet signed a lease to return to BC Place next year but negotiations are continuing and the team will pay about $200,000 less this year to play in Empire Fields than it did to play in BC Place last season.
Crosley said BC Place operator PavCo is close to a deal that would see the Whitecaps commit to playing in the renovated facility for 15 years, meaning the team’s vision of playing in a soccer-specific Vancouver waterfront stadium couldn’t happen until 2025.
Pacific National Exhibition president Mike McDaniel said amateur sports groups who have used the playing fields on the Empire site for several years will receive access to the temporary stadium whenever possible. He said several promoters have expressed an interest in holding concerts there but said there’s little chance the stadium will remain after the Lions and Whitecaps leave for BC Place.
“You need a tenant to fill the stands on a regular basis and that won’t exist in Vancouver when the Lions and Whitecaps move out,” McDaniel said.
But he hopes some stadium items will remain as legacies for the grounds – including the field lighting and the artificial turf that will be used for the temporary stadium.
Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi, who played at old Empire, said the team wants to move into its permanent BC Place home as soon as possible but the temporary facility is a great alternative.
“It’s fantastic because there’s seating all around you with no gaps,” he said.
The Lions will play this season on artificial turf that will be moved from BC Place but Lenarduzzi noted the Whitecaps can’t play on that surface because it is not approved by FIFA.
Crosley said PavCo is aware of that issue and will deal with it next year.
The roof at BC Place is scheduled to be deflated on Monday and take about 20 to 30 minutes to come down, as builders start construction of a retractable roof.
bconstantineau@vancouversun.com
Click on video below: The temporary stadium at the PNE’s Empire Fields – The $14 million stadium will be complete by June 15 and ready for the first June 20th BC Lions vs. Edmonton Eskimos game
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