Latest on Plan to Bring MLB Back to Montreal

Stephen Bronfman, the Baseball Montreal group, and the developer Devimco are in talks to buy a 40-acre plot of land near the Bonaventure Highway and convert it into a $2.5-billion complex of condos, commercial properties and an outdoor stadium.  Read more here.

Pondering Redevelopment of Ottawa’s Aging Ballpark, Dreaming of MLB Affiliation

Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Park has been identified by city staff as one of 20 possible locations to build affordable housing, giving council a clear option of what to do with the aging baseball stadium after the current lease expires.  Read more here.

Neighborhood-Changing, Mixed-Use Development Envisioned for Montreal Ballpark

Stephen Bronfman and group are looking at building a new MLB ballpark in Pointe-Saint-Charles, on a federally owned, 8.5-hectare plot of land bordered very roughly by Bridge Street to the south, Mill Street to the east, the Peel Basin/Lachine Canal bike path to the north and the railway to the west.  Right now, the area is largely industrial.  Bronfman and his team want to work with developer Devimco to create a mixed-use project in the area.  Read more and view map here.  Read more about Bronfman here.

Montreal ‘Ready’ for MLB, Developer Working to Secure Land for Downtown Ballpark

Stephen Bronfman, the executive chairman of Claridge Inc. who leads a group of Montreal businesspeople seeking baseball’s return to Montreal, said Monday that he and development group Devimco are working towards securing land near downtown to build a stadium and land a Major League Baseball franchise.  Read more here.

Latest on Montreal Baseball Project

The people trying to bring a Major League Baseball team to Montreal say the project would do best if a stadium was built downtown. The group released a study last week indicating that bringing the Expos back is financially viable, but a stadium with about 32,000 seats in a central location with public transit access would be best.  Read more here.

Political Support for Montreal Ballpark Funding

Quebec’s three main political parties are open to the idea of providing public money for the construction of a new baseball stadium in downtown Montreal — as long as taxpayers aren’t left on the hook for the whole thing.  Read more here.

Montreal Mayor Facing Ballpark Funding Challenge from Political Opponent

Projet Montréal (a municipal political party) Leader Valérie Plante and candidate Eric Alan Caldwell say while Mayor Denis Coderre is ready to give Major League Baseball a blank check in order to lure a team back to Montreal, their party won’t.  Read more here.

Commissioned Montreal Baseball Stadium Designs Revealed

Montreal baseball fans are getting excited after hearing architecture firm Provencher Roy has created a series of designs for a potential stadium downtown.  Read more and view designs here.

Montreal Expos Fans Invade 2017 Hall of Fame Weekend

There were many, many Expos fans in Cooperstown, having come from about five hours away by cars and by bus. They were all together again, rooting for a common cause, and in the process showing a national American audience on television — not to mention current commissioner Rob Manfred — that if MLB should return to Quebec, their arms would be wide open.  Read more here and here.

Pondering Montreal’s Baseball Future

Fans packed Olympic Stadium in Montreal (QC) on Friday and Saturday to the to watch the Toronto Blue Jays take on the Boston Red Sox, but what’s next in the quest to bring baseball back to the former MLB market?  Read more and view photo gallery here.

A Possible Site for a New Montreal Ballpark?

Montreal baseball fans dreaming of the return of major league baseball were teased once again Monday after developer Luc Poirier said that his newly purchased downtown property could become a baseball stadium.  Read more here.

Montreal Catches Baseball (Returning) Fever

Along the back wall of a sleek new souvenir and magazine shop at Trudeau International Airport in Montreal (QC), there is an array of sports team products: jerseys, hats, coffee mugs and the like.  The logos on the merchandise were for only two teams, the NHL’s Canadiens, and the Expos, a baseball team that has not existed for more than a decade.  Read more here.

LaBatt Park: The World’s Best Ballpark Never Built

The best major league baseball park that was never built was given a name: LaBatt Park.  A scale model of the stadium now sits on the lobby floor of the Montreal architecture firm Provencher Roy.  Read more here.

Montreal Mayor to Meet with MLB Commissioner to Pitch Return of Baseball

There really isn’t much new here, but Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre says he plans to meet with the commissioner of Major League Baseball at the end of the month in his ongoing quest to see the sport return to the city.  Read more and watch video here.

MLB Returns to Montreal Today and Saturday

Ground crews are preparing Olympic stadium in Montreal for Major League Baseball exhibition games on Friday, March 28, and Saturday, March 29, featuring the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Mets.  So far, more than 37,000 tickets have been sold for Friday night’s game and more than 43,000 for Saturday’s afternoon game.  Read more and watch news report here.

MLB Baseball Viable for Montreal

A feasibility study launched last March by the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal in cooperation with the Montreal Baseball Project, a grassroots group founded by former Expo Warren Cromartie, was released on Thursday.  Based on the analysis conducted by Ernst & Young, the return of MLB baseball would be financially viable under “a set of realistic assumptions.”  Read more here.

All About the Expos Logo

As part of an ongoing series about vintage sports logos, sports-identity blogger Todd Radom takes an interesting and historic look at the Montreal Expos logo.  Read more here.

Montreal Baseball Project Announces Feasibility Study for MLB’s Return

Montreal Baseball Project President and Founder Warren Cromartie announced last week that MBP, in collaboration with the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, Ernst & Young and BCF LLP, has launched a feasibility and survey study to examine the possibility of bringing a Major League Baseball franchise back to Montreal.  Read more here and here.

Montreal to Rename Street, Park After Gary Carter

Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay announced Wednesday that Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter, who passed away in February,  will be honored with the renaming of a youth-league park (to become Stade Gary Carter) and a street bordering the former Jarry Park Stadium (to become Rue Gary Carter).  Read more here.

‘Montreal Baseball Project’ Alive and Well

Despite the fact that the organization’s website has been down, former Montreal Expos star Warren Cromartie says his Montreal Baseball Project is moving full steam ahead.  The website is apparently being revamped, and Cromartie hopes to hold a press conference soon in Montreal to share progress on his organization’s effort to bring Major League Baseball back to the city.  Read more here

Spaceman Talks About Baseball in Montreal (and Lots of Other Stuff)

Former Boston Red Sox and Montreal Expos pitcher Bill “Spaceman” Lee yaks it up about a number of issues while in Regina (SK) working with the summer collegiate Regina Red Sox (Western Major Baseball League), including the team, preserving the current CFL football stadium (using Fenway Park as an example), the return of baseball to Montreal, and (egads, no!), politics.   Read more here.

Former Expos Gather for Pro Baseball in Montreal

Member of the division winning 1981 Montreal Expos are gathering June 14-16 in Montreal for charity and a reunion put together by the Warren Cromartie-led Montreal Baseball Project, an organization dedicated to honoring former players and bringing pro baseball back to Montreal.  Read more here.  Thanks to John Cerone for the link.

More Baseball Talk in Montreal

Ex-Expos outfielder Warren Cromartie was at a downtown hotel last week to introduce the Montreal Baseball Project to bring pro baseball back to Montreal.  Baseball-Québec, a group quietly working to bring a new stadium and indy pro Can-Am League franchise to a site near St. Lambert’s Champlain College, seems a tad tweaked by this announcement.  Read more here.  Thanks to John Cerone for the link.

New Report: The Future of MLB in Montreal

The Conference Board of Canada has released this briefing that explores the feasibility of Major League Baseball returning to Montreal.  While market conditions are good for the city, an unlevel playing field (no hard salary cap) and the need for a new stadium make it unlikely that MLB will return t0 Montreal any time soon.  Read more here.  Read a perspective from Ottawa here.

Citizens Committee to Explore Uses for the Big O

A citizens committee has been set up in Montreal to explore ways to better use Olympic Stadium.  One writer from the Montreal Gazette thinks demolition ought to be on the table.  Read more here.  Thanks to John Cerone for the link.