Baseball in B.C. Place: a thing of the past?

A follow-up from North of the Border on the whole idea of game in B.C. Place.

The stadium is undergoing a $563 million renovation for a Sept. 30 reopening and its floor and lower bowl will remain convertible for baseball. But Major League Baseball needs to approve the new centre-hung, high definition scoreboard. The giant video “shoebox” will be suspended from the housing for the retractable roofing fabric.

“We have asked MLB for a ruling on the scoreboard and required height but as yet we have not received a position,” B.C. Pavilion Corporation president Warren Buckley told the Courier. “None of the components of revitalization precludes us hosting a baseball series but we would have to upgrade some of the outfield components. In addition, we would of course have to amend the (synthetic) turf for the bases.”

Andy Dunn, president of the single-A, Northwest League Vancouver Canadians, said there have been talks with the parent Blue Jays about playing exhibition games at B.C. Place.

“I do have some concerns about compatibility, however once we see it open and operating we’ll have a better feel,” Dunn said. “Right now my concern would be height of the scoreboard. They are putting in a seamless turf (for soccer and football). If you’re putting in a seamless turf, how do you lay warning tracks, how do you lay infield? It can always be fixed if you threw enough money at it, but at the end of the day would it be economically feasible to try to pull it off?”