What made the Expos decide to move into Stade Olympique?

[Yankeebiscuitfan]

I know that the civilians of Montreal demanded that the Big Owe would be used right after the 1976 Olympics.

But did the Expos just accepted to go there? Or were they offered money?

Can someone tell me what made the Expos dieced to move into Olympic Stadium?

[Augustin_"Gus"]

I believe, and I could be wrong about this, but I believe that it was obvious from day one that Jarry Park was only a temporary solution. And when Montréal got the bid to organize the Olympics (I belive it was either in 68 or 1970) the logical choice for the team was to move into said olympic stadium after the games were over.

Of course, at that point, no one knew what the stadium would be like. It's clear that the Expos should have been more involved in the design of the park if they were to move in after 76. Then again, that would probably have required for the team to invest some money in the whole thing.

You know what, the more I think of it, the more I think that the stadium is cursed. Just think about it. It costed over a billion, it started to sink into the ground, the roof that could never be opened, the falling beams, the tarp that gave in... and that's just the stadium. Sportswise, Canada didn't win a gold medal at the Montréal games, the Expos never made it to the world series and ended up moving. There was Blue Monday, the 94 strike, Dravecky, Alou, Floyd...

That stadium is cursed my friends...

[Gjm130]

Yes, you're right!
The Stadium is cursed!

[POLO GROUNDS 1957]

The expos should never have left jerry park. they should have renovated the stadium instead of moving after 1976.

[soberdennis]

The expos should never have left jerry park. they should have renovated the stadium instead of moving after 1976.
jerry Park was a Minor League stadium. Of course the Orioles were able to take a MiLB stadium and expand it to fit their needs. So were the Braves in Milwaukee.
You also have to remember that the 76 Olympics nearly bankruted Canada. The government in Ottawa probably wanted the expos to possibly help cut the losses by playing in the O. Of course this is just speculation.

[Chicoutimi CP]

You also have to remember that the 76 Olympics nearly bankruted Canada.

False : the federal governement didn't put a single penny in the Olympics. But the games did almost bankrupt the Quebec government and the city of Montréal.

[Augustin_"Gus"]

Actually, Jarry Park wasn't even a minor league park. It was a minor baseball park. Our minor league park had been razed to the ground in the early 60's, right after the Royals' departure.

I'm not sure playing in Jarry Park could have been anything more than a temporary solution for a very simple reason: The stadium was located in a existing city park. So they just could not expand at will. Little like the Polo Grounds who, if I'm not mistaken, was originally located in Central Park. Had they decided to stay there, they couldn't have decided to take a couple square miles of the park to expand the stadium, get more parking spaces and so on. And even if, by chance, they had succeded in expanding Jarry Park, by the end of the century, the stadium would have been 30 years old, wich is an eternity for a ballpark in this day and age. They would have needed a new stadium anyway and we would have faced the exact same problem.

[runningshoes]

You also have to remember that the 76 Olympics nearly bankruted Canada.

That's a common misconception.

Canada, as stated above, didn't put a single penny into the stadium, but the province of Quebec and the city of Montreal got fleeced and are still paying for it.

The debt should be payed in full some time next month, believe it or not.

Good timing Chris. :laugh

[VIBaseball]

Jarry Park's seating capacity was expanded from a mere 3,000 (!) to roughly 28,500 at the Expos' inception. That was still easily the smallest capacity in the majors. As several people have pointed out, it was a stop-gap solution.

Apparently there was some talk of a domed stadium, but that didn't come to pass. Here's an excellent quote from longtime Expos play-by-play man Jacques Doucet, who says that Montreal's mayor at the time, Jean Drapeau, put a lot of pressure on club owner Charles Bronfman to play in the Big O.

http://www.sabr.org/sabr.cfm?a=cms,c,1221,34,0

[runningshoes]

Jean Drapeau wouldn't have known a baseball if Steve Rogers beaned him with one.

[wilkerson_rulz-06]

If any of you are interested, Jarry Park is now a tennis stadium officially know as Stade Uniprix and unofficially Old Jarry Park.

I went to Jarry Park if you recall for that Celebrity Softball Game, they played on one of the outdoor dirt fields, glorified, but still just a regular ballpark.

It was great, I wrote a nice big article on seeing the Hawk! :clapping

[txrangersown]

thinking about the expos is depressing....