Stadium will be ‘ready enough’ for Ticat home opener

(Updated) With just four weeks to go before their first scheduled home game — and despite serious delays — officials say Tim Hortons field will be ready for the Ticats’ home opener. But it will be far from complete.

That was the message delivered this morning by representatives from the Hamilton Ticats and Infrastructure Ontario. The government agency responsible for overseeing construction of the new Pan Am stadium.

Officials say everything possible is being done to ensure the building is ready for the Ticat home opener July 26, but they admit ready does not mean that it will be picture perfect.

“There will still be construction to be completed after July 26, but it will be a functional site that fans will be able to enjoy for the first game,” said John McKendrick of Infrastructure Ontario.

If all goes according to this latest revised plan, the July home opener will be the first time football fans across the country get a chance to see the new stadium, even if it’s still under construction.

“I’m not really worried about what the rest of the country thinks. I’m worried about what Hamilton thinks and the fans think when they get in there,” said Hamilton mayor Bob Bratina. “I think the city should be proud that they got a very cost effective stadium. It will be a high quality stadium and the fans will be able to enjoy it and we’re going to be doing a lot better.”

“I don’t think that what you’re going to see is people walking up to a construction site and crawling over things to go to a professional football game I think a lot of the things that will be missing will be things that the fans don’t even observe like the community scoreboard for example,” said Glenn Gibson, president of the Ticats.

If the project for some reason is not ready on the July 26, the Ticats say they have a contingency plan but they aren’t ready to divulge details of that plan.

As for any penalties for another delay, city officials say they won’t be on the hook for any