End of an era: deconstruction begins at Mosaic Stadium

It’s been there since 1936 but now Taylor Field is in its final months of existence.

Deconstruction crews are set to bring equipment into the stadium as early as next week.

“There will be no explosions and no wrecking balls, it will be a conventional demolition with a high reach excavator primarily and it will essentially be dismantled piece by piece,” said Kyle Bouma, project manager for Budget Demolition which is based out of Hamilton, Ont.

He says a portion of the west stands will have a “controlled collapse” to help them bring it down to a more manageable level for deconstruction.

Residents might be affected by a small amount of road closures in the area. Ninth Avenue will see a road closure for a short time as the east side of the stadium comes down. Tenth Avenue will also be restricted traffic wise as trucks and equipment will use it as their access point to the stadium.

Bouma said they don’t plan to have crews working during the evening hours.

The goal is to recycle 90 per cent of the material from the stadium, with scrap metal and concrete being recycled at local businesses.

Barry Hillis lives in the area and says he will be watching the process from his front step.

“I’ll be an armchair quarterback across the street,” Hillis said while laughing.

Brent Oscar Nichol also lives in the area and has done so for his whole life. He said it’s bizarre to see the old stadium come down.

“This was my playground, I remember that place when there was houses on Cameron Street,” Oscar Nichol said.

Oscar Nichol does have questions about what they plan on doing with the land once the stadium deconstruction is completed.

This isn’t the first time Budget Demolition has torn down a CFL Stadium.

“We completed Ivor Wynne demolition in Hamilton so there’s striking resemblance to Taylor Field,” Bouma said.

He said they are bringing crews in from Hamilton but will also hire locally.

Deconstruction of the stadium is expected to be completed in December and foundation demolition is expected to last until April.

The contract for the demolition is worth $2.01 million. The city will be holding an information session once plans are put in place about what the redevelopment of the area will look like.