Toronto's football Argonauts were expected to announce that they would pull out of the York University stadium deal, reported the Toronto Star April 22 in a story picked up by Canadian Press. Rogers Centre was trying to persuade the reigning Grey Cup champions to stay at the downtown retractable-roof stadium (formerly Skydome) with a sweetheart, rent-free deal, the Star said.
Whether the York stadium will still go ahead is now unclear, said the paper. The Argos were only expected to need 10 dates a year, with the Canadian Soccer Association and Toronto Lynx soccer club to fill up much of the rest of the calendar. In theory, said the Star, the 25,000-seat project could still be downsized to 15,000 seats or less, and thus cost far less to build.
The Star claimed that Argo owners Howard Sokolowski and David Cynamon are facing rising costs at York. Originally budgeted at $70 million, with the federal and provincial governments kicking in $35 million, it's believed costs have already climbed upwards of $75 million before a shovel has been stuck in the ground, maintained the Star. (The University later refuted this assertion – see More News.) The Argos owners were scheduled to contribute $20 million to the stadium through a charitable donation to the York University Foundation, but they have also agreed to cover any unexpected costs or financial overruns.
The Argos were to have moved into the new York facility for the 2007 season but instead they are expected to announce plans to remain at the Rogers Centre and host the '07 Grey Cup game at the dome, said the Star.
Play's portrayal of dementia based on researchers’ notes
I'm Still Here, a play developed from research conducted with people at various stages of their "journey" into dementia, was to be presented in Waterloo on April 26, reported The Record in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge April 22. The play was brought to the stage, with remarkable results, by researchers and actors with Act II Studio, a theatre school committed to social action for adults aged 50 and over at Ryerson University. Using interviews from principal researchers Christine Jonas-Simpson and Gail Mitchell, the 40-minute play recreates real experiences, negative and positive, of people with Alzheimer's and related dementias. It uses their own words. Jonas-Simpson, who grew up in Conestogo, is director of nursing research at Sunnybrook and Women's Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. Mitchell is professor at York University's School of Nursing.
On air
- Monica Belcourt, director of York’s Graduate Program in Human Resources, discussed and answered viewers' questions on human resources issues, on ROB-TV’s Michael Vaughan Live April 21.