The Expos on Friday made public "more prominent names"
from the Montreal business community who will join the
team's push for a new downtown ballpark, according to
Stephanie Myles of the Montreal GAZETTE. The team also
"outlined the various sub-committees" which will operate
under the umbrella of a group titled Operation 2001, and
"set the target numbers" for PSL sales from the committees,
the ownership group and an honorary committee. Former
Expos Owners Edgar Bronfman and Hugh Hallward, Bombardier
CEO Laurent Beaudoin and Royal Bank President John Cleghorn
were among the leaders named to the honorary committee.
Expos President & General Partner Claude Brochu said that he
and his ownership partners "have personally committed" to
selling 1,000 pairs of PSLs, while Operation 2001 "has set"
4,000 pairs as its target number. In addition,
commissioners of Montreal area industrial parks "have
pledged to sell another" 1,000 pairs. If all the various
committees in Operation 2001 meet their goals, $80M will be
raised in this initial phase of financing. Brochu also
updated the team's sales figures for the project, saying
that 40 of the 62 corporate boxes have been sold, and that
the PSL total "now stands" at "just under" $37M, with just
over two months remaining until the Expos' stated deadline
of June 30 (GAZETTE, 4/25). The Expos plan to raise $100M
from PSL sales, and then "find creative solutions" with the
government to raise the remaining $150M needed for the
stadium project (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 4/25).
LES NOTES: In Montreal, Pat Hickey wrote that the Expos
"trotted out a list of heavy hitters" Friday, but "more than
a third" of the committee chairs "were too busy to show up"
at the event. Hickey: "They have lent their names, but
presumably little else, to this project" (Montreal GAZETTE,
4/26). ...Montreal Mayor Pierre Borque "indicated that the
city might make the Expos exempt from paying property taxes"
on the team's proposed downtown site for a ballpark,
"provided that the Quebec government compensates Montreal
for the loss in revenue" (Montreal GAZETTE, 4/26).
