The Expos "will play ball in Montreal in 1999,"
according to Johnston & Myles of the Montreal GAZETTE. The
original June 30 deadline to announce a decision on the
proposed C$250M downtown ballpark has been pushed back to
the end of September to allow "more time" to sell seat
licenses. The team also plans to make public a revised
financing proposal. Expos Chair Jacques Menard, also Deputy
Chair of Nesbitt Burns, a minority owner in the Expos
consortium, said that the investment house is currently
designing the new financing proposal (GAZETTE, 6/12). Expos
President Claude Brochu backed off from his earlier
statements and acknowledged that a June 30 deadline was
"maybe a little unrealistic" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 6/12).
BROCHU RESPONDS TO CRITICS: Brochu, in response to
criticism of his handling of the ballpark proposal and calls
for Menard to play a more active role in the franchise's
future": "This organization has a general partner. And I'm
the general partner. In spite of some of the gossipy stuff
that you pick up, we're continuing to make very good
progress, and we're going to see the thing through. We're
not going to change any structure" (Montreal GAZETTE, 6/12).
