A renewed lease for the CFL Toronto Argonauts to play at Rogers Centre "will effectively serve as notice to vacate, clearing the way for grass to be installed for baseball no later than 2018," according to Tom Maloney of the GLOBE & MAIL. The lease renewal is "expected to include a clause that would allow the Argos to exit early, perhaps as soon as the 2015 season." The Blue Jays have determined it is "possible to grow and maintain a grass playing surface inside the facility by digging up the floor, adding a drainage system and topping it with about 30 centimetres of dirt." But Argos Exec Chair & CEO Chris Rudge said his team "can't play there if they have grass." Maloney notes it would be "especially complicated to maintain natural turf in the indoor stadium, despite its retractable roof, with football cleats chewing it up." Meanwhile, because Rogers Centre is "surrounded symmetrically by high walls to support the retractable roof, special lighting may be required to stimulate grass growth." But the "biggest hurdle is lack of drainage" (GLOBE & MAIL, 9/10).
