Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay said Monday that the "collapse of a concrete slab Sunday in the underground parking garage of the Olympic Stadium is an example of how Montreal's infrastructure has been neglected by various levels of government." Tremblay said, "For the past 30 years there hasn't been any major investment in Montreal's infrastructure, and the Olympic Stadium is a good example." He added that he "remained confident in the stadium and wants the province to equip it with a retractable roof, noting that a series of international sporting events -- including the Women's World Cup and the World Police and Fire Games -- are to use the venue over the next few years" (Montreal GAZETTE, 3/6).
DEVELOPMENT CENTER: In Boston, Casey Ross reports a court ruling has "removed the most significant legal barrier standing in the way of the long-delayed Fenway Center development," a $450M complex of apartments, stores, and offices to be built over the Massachusetts Turnpike. Fenway Center "calls for development" of 550 apartments, retail stores, parking garages, and a 27-story office and residential building on parking lots near Fenway Park. A "new commuter rail station is also slated to be built next to the site" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/7).
EVERYBODY SETTLES: In Phoenix, John Yantis reports the city of Goodyear and its insurance company will pay $1.1M to "settle legal entanglements" land surrounding its ballpark and spring training fields. Under the settlement, the city will pay $650,000 and its insurer will kick in an additional $450,000 to "settle claims over payment for roads, utilities, traffic signals and other improvements at the site." The agreement "ends a lawsuit by landowners that charged the city wrongly benefited from the development." The settlement "effectively clears the way to develop the roughly" 100 acres around the ballpark and training facilities used by the Indians and Reds (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 3/7).
