Perfect pitch: Dryden

Area MP says Downsview is the right soccer site Stadium would be ‘in the middle of today’s Toronto’

Downsview Park is a great location for a new soccer stadium, the member of Parliament who represents the area thinks, an opinion that puts him at odds with city officials who want the facility built downtown.

“ I think Downsview is not only a great location, I think it’s the right location,” Ken Dryden, who represents York West and is also the minister of social development, said yesterday.

“For anyone who lives and works south of the 401, the traditional understanding of Downsview is that it’s in the middle of nowhere.

“ But it’s in the middle of today’s Toronto, and it’s in the middle of tomorrow’s Toronto.” The comments came after the Canadian Soccer Association told the Star that it had decided to focus on the land near Keele St. and Sheppard Ave. W. as the site for a proposed 20,000- seat soccer stadium. One of the reasons for the decision, CSA chief operating officer Kevan Pipe said, was because Downsview is in the geographic centre of the GTA, and has good access to public transit and highways. But Toronto officials, including Mayor David Miller and Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone, had been lobbying for a stadium to be built at Exhibition Place. And the city councillor who represents the area has said she’d consider challenging the decision in court, saying the local infrastructure just couldn’t handle the crowds a large stadium would attract.

Pantalone said the city would reconsider contributing city funds — pending council’s approval — towards the $60 million project. Had the CSA chosen the site at the Ex, they were willing to put millions into the building, Pantalone, who is also the chair of Exhibition Place, said.

That decision is strange, Dryden said. “ The last I could see is that Downsview is very much in the city of Toronto. It’s within the boundaries.” The final approvals for the site are still pending, as is $8 million the province is considering contributing. The federal government has earmarked $27 million for the project. But a deadline looms. The CSA is hoping to start building by the new year, since July 2007 — the opening date for the FIFA world youth championships — is approaching.