Hamilton stadium contractor is only targeting a limited Labour Day opening of Tim Hortons Field

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats' plans to host the Labour Day Classic against Toronto at the new Tim Hortons Field are still facing a multitude of challenges. On Friday, Hamilton city councillor Lloyd Ferguson estimated the stadium had just a 65 to 70 per cent chance of being open at all by Sept. 1, and the latest news may not improve those odds. Contractor Ontario Sports Solutions finally turned in an occupancy application to the city's building department Wednesday morning, two days after that was initially expected, but that application was only for partial occupancy. Thus, even if the city's inspection (expected to take five days) goes perfectly, there may be a lot of seats the team can't sell. Matthew Van Dongen of The Hamilton Spectator writes that the only areas included in the application are the east side stands and the lower west bowl:

Van Dongen added on Twitter that it's possible additional areas of the stadium could be approved as well. If they aren't, though, this would be yet another blow for the Tiger-Cats, who have already had this stadium-opening game postponed time after time this year, from July 26 to August 16 to September 1. They've had to play their first three home games at McMaster University's Ron Joyce Stadium, with a capacity of just 6,500 and an environment that's far from ideal by CFL standards. (In fact, beer's not even allowed in the stands there, something the team has cited as an explanation for the swathes of empty seats seen at their last game.) Making it into even a partially open Tim Hortons Field would be a step up, but this application (if it's approved without modifications) would mean that several seating areas (the west upper bowl and the end zone areas) wouldn't be available; moreover, if they can't even finish all the seats on time, that doesn't bode well for the rest of the stadium's infrastructure, such as concessions and restrooms. That's not going to go over well with already-aggrieved Tiger-Cat fans.

Even an extremely limited Tim Hortons Field for Labour Day seems like the best-case scenario for the Tiger-Cats, though, which says a lot about the paucity of other options. Ron Joyce Stadium will not be available, as the McMaster Marauders host Guelph in CIS football action that day. The game could theoretically be played in Toronto at the Rogers Centre, as the Blue Jays aren't in action, but they have an afternoon game the previous day; a one-day turnaround was cited as insufficient time to prepare the stadium for football last year. One of the few options might be returning to the University of Guelph's Alumni Stadium, where the Tiger-Cats played their "home" games last year, but the temporary stands are no longer there, so it would only hold about 7,600 without that, and it's a 42-minute drive away from Tim Hortons Field. The university there might not love the idea of hosting a CFL game on Labour Day on short notice, too; that's right in the middle of when students are moving in, meaning there are already traffic issues. Thus, the CFL and the Tiger-Cats will be desperately hoping that the application to open at least part of Tim Hortons Field succeeds. Having that as the best possible outcome illustrates just how messed up this stadium situation has become.