Speakers fall 30 meters onto bleachers at Tim Horton’s Field

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Tim Horton’s Field, Hamilton’s brand new stadium is literally falling apart and it’s clear that someone could have been seriously hurt in the process. One of the stadium’s 150 pound speakers came crashing down and bounced off the seats Monday morning.

Crews are working to try and prevent something similar from happening again. A crane is parked on Balsum Avenue that’s set to remove all 11 of the speakers on the stadium’s east side after it was determined that they were all faulty.

Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk says Pan Am organizers took shortcuts to finish their venues on time and on budget. One of those venues is the Tim Hortons Field which still needs work done.

No one was hurt, but councilor Lloyd Ferguson worries what would have happened if the seats were filled with fans. Hamilton is suing Stadium Builders Ontario Sports Solutions, Infrastructure Ontario and the Pan Am games organizing committee for $35 million in damages.

Despite the deficiencies and the Pan Am games going $342 million over budget, 53 senior staff at Queen’s Park will still share $5.3 million in bonuses. The original plan was that they’d only get 25% of their bonus if operating and capital budgets were met, which didn’t happen. Instead, a $74 million operating budget increase was approved in 2014 and the original bonus plan was eliminated which means everyone gets 100% of their bonus

“When you have infrastructure projects that are still not complete and are now in the courts, that does not justify a bonus for anybody.” Lloyd Ferguson says that the city has acquired $6 million from Infrastructure Ontario and are in the process of hiring another contractor to finish off the stadium’s remaining deficiencies.

In terms of the Ticats, a sound system will have to be rented out for the Cats preseason matchup against the Ottawa Red Blacks next Friday at Tim Horton’s field. Balsum Avenue is set to be closed Thursday and Friday to clear the way for staff to remove the speakers.