Report: Tim Hortons Field delay caused by engineering mistake

A report in the Globe and Mail suggests the new stadium for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats was not originally designed to properly support its listed capacity of 24,000, leading to major delays that saw the C$145.7-million facility open three months later than expected.

Tim Hortons Field finally opened in time for the Labour Day Classic between the Tiger-Cats and the Toronto Argonauts, but part of the stands remained closed, lowering capacity for the contest to 18,000. Some union workers who built the stadium blame an engineering miscalculation for the delay.

Ontario Sports Solutions, the construction company in charge of the project, blamed delays on a number of factors, including a particularly harsh winter and a subcontractor going bankrupt. It also blamed the city for taking too long to issue building permits.

According to Tony DiMaria of the Birck and Allied Craft Union Local 1 in Hamilton, nobody noticed the design mistake until ironwork was underway in October. Various materials and components needed to be redesigned, manufactured and delivered, delaying all future work in the process.

The total cost of the delays has not yet been made public, but the City of Hamilton has indicated it plans on pursuing every possible avenue to ensure it's Ontario Sports Solutions, rather than the taxpayer, who pays the bill.