Friday 1 May 2009

Trust me baby, it will fit.

K, let's settle this once and for all: will it fit or won't it?

Advocates for turning the proposed site of the Canada Post depot into an athletic field for Gordon Bell High School say that a regulation field will fit in the triangular space. Others are skeptical.

So since I apparently had nothing better to do on a Friday night I decided to put my modest Photoshop skills to work to determine once and for all who is right.

Now, I don't know how big a regulation soccer pitch is, but the pertinent question is: can a field suitable for a high school fit in the space? To find out I super-imposed an actual field from another actual Winnipeg high school onto the property in question (thanks Google maps!!). I chose Kelvin H.S. on Academy Rd, but I think they're pretty much all the same. Here's what I got:


The standard 400m track would be problematic, but it appears the field inside the track (shown from goal post to goal post in red) would indeed fit, as long as you don't mind scrunched end zones. You would also need big-ass fences to keep the balls off the street. But, yes, the U of W athletic director is correct when he says "an accepted soccer field size of 100 yards by 50 yards would fit onto the property in a number of ways."

I stand by my earlier comments that Pat Martin et al are late to the party and that this is all going to cost Canada Post big $$ if they're forced to relocate at this stage of the game.

So there you go. Now if you'll excuse me, I think Paris Hilton's British Best Friend is on Much Music.

8 comments:

Scott MacNeil said...

Seems clear a soccer pitch will fit. Makes on wonder who the twerps were who pronounced it would not? Even seems there would be enough room for a small grandstand (maybe even a few trees?). Odd how such a simple (mis)calculation has caused such a kerfuffle - talk about unnecessary drama.

Scott MacNeil said...

Hey Monsieur Cherenkov,

Could have sworn I didn't wake up til 4am this morn! Unless of course I am dreaming - think your time stamp is off.

Grumpy Old Man said...

I've not followed this issue that closely but I believe the skeptics suggested a football field would not fit on that space.

Is a soccer field smaller than a standard Canadian football field?

Whatever. If we really wanted to do this why not end Broadway at Maryland and take that space? We cannot touch Portage Avenue...

cherenkov said...

I think I fixed the time stamp problem, Monsieur Fat Arse. Thanks for pointing it out.

@Grumpy: A CFL field is 150 yards long including end zones and most definitely would not fit here. I seem to recall from previous research that professional soccer pitches come in different sizes but are generally wider than 50m. Similar to what Rob Galston posted in the post that I linked to in my other post.

Anonymous said...

Let's close down Portage and Broadway, after all 200-300 non taxpayers who will likey never use the field except for drinking and smoking after dark should get what they want.

4Shaw said...

The field would never get used. I understand that physical education is important and it's kind of disgraceful that Gordon Bell has little to no greenspace, but a simple soccer pitch is a horrible idea. I agree with anon; you can drink just as well on the steps of the new post office as you can on a soccer field

Marginalized Action Dinosaur said...

I guess they could have the provinces only triangular track, but and there is always a but. Enrollment is always falling in Winnipeg school division one couldn't we just transfer these Gordon Bell students to Kelvin or somewhere else that has a track, or would the worry be that WSD1 might go a year without a tax increase?

We could then sell the school for something productive like welfare housing, so people who don't feel bothered to work this life time can get free cable while living off those hard pressed taxpayers.

cherenkov said...

Free cable? Sign me up!

Nelson Mac has a weird little track too.

 
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