Call it another mistake by the lake.
That's what city Councillor Rob Ford thinks about the city's $8.5-million soccer fields sitting locked and unused due to the polluted Portlands they were built on last year.
Yesterday the Sun revealed the cost of the Cherry Beach Sports Fields, which are finally to open this fall for 10 weeks, had jumped $3 million.
"It's another boondoggle under the (Mayor David) Miller watch," Ford told the Sun yesterday. "That's what you call a complete waste of taxpayers' money. After a while you just get fed up."
Ford said he's dying for soccer fields in Rexdale but with this council it seems it's not a priority if it's not downtown.
"Centennial Stadium was supposed to be Astroturf but there's no Astroturf there because they said, 'We don't have any money,' " Ford said. "And then we find out they've got $8.5 million for that land down there."
An artificial turf field would cost about $1 million, he said.
The taxpayer-funded Waterfront Toronto, which built the fields in the Portlands, said the cost was driven up due to soil contamination.
"Didn't they do tests before they did this?" Ford asked.
Councillor Doug Holyday said if the mayor wants to take credit for the fields, he'll let him.
"It sounds like another city blunder," he said. "What's the sense of voting on a $5.5-million matter when it turns out to cost over 50% more?"
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