Speculation about old Children's Hospital has baseball fans dreaming

Montreal baseball fans hoping for the return of major league baseball were teased once again on Monday, when developer Luc Poirier suggested the old Children's Hospital property could become a baseball stadium.

• New owner of former Children's Hospital hints at using site for baseball stadium
• MLB commissioner envisions baseball's return to Montreal
• Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre 'delighted' over baseball expansion plans
• LISTEN: Former Expos playerWarrenCromartie onCBC Montreal'sDaybreakat7:20 a.m.Tuesday

Poirier's winning-bid made him the owner of the sprawling former Montreal Children's Hospital, which he mentioned could conceivably be turned into a ballpark.

Some fans thought it would be possible though a little tight on space.

Others felt the propertyatthe corner ofRen-LvesqueBoulevardand Atwater Street would be far too small.

But one man who has devoted long hoursfor the return of the Exposwasnotconvincedthe site would work.

"Personally, I think it's a little too small," said Warren Cromartie, a former Montreal Expo who has led the Montreal Baseball Project, which aims to bringmajor league baseball to the city.

"It's a great area, one of the first areas I lived in when I played for the Expos, it certainly hasall the subway transportation with the highway and some places like that, but it's too small," he told CBC from his Florida home.

Sports journalist Jonah Keri, who has writtenextensivelyabout the Expos, echoed those sentiments.

"It's a really small site. It's a cool location,obviously,if theycould pull that off. But my sense is that is a pretty small and difficult site."

On CBC Montreal'sFacebook page, reaction appeared split, though one commentersuggested the proximity to downtown would make it work.

"A baseball stadium has to be downtown if it is to work in Montreal.And while parking is important, I think being close to the Metro is even more important so it looks like a win-win, here," wrote Tim Leighton on CBC Montreal'sFacebookpage.