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The new Bomber stadium under construction, seen last month. (ARCHIVES)

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   • Buck 'goes long' for Winnipeg

The guessing game continues on when the new stadium for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will open.

On Friday, Mayor Sam Katz told a local television station he understood the Bombers would not be playing football in their new stadium until September. Hours later, he told the Free Press the July opening was still on track.

Earlier in the day, Katz, referencing a conversation he had with Bombers CEO Garth Buchko, told Global News the new 33,500-seat Investors Group Field facility at the University of Manitoba would not be ready for the July 26 home opener against the Edmonton Eskimos.

"My understanding from a meeting with (Buchko) is that I think they've publicly announced the Banjo Bowl on Labour Day on the long weekend and that's when they've told me they will be opening and they'll be having some trial runs at the facility to make sure everything is operational," Katz told Global News Friday.

But in a subsequent interview with the Free Press, Katz pulled away from his original claim, indicating that he's been told the stadium is slated to open July 26, a date the football club is currently working towards.

More clarification: the Banjo Bowl -- the annual rematch with the Saskatchewan Roughriders following the Labour Day Classic in Regina -- takes place in Winnipeg a week after the Labour Day game.

The Bombers have yet to make any public announcement on when or if a new opening date timetable for Investors Group Stadium is being used at this juncture. That announcement is expected May 1, when the organization is expected to receive a definitive update on construction progress.

Once that is given, the club will determine how they will proceed with the location of home games.

The team has indicated it does have a contingency plan in place to house regular-season games at Canad Inns Stadium for the 2012 season.

The club gave no indication on whether there is a set number of games involved in this Plan B scenario, but did not dismiss the possibility of multiple games having to be played at the Polo Park facility.

Winnipeg opens the CFL regular-season schedule with four games on the road before its scheduled home debut against the Eskimos.

"We are still looking towards our crucial construction timeline of on or around May 1 and will continue to do a significant amount of due diligence with regards to Investors Group Field construction updates until that time," the club said via an email Friday.

The team added reports of suppliers and business partners being told by the managers to delay plans to operate at Investors Group Field would be "speculation at best."

In February, the Bombers admitted the new stadium was two months behind its original construction schedule, citing the weather (specifically the wind) as the reason for the delay. Club management has already resigned themselves to the fact Investors Group Field won't be ready for the start of the pre-season schedule this summer.

-- with files from Bartley Kives

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 21, 2012 C1