Toronto FC's pitch to put down grass at BMO Field has cleared its first major hurdle with the city.

The board of governors of Exhibition Place yesterday voted overwhelmingly in favour of a proposal by TFC owner Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment to spend $5.5 million to replace the Field Turf at the city-owned stadium in time for next season's first home game.

"It's a no-brainer for us to support it," said deputy mayor Joe Pantalone, chair of the Exhibition Place.

The three-pronged proposal, which would be completely funded by MLSE, would include $3.5 million for the grass installation at BMO Field, $1.2 million to put a bubble over city-owned Lamport Stadium to accommodate public use requirements and $800,000 to build an artificial turf field at Lakeshore Collegiate Institute.

"It's a good thing to do for everybody," Pantalone told the meeting. "There are no losers in this effort.

"Everybody's a winner."

The proposal is expected to be considered by full Toronto city council on Sept. 30, where Mayor David Miller predicts smooth sailing "because it's the right thing to do."

Miller, a TFC season ticket holder, said getting grass at BMO Field will help establish Toronto as "the centre of soccer in Canada" because more national team games will be played at the stadium.

Miller also said it will improve the fortunes of TFC by making it easier for the club to lure top-flight players and keep current ones healthy as there's a belief an artificial turf field is harder on the body than a natural one.

Since before the $63 million stadium opened in 2007, the Field Turf has been controversial.

This season, criticism of it has intensified as TFC officials and players, led by star Dwayne De Rosario, have said it must be replaced.

"When I see it, I'll believe it," De Rosario said with a laugh when told of the timetable to get the artificial surface replaced for next season.

But teammate and fellow Scarborough native Adrian Serioux, who attended the meeting along with Danny Dichio, who announced his retirement earlier this week, said "it's great to see so many people are backing us" in the push for natural grass.

"If we get this then it's really just up to us to just go out and perform and produce what they deserve from a team," Serioux said.

Dichio, who said he moved into a coaching role in part because his body couldn't withstand the pounding of the turf, called it "a massive day for the club."

A key part of the deal to secure public funding for BMO Field was providing year-round public use, which led to Field Turf and a bubble being erected each winter.

Despite shifting public use away from BMO Field, MLSE said its plan for Lamport and Lakeshore Collegiate will actually lead to a 36 per cent increase in overall public access for everything from exercise classes to youth soccer.

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MLSE has also agreed to pay the on-going costs of maintaining the grass and cover any reduction in revenues the city suffers with the shift in public use from Exhibition Place to Lamport in terms of parking a facility rentals.

Talks are also underway with Queen's Park and Ottawa, which helped fund BMO Field construction, to get the plan endorsed.