	cbt discusses major changes for renovation chicago board of trade cbt agricultural and financial futures markets could be in for a period of major upheaval later this year if the exchange goes ahead with planned renovation a cbt spokesman told reuters the exchange was looking at a number of options to identify the most cost effective and efficient way to proceed including one which would involve moving the entire s floor out of the building and into the nearby midamerica commodity exchange one of cbt chairman karsten mahlmann s agenda items has been to proceed with renovation in the financial futures room the spokesman said another cbt official executive vice president george sladoje said the issue would be discussed this friday at a special meeting on the exchange floor a number of presentations have been made with regard to renovating the financial futures room sladoje said we ve looked at five or six different alternatives involving such things as flip flopping the trading rooms he added it is conceivable that under a couple of these plans we might use the midamerica exchange temporarily for some cbt markets sladoje said if we move out of one floor entirely then the construction period will be about a year he said adding that the issue was likely to go to a membership vote first and then be on the drawing board for eight months to a year the cbt spokesman stressed that discussions were very preliminary at this stage and nothing was likely to begin until this summer at the earliest in order to renovate the crowded financial futures pits exchange officials have discussed providing them a temporary home next door in the present s dominated area this could involve moving cbt markets in u s treasury bond futures treasury notes muni bonds and options on t bonds and t notes through an adjoining corridor while utilizing the midamerica floor for such cbt futures contracts as corn wheat soybeans soybean products and agricultural options any such moves could meet with opposition among some cbt members one senior floor trader said the financial futures room badly needs renovating there is talk the s floor will shift to the midam and the financials will move to the s area he said the cbt spokesman said another option being discussed was to renovate the financial floor in quadrants one quarter at a time the first step after deciding the most effective way to proceed would be to get architectural and engineering drawings he said he added that it was difficult at present to determine an exact time frame for any possible moves this is a major undertaking and a process that would spread out over next year he said floor traders at the midamerica commodity exchange which merged with the cbt about a year ago said they were preparing to vacate their floor at the end of this month space has recently been cleared for them at the cbt by moving its major market index pit into the area once reserved for lightly traded cbt gold and silver futures which now share their trading area the midam specializes in mini contracts in s livestock metals financials and foreign currencies as well as some options contracts rumor has it that the cbt s are coming over here because the bonds are too crowded one midam trader said another source at the midam said this change could take place by july or august reuter 
