Stadium 'outlived its usefulness'
City on right track erecting new waterfront venue, some fans say
November 11, 2009
Dana Brown
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/670425
Philip Pickles has been attending games at Ivor Wynne Stadium for at least 25 years and he's ready for a change.
Although he's "a little" attached to the east-end stadium, the 39-year-old Hannon resident thinks a new waterfront venue at the old Rheem Canada site is the way to go.
"It's had its time," said Pickles of aging Ivor Wynne. "The stadium's outlived its usefulness."
Pickles would like to see a new venue offering some shelter to shield fans from blustery weather.
And he's not the only one ready to say goodbye to the old stadium.
Several fans at the Ticats' last home game said they supported the city's initiative to move forward on a new stadium, a move given a huge boost when southern Ontario recently won the right to host the 2015 Pan Am Games.
Hamilton is to provide the track stadium and velodrome and a practice pool at McMaster.
"It would be nice to have a new facility," Art Shore said. "Every major city seems to be spending money on a new facility. Why can't we?"
Shore, 72, has been heading to games at the stadium since he was a young man and suggested the site might suit a downsized venue for high school football.
As for losing a local landmark?
"We have a lot of great local landmarks," he said.
The Pan Am win means millions in federal and provincial funding to help construct a new 15,000-seat stadium. For a full-size venue for football, the cost would top $150 million, with the extra money to come from the private sector.
Keeping Ivor Wynne safely operating for the next several years will cost up to $20 million and a proper renovation carries a price tag of around $94 million.
The city has already purchased the former Rheem Canada plant to prepare for building a Pan Am stadium.
Carol Nagy, 44, of Burlington called having a new facility a "fabulous idea."
"I'm not terribly tied to a stadium," she said, noting that things change and modernize.
An educational centre or something that supports business would be good for the Balsam Avenue site, Nagy said.
Dave Howse, 47, said a new waterfront venue would be a great draw for the city and would be more accessible than Ivor Wynne.
He does concede, though, he will miss the legendary venue.
"It's a great old stadium."
Not everyone thinks the project is in the best interests of the city right now.
"I'm thinking that Hamilton could use the money better somewhere else," Eden Pearson said.
Pearson, 40, said with issues such as ongoing flooding, there are other things the city needs to take care of first.
A look back at Ivor Wynne Stadium:
Source: Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Originally called the Civic Stadium, Ivor Wynne opened its doors to the public for the first time in 1930.
The venue was initially constructed to hold the British Empire Games, the first major athletic event Canada hosted. With only about 2,000 seats, the stadium got a revamp after the Hamilton Tiger-Cats became permanent tenants at the venue in 1950.
Capacity was boosted with about 15,000 new seats and construction was completed in 1959.
In 1970, Civic Stadium, which was showing its age, was renamed in honour of Ivor Wynne, the McMaster University athlete, athletic director and first dean of students. The city ultimately shelled out $2 million for stadium renovations, bringing seating in the venue up to about 30,000, the largest venue in the Canadian Football League.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been poured into subsequent renovations over the years, including a new scoreboard and sound system, a new drainage revamp, new sewer connections and sky boxes for the 1996 Grey Cup which cost $1.2 million.
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