I like your work. Great to see the effort. A stadium like Bright House Networks Stadium would work in Halifax. Also the InfoCision Stadium in Akron, Ohio that you previously posted. I see your point about having a bowl and keeping the number of rows to a minimum. One other thing, is these appear to be built with bench style seating. There are three big advantages to this; higher seating capacity (I estimate about 10% more than with folding chairs), lower stadium cost, and a big one for Halifax - lower maintenance cost (especially if exposed to the elements of rain and snow). I think that very little is lost in comfort with bench style seats. To many this may seem like a minor point but to me it seems like a very important factor in having an affordable stadium (maintenance cost will end up being a major economic expense as the stadium ages).
I would like to see
part of the stadium stands covered. A roof can actually be built relatively cheaply. If you look at Saputo Stadium in Montreal, it was built for $14 million. But only part of the stands are covered. My reason isn't only concern about rain. I am more concerned about being in the sun for 2 - 3 hours (this would tend to keep me away since I would get burnt so quickly). It could be built initially without a roof and have one added later or just cover part of the stands. Even if just half of the stands are covered, then the people who prefer being in the shade will have that option. And maybe half of the people would actually prefer to be in the sun. A stadium roof becomes expensive once it is designed as a masterpiece like many new expensive stadiums. The partial roof over Saputo Stadium (
http://www.quebecsoccer.com/imlibres/stadeair2.jpg ) looks respectable but is a basic design. Another factor with minimizing the snow load is to have the roof slanted and teflon-coated so that the snow will slide of it. Most of the fabric domed roofs are teflon coated based on what I have read.
I really like the Wanderers Grounds and I am sure that there is room. I also like DND Willow Park (Windsor and Young). However, I don't want to wait 10 years until the land becomes available. I want someone in the HRM council to get started right away and have a stadium built within 3 years or sooner (preferably on the Wanderers Grounds). The Wanderers Grounds being city owned property should benefit the maximum number of people in the HRM which it would if a stadium was built there.
I honestly believe that there are many people who would contribute money to this project if the city would get moving on it and set up a trust fund. So it would not just be government money. Part of it could come from fund raising events. Same with the CFL ownership. It could be set up as a community ownership similar to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.