Halifax Stadium Discussion

[resetcbu1]

I have a (very) faint hope that city council will realize how inadequate a 10 000 seat stadium is, after all they will have the final say as this is just a recomendation of a steering comitee.Sure there are a few who would like to see a rinky dink glorified Huskies stadium, but surely there are a few that share the sentiments with the majority of this forum and general public that would prefer not to waste our money on this , hopefully there will more discussion on size and not just follow this pathetic recomendation of a small interst steering comitee....

[halifaxboyns]

If there is one thing I have learned in the planning profession, until the vote is officially done and you know you have the same council in the next election - nothing is ever for certain.

I've had stuff go to council and then out of no where, be directed back for changes...so we'll see how it goes. I don't think a small stadium is bad, so long as it has room to grow. They may be conservative because of the amount of push back on Nova Centre and public money being involved. But as I always say, not all public services (run by city's) make money. If that were the case, schools would be a user pay and so would parks - or there would be no parks. People don't seem to get that.

Last time I was home, my family decided to take on my position about Nova Centre and going forward with it. So I turned the tables and put forward what I just said - not all services make money. When they realized that either they could be forced to pay to get in (or out of) a park, or there would be none, the 'light bulb' turned on. I don't think many have reached that point yet with Nova - so the committee is being cautious.

[Dmajackson]

Don't think this has been mentioned before.

The former steel factory on Windmill Road where it meets Victoria Road is up for sale. This is a huge parcel of land and is likely the largest underdeveloped parcel left in urban Halifax (exlcuding Mount Hope lands). Covering 20 acres at an extremely important intersection it is unsurprising the asking price is high ($11.5M). The lands are zoned General Industrial but could be subdivided into commercial and residential uses through municipal ammendments. There is a bit of shoreline included that fronts onto Navy Island Cove.

Personally I think this could be a candidate site for a stadium. It's probably large enough, it has good access to Dartmouth, Peninsula, Bedford, and Sackville. It is at the junction of two major roadways both of which connect to the 100-series. To the south the MacKay has two interchanges providing choice. Highway 111 and 118 are minutes away. Heading north Bedford and Sackville are connected directly and the highway remains twinned to Windsor. The stadium would be surrounded by commercial uses that would see an influx of customers during events. There is little residential around which minimizes negative impact. The games/events could be scheduled for after rush-hour to make efficient use of the 4-7 lane roadways. The site is adequately served by Metro Transit and with increased coverage it could become a large share of the trips. A new link stop would provide direct connections to Downtown and Sackville, and current rush-hour stops could provide extended game coverage. Hell, if we were to get really ambitious the adjacent rail-lines could be used.

Anyways if someone has the time and computer skills I would love to see an overlay of a stadium on this site to see if it could even fit.

[q12]

From Metro Halifax

Council mulls next phase of stadium study

ALEX BOUTILIER
METRO HALIFAX
Published: August 02, 2011 1:47 a.m.
Last modified: August 02, 2011 1:48 a.m.

Halifax regional council will decide whether to move ahead with the next stage of a study on a proposed 10,000- to 20,000-seat stadium today.

The Phase 1 study into the viability of a Halifax stadium was released to the public on Friday. Both the steering committee study — led by a group of citizen volunteers — and a staff report from chief administrative officer Richard Butts recommends moving forward with the study at a cost of $275,000.

Read more here...http://www.metronews.ca/halifax/loca...-stadium-study

[q12]

From News 95.7

Committee gives thumbs-up to further study of Halifax sports stadium

Desiree Finhert
Aug 02, 2011 05:30:47 AM
News 95.7

However, the 20,000 seat count is short a few hundred seats for hosting Canadian Football League games, one of the possible attractions that could be housed by the new stadium.

"If the green light is given to go to the second phase than these kinds of considerations come into much sharper focus," said Spurway, adding there are other groups interested in using the proposed facility.

Read more here... http://www.news957.com/news/local/ar...sports-stadium

I think we are jumping the gun. They may be recommending in Phase 1 to proceed with atleast a 10,000 seat stadium, but Phase 2 sounds like it will be the important phase that will really determine the size of the stadium. We just got to keep the pressure on them so they see the benefits of the 20-25,000 seater.

[roccerfeller]

Originally Posted by wespidel

Well the reality is that the residents of Halifax and the region to not want this tiny little dinky ridiculous, embarrassing eyesore facility! They want a bigger and better modestly priced 25 to 30 thousand permanent seat stadium with all the amenities that can be expanded to 45 or 50 thousand for other major events and that is the fact and that is what the majority of people want and yes these same people what the 10th CFL to land in Halifax and the first ever Grey Cup Game in Atlantic Canada and they want a stadium that can accommodate large concerts and yes they want Halifax to be the professional sports and entertainment capital of Atlantic Canada.

Someone has to stand up for what the people want!

Well said,

I agree that Halifax should be looking for a CFL franchise...before Moncton beats 'em to it.

Re: CFL capacity, It is kinda stupid that the CFL demands 25k seat stadiums when you have cities like Toronto barely scraping past 20k (Toronto!!), but look further west and CFL on the prairies wouldn't work with a 20k seat stadium....Calgary, Winnipeg & Regina all support ~30k seater's with Edmonton having the leagues largest building and a strong football history, and you understand why 25k is the "standard" - it commits to potential.

To further this, I would suggest that if Regina can pull in majority of their sell-out 30k seater at Mosaic Stadium from a fan base of over 215k, I would suggest that Halifax can no doubt fill a 25k seat minimum stadium with over 400k people.

Originally Posted by q12

From News 95.7

I think we are jumping the gun. They may be recommending in Phase 1 to proceed with atleast a 10,000 seat stadium, but Phase 2 sounds like it will be the important phase that will really determine the size of the stadium. We just got to keep the pressure on them so they see the benefits of the 20-25,000 seater.

I hope so

I would love to see the CoH build a proper stadium....if you're doing this, why not do it right?

You can bet the CFL will peak up like a deer hearing some noise once this is going forward.

The good news, is that this is just a confirmation to continue the study...hopefully they look at CFL.

And if the city pressures council to make CFL an important issue, then it will happen.

I would personally love to see Halifax get a CFL team.

[q12]

Rick's Rants
[Professional Blog] Rick's Rants Tuesday August 2nd/2011

Send it back to the drawing board!! and A preview of future times??
Send it back! Halifax city council today will discuss a citizen's committee report on whether a multi-purpose sports stadium is worth pursuing. The committee is recommending council go to the next phase of the effort, a closer look at details like cost, location and design. Where the committee falls short however, at least in my opinion, is its suggestion we limit ourselves to a 10,000 seat stadium, expandable to 20,000 when necessary, as in the possibility of hosting a 2015 FIFA World Cup women's soccer match. The group's best guess is that a ten thousand seater would lose nearly a half million dollars a year but generation several million to the local economy. Building a larger stadium with a 20,000 seat capacity, expandable by another 5,000, would open the door to more concerts, special events and perhaps one day a CFL franchise. We need a sports stadium. Let's get it right and get it done!
http://www.halifaxnewsnet.ca/Blog-Ar...August-2nd2011

Don't always agree with him but at least he has this right.

[halifaxboyns]

15000 seats just doesn't work. If the whole goal of this is to look at getting more concerts, a CFL franchise and the FIFA event in 2015 - you need to look at the minimum requirements for each and work upward. I'd suspect (I don't know if this is true) that the FIFA event would require a much bigger stadium as well, probably around the same as CFL's requirements.

I suspect the CFL requirement is probably an average of the facilities across their league. As someone pointed out, here in Calgary as well as in Edmonton, Sask. and Winnipeg - we can support bigger crowds and 25,000 is too small. Let's face it; even if the stadium is built at 25k or even 50k - if a CFL team comes, attendance will depend on how much support there is from the region, how well the team does and a number of other factors. It will never be constant - there will years where it's less (because maybe they are in a bad streak) and years where there aren't enough seats because a team could be kicking butt. But 25k should be the minimum level and then expand from that.

[q12]

Just heard on the radio that council is divided on the stadium, many support it but there are others saying it is a waste of money.

Watch online, and see who is opposing it so they can be booted in the next election. Did they forget there is only going to be 16 councillours and there is big public support for a stadium?

http://live.haligonia.ca/haligoniaplayerlive.php

[wespidel]

What a awful bunch of councillors and I`m not referring to the councillors or the Mayor in favour of going to phase two. The only thing I`m not in favour of is the cost of 275 thousand dollars on top the the first phase 100 thousand dollar cost. Someone is really taking HRM and our tax dollars for a real ride only to build a 10 thousand permanent seat replacement mickey mouse stadium for Saint Marys!

I only caught some of it on line but I hope and pray that Nussli aren`t involved with their model because they were talking about a modular type facility which can only go to 20 or 30 thousand seats total. I know the presentation I missed in total was presented by a European.

Anyway what a bunch a clowns, I hope all the councillors that bring this down or if it`s barely passes, that voted no get dismissed in the next election!

[q12]

Stadium discussion at council has moved to next week so staff can answer more of the councils questions.

[Keith P.]

And Jennifer Watts is opposed to the idea of a stadium but wants the money to be used for more bike lanes and for handouts to cultural groups. Cripes almighty, this woman is a menace!

[wespidel]

These councillors stated on live stream and on camera that they will not support the stadium FIFA bid and will not allow the advisory commttee to go to phase two to build a mickey mouse 10 thousand permanent seat Sue Uteck Special mickey mouse stadium which will probably be a Nussli piece of junk which they keep showing drawnings of on local TV which they got from the stadium committee!

Councillors, Steve Streatch, Lorelei Nicoll, Gloria Mc Cluskey, Jennifer Watts, Reg Rankin, Peter Lung, Brad Johns, Tim Outhit, Bill Karsten, Jackie Barkhouse, all the stated on camera that they won`t support the bid going forward and there are others that didn`t speak yet that could be against the bid as well. They will meet again next Tues. to complete the vote!

This is your council people, but it wouldn`t mattter if was a major stadium or an eyesore, these clowns would vote it down anyway. They need to be replaced!

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by wespidel

What a awful bunch of councillors and I`m not referring to the councillors or the Mayor in favour of going to phase two. The only thing I`m not in favour of is the cost of 275 thousand dollars on top the the first phase 100 thousand dollar cost. Someone is really taking HRM and our tax dollars for a real ride only to build a 10 thousand permanent seat replacement mickey mouse stadium for Saint Marys!

I only caught some of it on line but I hope and pray that Nussli aren`t involved with their model because they were talking about a modular type facility which can only go to 20 or 30 thousand seats total. I know the presentation I missed in total was presented by a European.

Anyway what a bunch a clowns, I hope all the councillors that bring this down or if it`s barely passes, that voted no get dismissed in the next election!

Wespidel could you please stick to the facts. What they are discussing is a 10,000 - 15,000 seat expandable stadium with sufficient temporary seats to make it 20,000 for the FIFA Women's Cup; the Sierra report stated that SMU cannot be expanded to 20,000 even if the track is removed. The $275,000 dollars is to do a more detailed study of possible stadium designs which is well worth the money if the study results in a viable stadium design.

I believe that a tie will mean that the proposal will be defeated which means that they are also voting against being a host city for the World Womens' FIFA Cup. Also the ones voting against it are voting against the CFL since it cannot be held at SMU even if it was expanded to the maximum 14,000 seats. That would truly be short-sighted.

I hope that you realize wespidel that your attacks on the mickey mouse stadium as you refer to it, mean that Halifax will probably not consider even an economical, basic design for another 10 years or so. You may be more effective in preventing a stadium then even Bruce Devenne. (are you Bruce? - have you been sending threatening letters to the Councillors and the Premier pretending to be in favour of a stadium?). I find it interesting that whenever someone tries to post anything positive, you make sure to post your negative rants.

However, I do wonder if enough Councillors can't even support a stadium design study then what are the chances of them supporting phase 3 - the construction.

I am glad that the HRM Council will soon be reduced to 16 Councillors. It is depressing having so many short-sighted people in the HRM Council who just want the municipality to remain small.

[cormiermax]

I wish I could say I'm surprised but I'm not, I guess we will have to wait another 10-20 years before we can see even another discussion about a stadium. I'm sure Moncton will do a great job hosting the women's world cup and eventually will land a CFL team.

God Halifax, why are you so damn backwards??

[halifaxboyns]

I didn't get to tune into the debate - what exactly was the problem that council had?

[wespidel]

It was said in the presentation they made to council today, you can watch it yourself and a member from the advisory board who was on TV did part of the presentation and they stated clearly, as will did the project manager to me in person that they feel Halifax only needs a 10 thousand permanent seat stadium and that`s is actually what they presented today to council and some of the councillors actually stated they were not impressed and they were hoping for a bigger and better facility that could attract a CFL team and Fenwick those are the facts!

[wespidel]

What are you talking about, I read a post by you on another site and you suggested Halifax should or could build a 80 million dollar stadium similar to the Montreal McGill stadium and by the way it was almost word for word from one of my posts. I live here, you don`t Fenwick, so repsect that! I pay enoromous taxes and I have I right to speak out and guess what many more people feel the same and are on my side and support my views and have said way worst things than I, about Dexter`s govt. and city council and have used stronger adjectives, way more insulting than me! The reality is that a
10 to 15 thousand permanent seat stadium for a city the size of Halifax is way too small and to confirm how right I am, I ran into Mayor Kelly on the week-end at the Natal Day parade and he agrees with me 100 % and he said that a 10 to 15 thousand seat stadium is too small and he wants at least 25 thousand permanent seat stadium built, expandable to over 40 thousand and that is the true and fact or are you going to call me a liar again and making a fool of yourself like you did before. I always have shown respect for you and your posts and complimented you and you continue to show your disrespect towards me when I gave you info that was totally confidential after you treated me with total disrespect on this site like you are doing again. When you continue to promote a small stadium for Halifax you are insulting all the sports fans in Halifax and the province who really wants a CFL franchise in Halifax and wants to see a Grey Cup game played in Halifax someday and major concerts and other major sporting events. So when you insult me, you are insulting all these people as well!

I will stand up for the taxpayers and the people in Halifax and in the region that have real vision and want a major stadium built in Halifax and not an inadequate community facility for Saint Marys who should be building their own and not trying to get a free ride and given a perfectly suited 10 thousand seat university football stadium as a gift!

Fenwick all I want from you which you want from me, is to respect my views like I have yours and by the way a 10 thousand seat permanent seat stadium for a city the size of Halifax is mickey mouse and the Mayor agreed with me which I openly said to him!

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by wespidel

What are you talking about, I read a post by you on another site and you suggested Halifax should or could build a 80 million dollar stadium similar to the Montreal McGill stadium and by the way it was almost word for word from one of my posts. I live here, you don`t Fenwick, so repsect that! I pay enoromous taxes and I have I right to speak out and guess what many more people feel the same and are on my side and support my views and have said way worst things than I, about Dexter`s govt. and city council and have used stronger adjectives, way more insulting than me! The reality is that a
10 to 15 thousand permanent seat stadium for a city the size of Halifax is way too small and to confirm how right I am, I ran into Mayor Kelly on the week-end at the Natal Day parade and he agrees with me 100 % and he said that a 10 to 15 thousand seat stadium is too small and he wants at least 25 thousand permanent seat stadium built, expandable to over 40 thousand and that is the true and fact or are you going to call me a liar again and making a fool of yourself like you did before. I always have shown respect for you and your posts and complimented you and you continue to show your disrespect towards me when I gave you info that was totally confidential after you treated me with total disrespect on this site like you are doing again. When you continue to promote a small stadium for Halifax you are insulting all the sports fans in Halifax and the province who really wants a CFL franchise in Halifax and wants to see a Grey Cup game played in Halifax someday and major concerts and other major sporting events. So when you insult me, you are insulting all these people as well!

I will stand up for the taxpayers and the people in Halifax and in the region that have real vision and want a major stadium built in Halifax and not an inadequate community facility for Saint Marys who should be building their own and not trying to get a free ride and given a perfectly suited 10 thousand seat university football stadium as a gift!

Fenwick all I want from you which you want from me, is to respect my views like I have yours and by the way a 10 thousand seat permanent seat stadium for a city the size of Halifax is mickey mouse and the Mayor agreed with me which I openly said to him!

JUST STICK TO THE FACTS WITHOUT NEEDLESS EXAGGERATION - They are talking about a 10,000 seat stadium but the report specifically stated that it won't be at Saint Mary's. So stop trying to trick people with misinformation.

You didn't give me any confidential information - you sent me images of a Nussli stadium proposed for a city in Italy, which you then insisted that I should post. You are trying to trick me and everyone else. These are juvenile games and I don't respect you or your tricks.

[fenwick16]

In my opinion, what the Sierra Report accomplished was it bored people in favour of a stadium, and the people who oppose everything will oppose even a small 10,000 seat stadium.

Why don't they show something that will excite the people in favour so at least they will support the stadium proposal instead of damping their enthusiasm by stating that there is no advantage to a larger stadium - isn't having a CFL team an advantage?

For example - develop a 20,000 - 25,000 permanent seat stadium and then state that it can't be built until funding is arranged, public and private. Even if it takes years to arrange, at least there will be a goal to aim for.