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View Poll Results: What is the best location for an expandable stadium in Halifax?
Dartmouth Crossing 34 38.20%
Shannon Park 31 34.83%
SMU 6 6.74%
Airport 2 2.25%
Other 16 17.98%
Voters: 89. You may not vote on this poll

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  #1  
Old Posted Sep 19, 2011, 1:04 PM
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Halifax Stadium Location

3 developers offer land for Halifax stadium
CBC News Posted: Sep 16, 2011 7:50 PM AT
Last Updated: Sep 16, 2011 9:19 PM AT

Halifax Regional Council has started looking around for a place to build a stadium, and three private bidders offered up some land for sale to the city this week.

Two of them are old quarries.

Parkdale Developments wants to sell the city 50 hectares of land along Highway 102 next to the Halifax Stanfield International Airport, and the group that owns Dartmouth Crossing is offering a similar sized lot near its shopping village.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-s...ium-sites.html
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  #2  
Old Posted Sep 19, 2011, 2:43 PM
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I voted Dartmouth Crossing due to its great highway connections and nearby restraunts and entertainment.

The airport location is just way too far to travel to from the city, and Shannon Park is too open to the elements. Though I think if you were to ask residents outside HRM where they would like to see a stadium built, most would say the airport location as its more central to them.
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  #3  
Old Posted Sep 19, 2011, 2:53 PM
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No, I voted for DC too. The airport would not be convenient for people coming from the valley or from the city. On the other hand, it's not that much farther inbound for people driving from Truro, New Glasgow (or Moncton) to go to DC.

DC is a good compromise. The airport on the other hand would be inconvenient for most urban Haligonians.
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  #4  
Old Posted Sep 19, 2011, 3:42 PM
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The airport location may have been a good candidate if the airport BRT was operating; but even then it still would be a huge challenge. I also prefer to see the stadium located on a site where there is municipal water/sewer; whereas the airport has it's own well system and septic trucking (as I understand it).

I would have voted for Shannon park; but the feds don't seem to have put it forward. I could see Shannon with a stadium and it would've been interesting - but if it doesn't, then it just means more room for residential mixed use development.

DC is probably the best location of those put forward. It has challenges, but most sites do. We'll see how it goes...
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  #5  
Old Posted Sep 19, 2011, 4:44 PM
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Shannon Park has to many development opportunities to be used as a stadium site. I agree that it is better suited for mixed residential. The only downside to Dartmouth Crossing is losing the appeal of a downtown stadium and all the ambiance that brings. Outside of that it has plenty of land for onsite parking, good access to offsite parking, decent transportation options and plenty of local restaurants for pre-game/post-game celebrations. I believe that it is the best overall option so far and it is good to know that it is available for purchase. I can't wait to see something happen.
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  #6  
Old Posted Sep 19, 2011, 4:52 PM
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I voted for Dartmouth Crossing.

I've been in favor of many locations, but now that DC is being offered up by the owners that puts it into a path of least resistance. With the sunken bowl idea, I think for an outdoor stadium it will give fans the best weather conditions in Halifax. Also there is a couple hotels with in short distance like the Hampton Inn, and there is suppose to be another hotel built near the new Tim's in DC (Homewood Suites by Hilton I believe).
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Old Posted Sep 19, 2011, 6:54 PM
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If Dartmouth Crossing is chosen I would be fine with that. I can't wait for all the folks to come out and suddenly complain that it wasn't built downtown. What about the downtown business' they'll say? It's too far to walk or bike. People will complain enough that they didn't want in their neighbourhood but once it's built somewhere else they are sore losers because they missed the benefits.
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  #8  
Old Posted Sep 19, 2011, 7:12 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jstaleness View Post
People will complain enough that they didn't want in their neighbourhood but once it's built somewhere else they are sore losers because they missed the benefits.
Is there actually much overlap between these two groups? I would suspect not.
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  #9  
Old Posted Sep 19, 2011, 9:12 PM
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Transit to Dartmouth crossing is horrible, even worse if your comming from Halifax, you cant even get there from the bridge terminal

pedestrian access to get there is also horrible
fix these things and Dartmouth Crossing can have my vote .
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  #10  
Old Posted Sep 19, 2011, 10:48 PM
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I am not sure if the Dartmouth Crossing site will be the best location (maybe or maybe not, it will be good to see a longer list including publicly owned sites). I wonder how much it will cost to prepare the Dartmouth Crossings quarry site? The Dartmouth Crossings' developers would be able to provide a good estimate on site preparation for a sunken bowl stadium.

The Los Angeles Dodgers Stadium was built on uneven terrain. I posted an image taken 50 years (source: the original story is from 1961 http://gdrinnan.blogspot.com/2011/05...peared-in.html )
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  #11  
Old Posted Sep 20, 2011, 1:16 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jstaleness View Post
If Dartmouth Crossing is chosen I would be fine with that. I can't wait for all the folks to come out and suddenly complain that it wasn't built downtown. What about the downtown business' they'll say? It's too far to walk or bike. People will complain enough that they didn't want in their neighbourhood but once it's built somewhere else they are sore losers because they missed the benefits.
I'll jump the gun! This kind of civic structure really should have an urban location. I can't think of anything less inspiring then putting a stadium out by a highway offramp in "anywhere North America." Besides the obvious atmosphere of building in the city, a suburban location comes with image problems. If successful, a new Halifax stadium would potentially have several televised events a year (a CFL team would mean many more). In all sports broadcasts, you get those shots of the exterior before of after commercial breaks etc. Do we really want Halifax's image to the rest of the country to be Dartmouth Crossing's parking lots or the woods by the Airport? Shannon Park offers a way better location in terms of branding. It's also within the urban core and would allow a derelict site to get reused. I'm sure the feds would be willing.
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Old Posted Sep 20, 2011, 1:44 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by spaustin View Post
I'll jump the gun! This kind of civic structure really should have an urban location. I can't think of anything less inspiring then putting a stadium out by a highway offramp in "anywhere North America." Besides the obvious atmosphere of building in the city, a suburban location comes with image problems. If successful, a new Halifax stadium would potentially have several televised events a year (a CFL team would mean many more). In all sports broadcasts, you get those shots of the exterior before of after commercial breaks etc. Do we really want Halifax's image to the rest of the country to be Dartmouth Crossing's parking lots or the woods by the Airport? Shannon Park offers a way better location in terms of branding. It's also within the urban core and would allow a derelict site to get reused. I'm sure the feds would be willing.
SP would offer a much better image shot; but Edmonton and Calgary are not really well located either. Calgary's stadium is located in the university; so the shot isn't too bad because you can see the campus and Crowchild Trail. But Edmonton, all you see is the parking lots, adjacent development and the downtown a ways away.

The only places I can think of that would have a good downtown shot for sure is Vancouver and Toronto. I don't know enough about Edmonton and Hamilton to say for sure.

DC does have bad transit access; for now. But if a stadium is built; there will likely be a lot of money put into road access improvements and I would hope into transit options to get there. I think I mentioned this idea with the concept I had for SP: a series of express bus style routes from the major transit terminals to the stadium and back. Edmonton's stadium has that setup with designated parking very close by. So you could have a BRT route system with route from Lacewood/Bayers Road; Bedford/Sackville, Downtown Halifax, Bridge Terminal and other parts of Dartmouth all to the stadium with very few stops. Then do the reverse on the way back. My hope would be that the cost of transit (whether people wanted to use it or not) would be incorporated into the event ticket.
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  #13  
Old Posted Sep 20, 2011, 2:20 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by spaustin View Post
I'll jump the gun! This kind of civic structure really should have an urban location. I can't think of anything less inspiring then putting a stadium out by a highway offramp in "anywhere North America." Besides the obvious atmosphere of building in the city, a suburban location comes with image problems. If successful, a new Halifax stadium would potentially have several televised events a year (a CFL team would mean many more). In all sports broadcasts, you get those shots of the exterior before of after commercial breaks etc. Do we really want Halifax's image to the rest of the country to be Dartmouth Crossing's parking lots or the woods by the Airport? Shannon Park offers a way better location in terms of branding. It's also within the urban core and would allow a derelict site to get reused. I'm sure the feds would be willing.
To be fair beggars can't be choosers. I'd be content with a stadium in DC no problem. And no offence guys but I doubt many people care about how a stadium looks like being part of a skyline. If it was built in SP any view of the stadium would have that power plant in the background!
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  #14  
Old Posted Sep 20, 2011, 2:26 AM
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I still think that the best location is Windmill @ Victoria in Burnside (former steel factory). It has great connections to most of HRM and getting there from Truro or the Valley is easy. Transit connections are decent and could be better with little effort, and its not downtown but its still in town. Also there is no residents nearby to complain.
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  #15  
Old Posted Sep 20, 2011, 3:04 AM
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I exported a terrain map of Shannon Park from the Google SketchUp program. I also posted the identical terrain map in shaded mode in order to show a better contrast (below). Shannon Park appears to be in a bit of a gully, and is protected on the north/northwest side by the elevated bridge approach. It is also protected on the east/southeast side by elevated terrain.

I also looked up a reference to the prevailing winds for Nova Scotia which states: (source: http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/nature/nhns/t5/t5-2.pdf)

Quote:
W I N D S
Winds are strongest in the colder months and blow
most frequently from the west of northwest as the
cold arctic air moves in. In the summer, winds from
the southeast or south predominate.
PS: Can anyone provide more detailed information on the prevailing winds throughout the summer/fall months? (a monthly graph of wind data would be great)


I think that if there is a clear understanding of the wind patterns at the Shannon Park location during the summer and fall months, then the stadium architects could design the stadium so that it has shelter from the prevailing winds. For example, instead of having the stadium open towards the harbour (facing the southern prevailing winds during the summer), have it closed on the southern side to shelter spectators from southeast and southern winds. In addition, a dirt berm and trees would provide a good wind break from the prevailing southern winds.




I prefer a location as close to the urban core as possible. So I personally prefer Shannon Park (unless an even more central location is available).

Last edited by fenwick16; Sep 20, 2011 at 10:14 AM.
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  #16  
Old Posted Sep 20, 2011, 5:15 AM
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I know theres quite a bit of vacant land near the Macdonald bridge on the Dartmouth side

Im not sure who owns it or anything but its worth a look .
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  #17  
Old Posted Sep 20, 2011, 6:20 AM
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Where ever it goes, they should look at Empire Stadium in Vancouver, the temporary one they built for this year while BC Place is closed. It may not be much in ways of aesthetics, but it was cheap!

I am sure some of the design innovation could help there to keep the cost down, as long as the city doesn't go on monument building and scope creeping.
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  #18  
Old Posted Sep 20, 2011, 4:48 PM
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I keep flip flopping on the stadium location; I have two preferences. But I have to keep reminding myself; this is the city's first stadium. 20 years from now, there may be more than one...

Shannon is an difficult cookie to chew on. The feds haven't offered up the land and no one knows if they will. I have a feeling they won't, since Canada Lands has been silent through this process. If that's the case, we can dream about it being there all we want...it won't happen.

Fenwick's graphic does make a good point that the wind issues can be fixed by adding development of a certain height at strategic locations to reduce the impact of wind and fog. I felt that the CG design really didn't think about using the site as a mix of uses and just focused on the stadium. They could've had a really nice mixed use community on the shoreline edge to create a boardwalk - thus creating a mechanism to reduce the impact of wind and fog (make the buildings taller or orient them in such a way to reduce wind).

I was doing some sketching last night (to take my mind off the air canada strike, since I'm 'flying' to Halifax on Friday with AC - hopefully) and I did a preliminary zoning and road sketch of what I was talking about for putting more restaurants close by. Yes, there are a few 'across the street' - but that's a big road to cross. A ped bridge would be necessary and people aren't likely going to walk there and back to the stadium if the route isn't too friendly. Which is why I was thinking that adjacent to the stadium site you could put up a couple restaurants, in addition to the sea of parking that will likely occur.
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  #19  
Old Posted Sep 20, 2011, 5:36 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker View Post
Where ever it goes, they should look at Empire Stadium in Vancouver, the temporary one they built for this year while BC Place is closed. It may not be much in ways of aesthetics, but it was cheap!

I am sure some of the design innovation could help there to keep the cost down, as long as the city doesn't go on monument building and scope creeping.
What are they dooing with the temporary one when BC Place is open agian?
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  #20  
Old Posted Sep 20, 2011, 5:40 PM
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Maybe Halifax could buy it - who knows?
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