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Originally Posted by NewIreland
Shaw Park. It's easily the best baseball stadium in the entire country; easily!
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I agree. Shaw Park itself is a pretty top notch facility. That said the funding agreement is something I have long questioned, especially the $1 leases for the parking lots. Something Katz did not excuse himself from while mayor of the city. Yet another conflict of interest on this part.
Something else people seem to forget is the roads in the area were significantly rerouted to accommodate the park and its parking.
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Originally Posted by Bdog
I wonder if the view of this deal, and the general attitude toward the ball park, would be different if say Chipman, or some other figure, owned the team and was asking for the break.
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I have been equally critical of all three pro sports facilities since before they were built. Not a fan of Chipman and the sweet heart deal he has for the arena and the SHED which he is heavily exploiting to control and personally benefit from a significant part of downtown. Never been a fan of the $1 parking lot leases that Katz got for Shaw Park. Also not a fan of how David Asper really put tax payers over a barrel with IG Field.
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Originally Posted by Bdog
The site of the ballpark is literally surrounded by surface parking lots. Let's wait until a few of those reach their supposed higher and best use before we start promoting the re-use of this community gem. Kind of reminds me of the Skinner's debate: Take a risk and support the downtown for decades, only to get kicked out the second things turn around and something cooler comes up!
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Simply put the deal for Shaw Park has been bad for tax payers from the start and it is not something I am just getting on board with lately. As for those surface lots you suggest get developed -- they can't be as at least two of them are tied into the lease for the ball park you praise.
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Originally Posted by Goldie
The Bombers screwed Manitoba out of $200+ million for a sub-par facility built for a 3rd-rate minor-league football club
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Let's get a couple facts straight.
1. The Bombers had next to nothing to do with the plan to move to IG Field. That was a brainchild of David Asper.
2. The Bombers do not own IG Field.
3. It was David Asper walking away from his agreement to pay for IG Field after construction was well underway that forced the government to step in and guarantee the loan to fund the project.
4. BBB Inc, the true owners of IG Field were making their loan repayments as required.
5. The CFL is the highest level of pro football after the NFL. There is nothing "3rd rate" about it.
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Originally Posted by Goldie
that's used maybe 15-20 times a year and few of us will ever set foot in.
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The facility is used about 30 times a year just for pro sports events (Bombers and Valour). Attendance at Shaw Park and IG Field are similar over the course of the year and that is with fewer events at IG Field.
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Originally Posted by Goldie
None of you knew what Katz was paying before (or if you did, you didn't care), but now that this new development w/ the lease renewal is in the papers, some of you people are screaming "He should pay more!! Arrrgh! Grr! Katz is a crook! I hate him!"
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I have never been happy with what Katz pays for Shaw Park. I am still pissed off about just the roadwork costs alone that went into making that site happen, never mind the $1/year parking lot leases and the likely conflict of interest when he was mayor and also running a facility on land leased from the city. I have even expressed concerns on this forum how the change from Katz/Shindleman to Bowman/Chipman is basically the same game but with different players. I am also not a fan of the whole SHED funding model and how Chipman is benefiting from it.
End of the day, Katz isn't the biggest problem this city has especially now that he seems to rarely be here.