With lots of qualifiers and making sure there are “off ramps” to reverse direction, if needed, Halifax council Tuesday night agreed in concept to spending $20 million for a potential $60 million stadium, so long as the provincial and federal governments pay the other $40 million. Never mind that there’s no actual plan for a stadium, or that that the $60 million figured was pulled from thin air or that both the other levels of government are on record as refusing to pay for a stadium—city staff said they needed council’s agreement in order to negotiate, and councillors grudgingly voted to give it.
The city is chasing a potential bid as one of seven Canadian cities to host the 2015 FIFA’s women’s world cup of soccer; Halifax won’t be in contention for that bid unless it has a stadium that can’t hold up to 20,000 people, at least with temporary seats. Such a stadium won’t be suitable for a CFL team, and a committee is trying to figure out what else the stadium could be used for after the two-weekend FIFA event.
Backers say The FIFA tournament is the opportunity to leverage federal funds for a stadium, but representatives from Trade Centre Limited said last year that the timelines for chasing the FIFA bid were too tight to conduct “due diligence” related to financing and a business case for the stadium. Council rejected that advice and pursued the bid anyway, so far committing about $400,000 for the chase.
FIFA wants a firm commitment by December, but a consultant’s recommendation for a site and specific stadium plans isn’t due back until that month; it’s not clear how that proposal will then be vetted by both the federal and provincial governments, which conduct their own quite detailed analyses of such proposals, and then funding decisions reached, all by the end of the year. But city staff insists it will all work out in the end.
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This article appears in Oct 20-26, 2011.
As you stated “Halifax’s stadium will look nothing like this.” Luckily most people in the Halifax-area are practically minded people.
Here is a website link to a stadium that was built for $61 million and it has luxury suites, 80,000 square feet of classroom space, and many other amenities – http://www.gozips.com/athletics/facilities… . Halifax could consider this InfoCision Stadium and cut out extras that aren’t required, such as the 80,000 square feet of classroom space and luxury suites (since Halifax will probably have land costs and other servicing costs to include). It would still look better than a few current CFL stadiiums. If they still can’t afford it, then just build half of it.
Would look OK in Dartmouth Crossing when the developer gives HRM the land for a bargain price or gives it for free in exchange for naming rights.
It’s not clear?
No, it certainly is not.
One thing is clear, breaking every decision down into small forgettable pieces and then at some point pronouncing a thing a fait accompli is a long tried and proven way to goad a group, particularly a polite group, along without any consequences, accountability or controls.
Hey nice try Fenwick16 on downplaying the REAL costs of a stadium to host Fifa events. The Stadium you presented here would not even pass the specs list of a Fifa tournament especially a world Championship. Hosting group games for Fifa’s 2014 U20 womens as a test events and the World’s largest Women’s Team tournament is the entire business case for this HRM stadium proposal . There is not ownership group for your Dreamed of CFL team and thus no post Fifa 2015 tenant. The realistic pricing for Stadium to host the womens is evidenced with the Kansas City stadium. please take your 2000 dollar cheque and host a party inviting the CFL fans of Nova Scotia to show how many people actually share your juvenile dream . The Feds under Stephen Harper have refused money for Stadiums in Winnipeg, Regina , Hamilton and Vancouver so far . NHL hockey arena’s for Quebec City , Winnipeg , Edmonton have been refused Federal funding under the Harper government.
http://www.sportingkc.com/news/2010/12/201…
From the Article
Sporting Kansas City’s state-of-the-art new stadium will host two matches for the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup™, CONCACAF announced on Thursday.
Kansas City was one of 11 U.S. cities chosen to host games during the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup™ and is scheduled to feature a first round doubleheader on June 14th, 2011. The international matches will take place at Sporting Kansas City’s $180 million new stadium, currently under construction in Kansas City, Kansas. The venue will seat 18,500 soccer supporters and was designed to be the first authentic American soccer stadium, including a dramatic canopy roof that covers every seating section of the stadium. The Gold Cup doubleheader in Kansas City will be included as part of 2011 Sporting Kansas City season ticket packages, which can be purchased at http://www.SportingKC.com/VirtualVenue or by calling 888-4KC-GOAL. Season tickets begin at $14-per-seat.
Mr. “the shadow knows”: For your information, the FIFA Women’s Cup only requires 10,000 permanent seats and 10,000 temporary seats. The only thing that would make the InfoCision Stadium unsuitable would be lack of backed seats.
Mr “the shadow knows” – you won’t really sway people with false information intended to scare people. People aren’t as stupid as you seem to think.
No it is you Fenwick who is either A. dumb or B. thinks the population of the HRM is Dumb. There is plenty of evidence that includes Kevin Lacey finding the business case and costs of the new Winnipeg blue bomber stadium . 31 events is the projected amount that stadium group has compared with an inflated 51 events for Team HRM Stadium .cost nearly 200 million dollars and not a dime of Federal funding in a CFL city.
7 councilors voted the other night against going forward the other nigh because councilors like Linda Mosher are having huge amounts of Emails from Constituents saying No. Darren Fisher your biggest stadium advocate stated he will not support going forward without Federal and Provincial money . In that case say good bye to your jeuvnile DREAM. The Truth is coming out . 20 million dollars from the HRm will not cut it and Dexter and Harper are not going to pay for cost overruns LOL Again Stadium advocates are so far from reality thinking they can pull the wool over people’s eyes and force council to write a blank cheque. How About first paying the Provincial Crown Corporation called Trade Centre Limited the 375,000 dollars owned for the cash advance on Tickets never sold for the Black eyed Peas concert ? Fenwick like I said go and hire 2000 dollars worth of banquet hall and invite all interested in paying for the first season tickets of a CFL team for the HRM. Yeah I thought so you are chicken and you know the truth the crowd that would turn out of that could fit in a Phone Booth
There needs to be more attention to legacy type planning and less reliance on a rather short two-weekend event. It might be wise to step away from the FIFA bid and look at building a community facility or maybe even upgrade / repair the existing Huskies Stadium.
Tim I’m trying to respect you but you are not respecting me as a reader. You’re playing too many games. Your editors in their desperation for material are letting you get away with career ending blunders. Do you really think any of the tens of thousands of families with sports fans or athletes in them expect the Sky Dome or anything like it?
Play up buddy play up.
@ Sanctimonious Sword Mr. Tim Bousquet has been the vanguard of revealing the truth behind all these Pie in the Sky theories surrounding the taxpayer funding of Commonwealth Games , Convention Centres, Harold MacKay’s cosy arrangement with the Mayor in the Cash for concerts scheme. It is the H H that has then jumped on board later.
Again with Stadium Push for Fifa we have an under estimate of the costs on that could fill the Grand Canyon. Anyone include facilities for Broadcast in the equation ? Jumbo LED video score boards and other things that are needed to host Fifa but not a community stadium ?
All the stadium haters got their wet dream anyway. So sad. Oh well .. onward & forward. Darryl Dexter is a bitter man.
Proposed stadium at night :
http://homeinteriordesignthemes.com/wp-con…
Sanctimonious Sword there are no Stadium haters just increasing tax haters. The best way to grow a region is not to base project on a couple of Fairy Tails that juveniles like yourself cling to. The Fairy Tails are A. Stadiums make Money
B. The provincial and federal governments will fund this
C. That a CFL team would have 4 million in annual support in the
HRM to cover the average annual expenses for the team alone. Huskie Stadium and Beazley Field are prefect examples of how this city has not generated the income from these place to maintain them.
When you take those ABC’s into account you can kiss your juvenile dream good bye. People overwhelmingly in the HRM and the province do want to be paying for 30 years for you and your three friends hobby.
The first thing needed is to get rid of this Mayor and Council. Until they are gone, there is no sense at even looking at it. Remember these are the morons that brought the overpriced and broken waste water facilities, the Commonwealth Games fiasco, the concert fiascos, the stagnant building of the downtown, not to mention the cat and chicken circus. I’m sure others can easily add to this list. Does anyone actually believe this municipal government can build a stadium without fucking it up. Nope, my vote is no stadium while these idiots are in power.
LOL..I got lost after fenwick16 said -Luckily most people in the Halifax-area are practically minded people. -..that is actually one of the funniest and saddest things I have read in long time…
and to the poster who thinks Tim B is the vanguard of the truth and revealing I can assure you he is not…..
I Think it is incredible that Fenwick would wish a stadium on the HRM from Toronto while the Skydome was 600 million in cost that changed hands until Roger Bought the entire thing to get it off the city’s books. Roger bought it for 25 million and then offered the Toronto Agros a free rent to prevent them from signing a lease with the University of Toronto . If there is indeed not business case for the CFL in Canada’s largest city, The Nations Capital Ottawa and the second most populated provinces capital city then why are we pursuiting this juvenile Dream of Fenwicks ? So he and three friends can sit in Toronto ?
I don’t want the city (or my governments) to pay for a stadium and I CERTAINLY don’t want to see it tied to a one-time event like the Women’s World Cup. City hall should be focusing its money on projects that are central to the functioning of our city, like transit and small business development.
That being said, I would definitely love to see a stadium get built and a CFL team brought here through the issuance of public shares. Sell of few tens of thousands of shares at $500 a pop and let those who really want to see the city have a stadium put their money where their mouth is. I could be convinced to buy a share or two to see a CFL team here that was owned by the public rather than a few bigwigs suckling off the city’s teat. If the city realllllly wants to contribute it can provide land or any necessary infrastructure improvements.
hipp5 the share holders scheme is how Green Bay has the Packers. These kids like Fenwick who wish for a Stadium and the CFL alude to Green Bay and Regina as models. The Green Bay Packers have over 112,000 share holders . Fennick should take the 2000 dollars he offered and hire a room to host the first shareholders meeting . Of course Phone Booths these days are hard to find in HRM . A Phone Booth would be about the extent of interest in the CFL in the HRM. Moncton is the KING of Football interest in this region
Oh Halifax. You would think that with the recent splash over the ship contract that they would possibly address the issues of a commuter rail system into the city from the burbs. Nope lets widen more, and hey why not add a waste of a trade center, and now a stadium. Getting closer to making that move to Montreal every day.
commuter rail 60 million dollars according to the study Mayor Kelly commissioned . What ever happened to fast ferries from Bedford and then there was the 125 million dollar commitment to the commonwealth games by the HRM ? I think if the HRM was willing to commit 125 million to the CWG’s then they should be able to pay the entire cost of a stadium without going to the province or the feds . Suffer the little children of the HRM the 90 million plus a year from the city treasury for the school board is in jeopardy
Man it so sad to read this thread. As someone who left Nova Scotia and dying for a reason to come back, I would love to see this thing built. There is no doubt that Halifax gets a CFL team if they build a stadium, there is just so much cynicism in NS to do anything. People say they are against tax increases and yet the premier raised the HST without so much as a fuss. Nova Scotia does best when we are stimulating tourism and 9 cfl games would certainly do the trick. I hope we actually plan a hand one of these days instead of complaining about the cards.
er, Calum MacLellan, even stadium supporters say this stadium won’t accommodate a CFL team. At very best they’d get one exhibition game a year out of it.
Unless they are going to build something worthwhile i.e. able to accomodate 25,000+ attendees, it is not worth spending another dime. This is yet another example of small town thinking by the big city wanabees in charge of the HRM…
Calum why is it that people who are ex pats say they will come home if a stadium is built when it is probably the furthermost from the Truth ? If Toronto attracted you because they have a skydome then did you happen to know that the Skydome went from a 650 million dollar stadium to a complex in 1989 that passed through two ownership groups devalueing down to 125 million when the GTa got it . A final sale price between the GTa and Rogers for a mere 25 million dollars. The GTA wanted to get the stadium maintenance off their hands at less then 5 percent of the original construction cost ? Does that sound like a wise investment to you ? The Toronto Argos don’t even pay a rent to Rogers . Hey thanks for wishing the HRM with the highest commercial taxes in the country a course to more taxes because Stadiums are money pits and waste of resources. Nova Scotians in Rural making up 60 percent of the population don’t support a stadium in Nova Scotia either. We have in this province huge Pension Liabilities with the Teachers Union once again, The Public Sector workers in both the HRM and the Province. We don’t need a stadium or betting on Spec that an ownership group will emerge .
Floyd if the CFL is such a great idea why has the Capital of this nation failed to keep two CFL franchises viable ? More CFL Franchises have went bankrupt since the youngest Franchise , The BC Lions, came into existence in 1953. Montreal had a couple of ownership groups go under as well with them even losing their team to Baltimore Maryland. The need for a Stadium Period in the HRM is as evident as the history on Maintenance on Huskie’s stadium at St Mary’s or Beazley Field ion Dartmouth. Both having support rooms closed by the Health Department or Building Inspectors.
With the city of Halifax and it metropolitan area being the largest in the Maritimes there are an abundance of other pro sports leagues that the city could approach about becoming tenants of this stadium.
1st. MLS (major league soccer is growing accross North america. The MLS is unique as the league owns all franchises and appoints front office people to run the teams out of their respective cities. The stadium currently is calling for a 14 thousand seat permanent expanded to 20 thousound with temp seating. tis is just the type of new modern intimate stadium the MLS is looking for. Contacting the MLS and applying for a franchise in this region may be beneficial as there ar no MLS teams in this region. also a new stadium has been built in moncton 10,000-20,000 along with King gearge the V park St. johns newfoundland along with a team already in boston. The MLS could expand to 3 cities in a region where ther is no top tier soccer.
2nd CSL (canadian soccer league) the level three soccer league in north America is looking to expand to the atlantic region as they are currently only occupying te Ontario area. with both second and 1st team divisions a stdium and 1st division team could be placed here along with Moncton and King Gearge the 5th in New faoundland. There are also a list of ten other stadiums on university sights that could host 1st and 2nd division teams. With Halifax base stadium at 14,000 expandable to 20,000 would be a draw from teams around the world to come in a play some friendlies which would generate revenue for the city the region and the CSL.
THIRD The CIS currently has no official lacrosse. with the MLL looking for teams Halifax would be wise to enter into the MLL(major league lacrosse to see if inerset in a tenant in Halifax would be a possibility. with MLL like MLS looking for the smaller intimate 20,000 seat stadiums a pro Lacrosse franchise in Halifax playing in a brand new stadium may be a jump. Moncton also has a new stadium with that capacity. A pro team here would have a nearby foe in boston and could start a trend of lacrosse at the Univesity CIS level.
FOURTH, The CFL has finally gotten someone to start the ground work for a stadium without the help of the CFL in the City they want as the #10 franchise Halifax. as Moncton has stepped up it has forced Halifax to enter the stadium game. With the possibility of MLS, CSL, MLL all potential residents of the stadium in Halifax it will ultimately be the CFL to push it over the top. With 14,000 permanent seats the CFL could seek out an ownership group and along with the CFL and the ownership group they could turn those 6,000 temp seats to permanent giving the stadium 20,000 permanent seats with corporate suites, club boxes the works. For CFL season it would be easy to add an additional 5,000 temp seats just for the season perfect. Halifax has finally proved it is serious about building a stadium after 30 years now its time for the CFL to step in and push it over the top. The fan base in the area will be completley covered by national tv contracts. 1st TSN of Canada. 2nd RDS for the 600,000 plus french language first speaking citizens and lastly the NFL network for the stat of Maine which completely borders the atlantic region to the west and splits quebec and the Maritimes
Finnally, Saint Mary’s University. the current location of huskies field does not have the best access to get their. But perhaps their is other land owned by the University that has better access with saint mary’s donating the land to Halifax in return for the use of the field for their university athletic teams and help pay for the up keep. the Model used with the Blu bombers and manitoba u. With a first class stadium saint mary’s would most certainly get to host many Jewt trophy games for AUS football and the national atlantic semifinal the Atlantic bowl. and of course hosting the Vanier cup would be something the CIS would be very interested in with a new state of the art stadium holding 25,000. It would take the place of Peps and recently built stade Moncton stadium as the top Cis facility in the eastern part of canada. Major events bring in much revenue to cities.
THERE IT IS SOME ANSWERS TO GETTING THE STADIUM DONE IN HALIFAX WITH A CAPACITY OF 20,000 PERMANNET WITH LUXURY CORPORATE SUITS EXPANDED EASILY TO 25,000 WITH TEMP SEATS