It's a long and strange road to new stadium:
Unlikely allies join forces in debate
Fri Jan 19 2007 | Winnipeg Free Press
BARTLEY KIVES
FOR once, National Post chairman David Asper and Roseau River Chief Terry Nelson have something in common -- neither Manitoban wants to see a new home for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers go up on the former Canada Packers site in St. Boniface.
Two years ago, Asper and Nelson weren't exactly best of buds when the chief took exception to the way the chairman's newspaper covered Canada's indigenous people.
Now, both outspoken individuals are unlikely allies in an unusual tale that involves the Winnipeg Football Club's quest for a new stadium, Roseau River's desire for an urban reserve and -- yes, it gets weirder -- hotelier Leo Ledohowski's indefatigable drive to revitalize underused parcels of land across the city.
Ledohowski's Canad Inns, the Free Press has learned, is one of four developers who want to purchase land in St. Boniface officially called the Public Markets, but better known to the rest of us as the old Canada Packers site.
A few months back, the city put out a call for proposals to redevelop the industrial land, which came available after Roseau River First Nation was forced to withdraw an offer to buy it and turn it into what's officially known as an Aboriginal Economic Development Zone, but better known to the rest of us as an urban reserve.
Roseau River still wants another crack at the land, but the call for proposals has already closed. And one of the parties lined up for the site is Canad Inns.
"I've been told they want to build a stadium there," Nelson said on Thursday, only minutes after Canad Inns, the Bombers and the Red River Exhibition announced plans to unveil a two-year-old feasibility study into plans to build a new home for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
That study will be unveiled on Friday afternoon by Canad Inns president and CEO Ledohowski, Bombers board chairman Ken Hildahl and fellow board member Paul Robson, who also happens to be president and CEO of The Red River Ex.
Most Bomber watchers expect that study to identify up to 12 prospective stadium sites, including the old Canada Packers site (previously rejected by Mayor Sam Katz), the Red River Ex Grounds (vehemently rejected by Katz and Premier Gary Doer) and possibly land adjacent the Winnipeg Convention Centre, which, like Canad Inns Stadium, requires its own multimillion-dollar upgrade.
The study will be released only five days after David Asper showed the Bomber board his own $145-million plan to build a new stadium/retail complex on the site of the existing Canad Inns Stadium. And that's fascinating, considering the way Winnipeg's news media have clamoured to see this document for months.
In the past, Bombers president and CEO Lyle Bauer repeatedly said the study was in the hands of Katz and Doer, so they are the ones who should release it. Katz and Doer, in turn, said that task belonged to the Bombers, who commissioned it.
Doer, however, had some latitude to release the document, because he helped pay for it -- a federal-provincial body called the Canada-Manitoba Economic Partnership Agreement contributed $125,000 toward the study in December 2004.
But that's less interesting than the fact the Bomber board is finally eager to unveil its findings now that Asper has made a splash of his own. "The fan reaction has been overwhelmingly positive to our proposal," the media mogul said on Thursday. "While other developers are certainly free to have their own views regarding the location, my view is clear."
Contrary to popular belief, the Bombers' options are relatively limited when it comes to the new stadium's look and location. For starters, Katz and Doer have the final say on whatever location the football club chooses, thanks to a city-provincial stakeholders' committee set up seven years ago to oversee the team's financial operations when it was drowning in debt.
Several Bomber board members unilaterally dissolved that committee in 2006, but Katz has refused to recognize its dissolution and Doer has backed up the mayor. So it actually matters that Katz -- who owns most of the Winnipeg Goldeyes, it must be noted -- prefers to see David Asper buy the community-owned Blue Bombers as part of a plan to build a new stadium.
The other limiting option is the MTS Centre, whose mere existence precludes the possibility of the Bombers building a stadium with a dome or other form of complete cover.
The original funding agreement in 2003 between the True North Project, the province and the city prevents Doer, Katz and future politicians from pouring any funds into a domed stadium or arena within 100 kilometres of the City of Winnipeg until 2029.
This non-competition clause applies to any building that could be used for "sporting and entertainment events similar to those hosted in (the former) Winnipeg Arena," which means any new domed stadium could play host only to the Canadian Football League -- but could not book rock concerts, tractor pulls, trade shows or anything else a brand-new, $100-million-plus stadium must have in order to generate the revenue it needs to survive.
Of course, both the Bomber board/Red River Ex/Canad Inns plan and the David Asper proposal also require tens of millions in public funds. And that's where both proposals look sort of iffy, at least as of this moment.
David Asper wants $40 million from both the province and feds. Doer says that's possible, but senior Manitoba MP and treasury board boss Vic Toews isn't ready to play ball. The Bombers' own plan likely requires even more public money, up to $115 million, if previously released cost projections remain relevant.
But the fact is, construction costs are rising by the day, along with the likely price tag for any new football stadium. If I was a betting man, I'd almost be willing to wager Terry Nelson gets his urban reserve before Winnipeg gets a new football stadium.
But stranger things have happened and will again.
-- With files from Aldo Santin
bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca
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