Does this really rule out the Wanderers Grounds? After all, the clubhouse could be incorporated into a stadium and rugby could be played in a new stadium. The clubhouse could display the history of rugby and football in Nova Scotia.

The stadium could be built with low rise stands so that it doesn't impose on the Public Gardens. Both Detroit (Ford Field http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Field ) and Baltimore (Camden Yards http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriole_...t_Camden_Yards ) have found ways to incorporate historic buildings into their stadiums). We are thinking about a much smaller capacity stadium in Halifax (but not an uninteresting stadium). Halifax could also do something unique just like Detroit and Baltimore have done.

Jeez, check out that link. Do they really setup Ford Field for NCAA final four basketball. What a crappy venue for BB.

Agreed, but I'd say that something would need to be done with the roads around the stadium area. Both Windsor st and Bayers road are 2 lane around the area and currently get backed up at rush hour. Imagine the mess if thousands more people used them frequently.

Thankfully most sports events don't coincide exactly with rush hour, so it's not like the folks leaving the stadium are going to be added on top of the existing rush hour crowd.

Football stadiums don't make good basketball venues. However, it is interesting how in Detroit they took an old warehouse and converted it into a football stadium. The field is 35 feet below ground level (another sunken bowl design) http://football.ballparks.com/NFL/De...s/newindex.htm

Summary Report
 

I wrote a summary of the views of this thread and information from other internet sources. This report is at the following location: http://img231.imageshack.us/i/stadiumreport2.pdf/ I sent a copy of this to Councillor Sue Uteck a couple of days ago. I haven't received a response as of yet (However, it has only been 2 days so this is meant as criticising the Councillor).

Based on articles that I have seen on the internet, it appears as though the HRM council wants to get an international event in order to get federal funding to build a stadium. However, in my opinion because of the failed Commonwealth Games bid and a lack of a stadium, it will be difficult for Halifax to get any large international events in the future. So it is a catch 22 situation.

In my opinion anyone who is really serious about getting a stadium for Halifax should be writing to the HRM councilors. Their emails are at http://www.halifax.ca/districts/index.html

If Halifax would select a site and start even a modest stadium then it will have a far better chance of attracting international events and then receive federal funding to expand the stadium. I would personally contribute $2,000 if HRM would set up a trust fund for a stadium and I think that there are many others who would contribute money. I would only want to contribute directly to the HRM council or staff.

My reason for wanting HRM to have a stadium is because I think that it is one more piece in the puzzle in getting people to come and stay in Halifax. Certainly Halifax is already part of the way there, in attracting people to the city. The new convention centre will be another piece in the puzzle as was the Metro Centre in the past, plus all of the other great things that Halifax has going for it.

Direct link to the PDF:
http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/2...iumreport2.pdf

Good read fenwick, I congratulate you on that document - however you left out the most important consideration at the end of the document - land availability. I hate to keep going on about this, but the Willow Park site is owned by DND, and unless anybody here has information they're holding back, DND hasn't shown any desire to remove their operations from that site.

Well, I mentioned earlier in this thread that DND does plan to tear down many of the structures in willow park. whether they will replace them on the same land or sell the land Im not sure about. And I believe the date for this is somewhere around 2015.

has anyone actuelly e-mailed any counsilers yet??
because if not i might wanna send that summary to some local ones, i think its a very well written summary of what this is all about.
maybe if you can get other e-mails like local buisness owners and other politicians like maybe peter kelly, or darrell dexter, peter mackay, or even buisness not in the halifax area to show support and or contribute, hell, why not call up ctv, global , cbc ect.
but if you could send me that summary pdf and emails ect, i could maybe send it out to people.

Thanks for the comments hfx_chris. And also thanks for giving the direct link. Now I know how to do it.

Yes you did, but as you said that doesn't say whether or not DND has any plans to uproot itself from that location, so my point stands. Besides, if they're planning to decomission those buildings around 2015, add a few years of soil remediation and Canada Lands bureaucracy onto that, and we'd be looking at definitely the later part of the decade before any shovels are in the ground.

I have e-mailed, a few councillors and also Peter Kelly i sent a message containing information as to whats trying to be accomplished here and why, and also attachted the summary report prepared by fenwick16.
i got messages back from dawn sloane saying she may read it, and one back from peter kelly saying thank you for this information.
but i also recived this message back from Darren Fisher, a Dartmouth councillor:

Hey Sean,I have just sent your attachment to print. I will read the 6 pages very soon and get back to you. For the record, I am a big proponent of a stadium. talk soon. Darren

Excellent work Harlington! It would be great if a councilor would bring up the topic of a stadium at a city hall meeting. I think it would be a success if the HRM council would agree to set up a trust fund for the stadium.

I spoke to someone who is studying interior design (a branch of architecture, not interior decorating) who is interested in helping with the stadium models. I have seen his work and it is very good, so I hope to have some nice stadium models on the website in the next couple of months. Also, my son will set up the website (halifaxstadium.ca) in the next week with some basic information.

Great work Fenwick16, this really gives readers a summary of the ideas that this forum has been putting forward.

i got this message back from dawn sloane:

Hi Sean
I sure do support such an endeavour and have been researching out of the box ideas for such a structure.
http://images.google.com/images?q=ma...ed=0CBAQsAQwAA

http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium..._stadium.shtml

http://wikimapia.org/5530183/Marina-...oating-Stadium

http://www.singaporeyoutholympicgame...ating-stadium/

Cool Eh? I think we need to think of several options for the structure and also make sure we have some type of private funding for the naming of the building. Just makes sense.

Dawn

Cordially,
Dawn Marie Sloane
District 12 Councillor
Halifax - Downtown
Halifax Regional Municipality
:tup:

Good work Harlington, Fenwick and all. Getting word to HRM councillors about whats trying to be done here is great. And even better to find there is some support on council. Keep up the good work, I look forward to your site being up and running soon Fenwick. Once that happens we can use it as a true rallying point for everyone in support of a stadium. I'd suggest it needs to have a forum for general discussion, a link to a brand new signature and comment petition to HRM in support of a stadium, a seperate signature and comment list supporting the CFL in Halifax if a stadium is built, ability to hold polls on various issues, possible stadium locations and designs.

Great work Harlington in contacting the HRM councillors. That is an interesting reply from Councillor Sloane. Maybe this endeavor isn't so far fetched after all. It is good to see that the stadium project is still in the minds of some of the councillors.

Thanks for the suggestions MaritimeCFLFan. For anyone reading this post who is interested, the Google Sketchup program is a very powerful tool for doing 3-D computer models. There are a great variety of models that can be downloaded and altered. Also there are downloadable sections of stands, etc. There is a free and pro version of this software. For anyone interested in making such models it would be a great feature of the website. Once the model is drawn it can be downloaded to various locations on Google Earth. The most popular model could be selected and sent to the councilors by email. It would even be possible to have an actual physical model made by CNC and then present it to the councilors.

Hah. That floating stadium is hilarious. It's a really neat idea, and it would be awesome to see a match at a place like that, but it would definitely never work in Halifax and its climate/sewage.
Still neat though.

...I'm trying very hard not to make a toilet bowl reference at the mention of sewage...

It is pretty cool. Not very practical to say the least. I wonder if they can tow the soccer pitch away and float in a track or other field surface. Or maybe just leave the harbour and have a water sport, like water-skiing. In our climate today, we could float in an iceberg and have a hockey game. :jester:

Stadium Idea not forgotten
 

I haven't forgotten about the need for a stadium. In fact I have been sharing info on the floating stadium for the last year with many developers and other gov't levels. I Like the idea posed by Sean but you better check with Petro Canada. The wanted to put a gas station there and the resident living near by were opposed. Furthermore, I dont\[\'t think they were in the mood to sell the land as I heard they have turned down a few offers already.
Dawn

I personally think that Halifax is a very unique city and a stadium should attract people to the downtown area to show off Halifax. There were several other locations put forth on this thread. There were suggestions of using the Wanderers Lands while still maintaining the heritage clubhouse. A sunken stadium could be built with 30,000 seats that would still be a low rise stadium. If built 35 feet below grade, then even with a second tier of seats the stadium would only be about 40 - 50 feet above street level. If built so that it fit into the nature of Halifax it would not detract from the Public Gardens. Another city owned area that has room is the skate-park area. Money would have to be spent to relocate the skate-park by 100 - 200 feet in the same area. This could also be a sunken stadium so that it would be a low rise building. These areas are so close to downtown Halifax that if tastefully built, the stadium could be a landmark Halifax building that could be around for 100 years (like Fenway Park in Boston). Many people on this forum would prefer that the stadium not be in the suburbs, since it would not be readily visible and it would not serve the purpose of attracting visitors to downtown Halifax.

It would certainly be a privilege to the people on this forum to have councillors involved in these discussions. Are you Councillor Dawn Sloane? If you are (or even if you are not) please continue to post your views. We are very serious about this project and many of us would be willing to contribute whatever money we can (if a trust fund was set up through the city then I would contribute $2000 immediately and more as I can). We could also raise money through a website and other means such as was done with the Farmers Market.

I am not sure if an entirely floating stadium would work but if there was land available close to the Halifax harbour then it would be possible to have part of the stadium field extending into the harbour. A wharf or land fill would be a more typical way of doing it as opposing to it being floating. The image below shows what a stadium might look like if built next to Salter Street on the Waterfront (in fact, it would need to be built over Salter Street in order to fit). The Murphy's warehouse would have to be moved, but wouldn't it be interesting to incorporate it into the end of the stadium? (the stadium model is a modified version of a model of Boise State's Bronco Stadium by Lupinn on the Google 3D Warehouse). The capacity would be about 27,000 as shown but could be expanded. This Harbourfront Stadium would certainly become a world renowned stadium. The Halifax Citadel is in the background.

The Bronco Stadium was modified to make it more compact (narrower) by cutting off a few rows of seats and moving the sideline stands closer to the field in order for it to fit on the available land. The field is a Canadian football size field.

http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/3...rontstadiu.jpg

I think a trust fund is critical and hopefully would be administered by HRM or Sport NS (I would contribute $1000.00). This would give constant exposure and keep the momentum rising. The amount could be updated on the website along with a list of corporate sponsors. Hopefully the petition will be part of the website along with a section for volunteers and stadium versions. fenwick I think you mentioned some of this would be part of the website. (great work)

With the support of some concilors the awareness could remain high. Perhaps there could be a link from the HRM website to the stadium website. The key is advertising the website....billboards, radio, print media, TV etc. There could also be fundraisers like a tailgate party or contests to win tickets to CFL or NFL games. Perhaps there could be a contest for stadium design, site selection and team name. (have a kids contest as well) The design and site closest to the final product would win.

Verifying that I am the "real" Dawn Sloane
 

Yes, This is the "real" Dawn Sloane. I am interested in all of your ideas on this project as it is vital for us to plan for a stadium and look at all pontential sites and find out the status of purchase and/or sale.

I am willing to aid the members of this fourm as much as I can and help vet your thoughts to Council.

Cheers
Dawn

Having your support will be a great benefit to all those who support this project which certainly seems to be a majority of Haligonians and ex-Haligonians. I (Kevin Langille), for one, plan to spend almost all of my spare time on this project setting up the website and writing any technical reports required (any for which I am qualified). Also I can research stadiums including technical requirements and I know someone who is very good at computer generated models and can do the CNC models (physical models). I also have some basic experience with modeling. My son is very good at computer programming and can do a good job on the website.

This would be great to get the support of council, and i really like how serious everyone is its great that people finally want thing done here.
I also think a trust fund is vital and know that we can raise the money if everyone pulls together.
renderings, proposals, cost estimates, ects. are also something to look into. Alaso maybe when this website is up and running from support of HRM we can finally decide on a location and design and make this a real proposal.

Welcome to this discussion forum Dawn. It's great to know you support a stadium and will try to help see this through. Hopefully there are a significant number of other councillors who are in support of or at least open to the idea of a stadium. A city the size of Halifax is terribly lacking in such a facility. Several other cities across the country are currently looking at new stadiums or making upgrades to current ones. I would agree that the first thing to be decided is what available land sites are actually on the table for our stadium and go from there. Next we would need to decide what stadium design would work for us. I am a huge CFL fan and would love to see Halifax acquire a franchise some day and as such I'd be an advocate of a stadium of 25,000 to 30,000 permanent seats with the ability of future temporary expansion to 45,000 to 50,000 seats for a Grey Cup.

Yes, Welcome to the Halifax Local of the SSP forum Dawn. Feel free to peruse and chime in on the other threads here too. You'll see we are a pretty active little group; passionate and generally pro-development. Hopefully we represent the tip of the iceberg of HRM citizens who consider themselves proponents of timely and appropriate growth, quality progressive architecture, a thoughtful blend of old and new, genuine hertitage preservation and increased density and growing sustainable vibrant communities.

Councillor Slaone:
Is this post in reference to the Willow Park area? Part of this large block (northeast corner of Windsor and Young) is owned by Suncor/Petro Canada and part is a vehicle maintenance and parking area for the Department of National Defense (DND) at Willow Park. I am not too clear on this; are you referring to Petro Canada not wanting to sell their land or DND not wanting to sell? If it is Petro Canada that doesn't wish to sell, would they consider a land swap in that area that is further away from the residents (some blocks are more industrial than others). I am sure that some residents would also be opposed to a stadium but I am not sure of how many (some would certainly be pro-stadium). Having an appealing proposal would minimize the opposition. Especially if there are people within this group who are willing to try to promote the benefits of a stadium in that neighbourhood.

With the 100th anniversary of the Halifax Explosion approaching in 2017 do you think that the Federal government might consider partial funding for a memorial stadium? We could prepare a presentation for them.

What are your views on the Wanderers Grounds or Skate-Park areas for a stadium. If designed properly it wouldn't be a large hulking type of structure. The skate-park could possibly be incorporated into part of the outdoor exterior of a stadium (steps, railings ...). The stadium could be designed to look similar to a natural amphitheater with a sunken bowl.

The image of a Stadium at the Murphy's Cable Wharf in post # 542 was just a concept, since such a stadium would also require that the short section of Salter Street be built onto and a bit of the Centennial Property would also be required. It would be a fantastic location but probably not feasible.

Quite far from downtown, but there seems to be a lot of underused land between the Fairview Cove terminal and Seaview Park.

Aka the old city dump.

Even further away from Downtown but Chinatown could be turned into a waterfront stadium.

I'm pretty sure this land is earmarked for future expansion of CERESport.

dnd property
 

Yes, the corner of Young and Windsor (Willow Park) had a Petro Canada Station proposed for that site. Community Council voted against it. I personally believe the stadium needs to be on the peninsula. The whole peninsula such be treated as our downtown... like manhattan. That is my personal thoughts.

There are several opportunities as you know, and I can tell you there are many Councillors interested in a stadium. Keep up the good discussion and when you are ready I can set up a meeting with a few of the Councillors with you all.

Cheers
Dawn

Hey Dawn, welcome to the forum. Don't take offense to my signature!

I totally agree that the whole peninsula should be treated as our downtown. Manhatten is an extreme comparison due to the sheer density, but I think we could learn alot from Montreal's downtown.

This area (Willow Park lands) of city is ripe for development as there is little to no heritage and a good base of surrounding population density. It is also located in a central location for entry and exit from the core. I would like to see residential towers (12-16 stories) in the area as well as office development. A stadium in this area could be a strategic cluster with the Forum lands for a real atheletics district, bounded by an artistic community to the east of Robie and a neighborhood of houses to the West. I think this area could be more than just a wasteland of car dealerships, fast food outlets and aging military facilties. In fact, Gladstone Ridge has revitalized the area to the south.

The Superstore on Young is a perfect node to work residential development around (like Sobeys & Gladstone Ridge)... another gas station is a waste of that corner.

It would also make sense to straighten the intersection of Bayers Rd and Young St at Windsor... it is currently a mess and making a left from Bayers onto Windsor can be dangerous in the best of weather.

The tax regime has been positive for growth in the business parks, but devastating to the peninsula.

I agree that this area of the peninsula has been overlooked for its potential and has been subjected to very poor planning. There is no logic to having a car lot industrial sector in an area that holds the most potential in HRM. Hopefully new developments such as Gladstone Ridge and the talk of a stadium in the area will lead to zoning changes and a new mindset for this prime sector of the peninsula.

Based on the comments by Councillor Sloane, we need to immediately start preparing a presentation. My personal view is that we need to start with one location which I think should be the Willow Park area. Then we need to prepare both computer animated and physical models (I will work on this with the help of someone else that I know). Then we would be ready to meet with the councillors. Even though the Community Council voted against a gas station, if the stadium is designed in a tasteful manner they might have a different reaction to a nice stadium.

I am a technical person, having studied chemical engineering. I have a passion for the stadium project and reading about other Halifax area developments. I can do a lot of the technical preparation but we will need someone who is good at public speaking to deal with the media and different levels of government. Since my background is in Chemical Engineering, the actual structural design should be done by a Structural Engineer (Civil Engineer). However, everyone on this forum is qualified in deciding what locations are best and the general conceptual design of a stadium (including designing conceptual models). I might be able to find a Civil Engineer who is interested in volunteering some effort to the structural details.

If we can arrange a meeting with the councilors, I would like to fly down to Halifax for the meeting along with as many others on this forum who would be interested in attending.

I would like to be involved as well.

The Willow Park lands are ideal for a number of reasons. I think that residential and retail components would be crucial for this development to be a success.

This project could revitalize Young St.

Great thread guys and I sure hope you get a stadium soon! Just to chime in on the hypothetical idea of a floating pitch like the one in Singapore. It really isn't practical and it would be going against what all other stadia designs are doing in the world, getting the seats as close as possible to the action. Then there's the long term cost of having a floating structure. Maintenance, how long will it last? Surely a permanent land structure is a better and reliable long term investment.

If, you were to build with water in mind, perhaps look at the second proposal for the Waterfront Stadium(still an epic story) in Vancouver for Whitecaps FC, where the stadium(30k all-seater) would be built on pilings in the water adjacent to railway land east of Canada Place. SSC discussion on it - http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=433909

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1...ngs_vanmap.jpg

I think I can find someone who can design the stadium itself for the proposal if needed.

Welcome to the forums Councillor Sloane. :)

I agree that building a gas station at that site is a waste of land. There's two gas stations within a couple of blocks of this site (down by Kempt at up by Connaught). If another gas station is required (which I believe it is not) then they buy one of the two abandoned gas station sites at Bayers @ Oxford and on Robie.

Are you referring to detailed structural or conceptual designs? I think initially just a conceptual design is required. Then once funding is achieved more detailed structural drawings would be required. An interesting book on this topic is Stadia: A Design and Development Guide ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stadia-Gerai.../dp/075066844X ). It has a lot of useful information. I am sure most people would be able to understand the technical aspects of this book but it certainly tells me that it is important in the end to consult an expert in stadium design. I think that the best we can do is get an idea of economical designs and what is considered to be a suitable design based on the views of the fans that would use the stadium.

I have a design in mind based on the InfoCision Stadium in Akron, Ohio with some changes. This would be a sunken bowl design. I am working on it now and will get some help from an architectural major.

Anyone who wishes to present a design should go ahead and post it on this thread so that others can give their opinions. Then the design picked will be one that the majority of people will find to be acceptable.

I hope that within one - two months we can make a presentation to the councillors of what we as residents and ex-residents would like to see in terms of cost and design. Prior to meeting with the councilors it would be a good idea to have a meeting arranged between members of this group Ad-HRMS (Advocates for an HRM Stadium). Please let me know who is interested. You can send an email to kevinlangille@cogeco.ca or contact me by the private messaging link on this thread.

I think we should go with a European-Modern design. Il have some pictures of my proposal later this month.

i think a design and location is a must once its all done then an actual proposal could be made
im willing to help however i can, i cant really make renders or have much money but i can probly think of something to do, i just love the support this is getting on here. And i am willing to help anyway i can.

Hm, another potential site nearby would be the plot of land between Fairview Cove port (Ceresport) and the terminus of the Robie Street extension (now Massachusetts Ave). It would require the relocation of an Envirodepot, maintenance vehicle parking, and some smaller structures (a couple houses?). It would still be quite out-of-the-way as far as the peninsula goes, and pedestrian access is poor without a pedway. Good access for autos and it might spur development in the Kempt Rd area. You could fit a stadium the size of BC Place there, with some room left over for parking. Not an ideal spot at all, but a possibility.

Not sure about the skate park site, it seems a bit small and there'd be a huge backlash towards a development eating up that much of the Common. I like the Windsor Park idea.

Welcome Councillor Sloan :) I'm glad you're committed to the peninsula, though I like to think of it as becoming a complete, compact city in itself rather than the "downtown" in its entirety, because to me that implies somehow that everyone still lives elsewhere and travels in for work. I wish the city would focus more on densifying the peninsula - HRMbyDesign is a great start, but the amount of surburban sprawl in the works is terrifying. I think that with the Highway 107 extension/interchange at Anderson Lake we will see the triangular area between the 102 and the 118 (over twice the area of the peninsula) completely filled in by suburban development in a couple decades.

the big news in vancouver today is the bc lions are moving to a 30,000 seat temporary stadium on the P.N.E. grounds for about $20 million if they can do that halifax has to be able to do this e-mail your city council, mayor MLA'S ect... canadians want the cfl in halifax!

This temporary facility actually looks pretty nice.

http://www.bclions.com/page/tickets_2010

I know I am looking at things with a bias towards a CFL team in Halifax but a temporary facility such as the one being used for the BC Lions could be a start. Perhaps use this temporary type facility until a permanent and nicer stadium could be built (with the help of a private investor/owner of any Halifax CFL team like what is being done in Winnipeg with David Asper who will be taking control of the Blue Bombers. I beleive the plan there is for Asper to put $40 mil of his money as well as $40mil fed and $40 mil provincial cash towards the new stadium). I don't know what the shelf life is for one of these types of stadiums before alot of maintainance is required so I'm not sure how long a temporary stadium remains functional.

I agree CFLFan - I had suggested this earlier: we know the seating at Huskies Stadium desperately needs to be rebuilt and expanded, my suggestion is expand it to 15k permanent seats, expandable to 25. That way there's at least something to show the CFL that Halifax is serious, maybe land us a few more exhibition (or regular season games), while plans are put together and construction can begin on a more appropriate 25-30k venue.
The work needs to be done to Huskies, the seating is falling apart - why not take the opportunity to also expand it?