I completely agree that it should be a multi-purpose stadium. It is just a question of how many uses will be incorporated. If it is a football stadium then it should also be useful for soccer, rugby, concerts, high school band events, etc. However it could also be built so that it could hold track events, baseball (possibly a section of stands could be removed to allow for baseball), trade shows, etc. I am pointing out that multi-purpose stadium is a very general term.
I personally would build a compact stadium (no track) that would have the seats as close as possible to the field, and this would also be large enough for soccer, concerts, but
not baseball (it would simply add too much to the cost and there would be little use). I would also design it so that in the future the roof can be closed during the winter (not an expensive retractable roof but a fabric partial dome to cover the hole above the field) that could be set up in a day or two. If in the future, there is the demand for a year-round facility then it would already have been designed to incorporate a dome (call it dome-ready). Having the possibility of completely enclosing it will create the possibility of hockey, basketball and indoor trade shows. And as I mentioned previously, I would make the permanent roof above the stands as a standard steel construction similar to the Metro Centre design which would be not much higher than the Metro Centre since it would not be covered for football. The football can be kicked through the opening above the field.
This may sound far fetched, but one idea for the new Winnipeg stadium is to cover the playing field during the winter for year round use (but not the stands, think of it as a large bubble within the stadium
http://www.blueandgold.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=41&Itemid=30 ). I would like to enclose the stadium during the winter but with a self supporting dome (not air inflated) on the roof.
Here is an inexpensive dome (Cedra Falls, Iowa
http://www.uniwrestlingcamps.com/facilitiesdirections.cfm ). It shows what can be done if one of the stadium criteria is low cost: It was initially built for $7 million in 1976 (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNI-Dome ) which was about the same time as the Halifax Metro Centre at about half the cost of the Halifax Metro Centre (which was around $15 million). Initially it had an air supported roof which has been replaced with a self supporting roof as has the Dakota Dome (
http://www.eaweb.com/index.php?cats=survey&page=gps_usd ). This is just to point out that large self supporting roofs can be installed at a reasonable price. I am thinking of a permanent steel roof like the Metro Centre with a much smaller self supporting roof over the field section only during the winter.
source (
http://www.uniwrestlingcamps.com/facilitiesdirections.cfm )