[fenwick16]

I have been thinking about this stadium project a great deal over the past couple of months to think of ways that we can be proactive and help see that it will become a reality.

There is actually a great variety of professionals from urban planners, engineers, business majors, construction contractors and newspaper writers on this forum. I just want to point this out since at times it is easy to believe that we don't have the ability to make a difference. However, I believe that it is just the opposite. Since people on this forum go by user-names we really don't know the background of most of the others on this forum.

We can make a real difference by not only contributing money to a trust fund but by also contributing our time. It was pointed out previously, that there are various steps to go through before a stadium can go forward. These include public consultations, feasibility studies, transportation, environmental, etc. These steps are usually conducted through professional services that tend to be very expensive and are done by professionals like the ones on this forum.

I think that most of us know that stadiums are usually not money making operations but that they contribute to the quality of life of a community. What I would like to know is how many are willing to contribute their time towards making this project a reality? If we can get this project to the request for proposals stage based on contributing our time then this saves the HRM from spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on feasibilty studies (this is no exaggeration). People on this thread who are involved in the media can also make this suggestion to a wider number of people in the HRM and outside the HRM. Those who feel that they don't have a professional service to contribute can make a big contribution by polling friends and family to see where most people would like to see a stadium built and what is important in the design. For example: bench style seating or folding seats (based on cost and maintenance), covered stands or completely open, sunken bowl or not, central location or suburban location; we need to make up a more detailed list. This is in fact the public consultation stage (including the comments on this thread and other websites). Right now there are many questions that we don't have answers to, as an example: will the DND lands north of the Halifax Forum be available in the near future? This is investigative type reporting that can be conducted by people in the media and by people with connections.

I have a feeling that some people will mock me for suggesting this and might even say that I am delusional in thinking that we can make a difference. However, I believe that this is a defeatist type attitude. Not only are there various professionals on this forum who can contribute their time we can do it out of a real passion for making a difference in the HRM community as opposed to simply doing it to make money. The fact that we all keep coming back to this thread and this forum shows this desire to make a difference in the community.

I am afraid that some people will say that this is a major project that can not be done by volunteers. However, volunteers can be professionals who are contributing their time. Once it gets to the construction phase then yes the city will have to hire a construction company to build the stadium. Even at this stage, there might be construction companies that are willing to give the city a break on their standard pricing. In return these companies will get media exposure and do something for their community.