BIG READ: An inside look at the journey to build a permanent stadium in Halifax | OS CREATOR SPOTLIGHT
2024-06-23 10:46
CanPL
Written by Gary Griffiths as part of the OS Creator Spotlight initiative.
Derek Martin, President & Founder of Halifax Wanderers Football Club, is very sorry for being late, but he's had a very busy morning.
“I was over in Dartmouth,” he begins, settling onto a wooden bench outside of a downtown Halifax bar, "watching the guys train. And then I got talking to people…”
He holds his hands up, half in apology, half in a you-know-how-it-goes resignation. But I don’t know how it goes. Not really.
I don’t know how you go about overseeing the day-to-day operations of a professional soccer club. Or how to look after a roster of players, coaches, back-office staff, retail workers, and the many other cogs in the Halifax Wanderers machine.
And I certainly don’t know how to do all this while trying to get a proposal for a permanent stadium at the site of the Wanderers Grounds over the line.
It's this stadium proposal which has brought us here today. Since publicly presenting the plan in September 2023, tangible updates have been scarce. Does he still feel like we’re moving in a positive direction?
“Yeah, things are still moving forward positively,” he reveals. “We actually did a walk around at Wanderers Grounds yesterday with some city staff. They’ve hired consultants to evaluate our proposal and try to determine if all the pieces are going to fit together as we have envisioned them. Or, maybe, if there are other options that we haven't even contemplated yet, where we could gain even more space for further enhancements to what we’re proposing.”
The proposal that Derek Martin and Halifax Wanderers Football Club have put forward is as follows: an 8,500-seat permanent stadium in downtown Halifax which would serve as a home for a professional soccer club and a hub for community sports.
The project’s estimated cost, set at $40 million, would be split between the modular stadium components, its construction, and the groundwork to properly service the site with running water, electricity, and lighting.
Ownership of the site would remain with the City of Halifax, but Halifax Wanderers Football Club has promised to sign a 30-year lease to confirm its long-term commitment as the lead tenant, as well as covering 1/3 of the cost. On the 320+ days of the year that the club is not using the site, it would be available to rent by the public.
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This final point is a pertinent one, particularly given some of the backlash towards the proposal from community members who claim the space is being taken from the public and placed in the hands of a corporation.
This, I put to Martin, feels like a bad faith argument, particularly given the proposal’s promise to replace the grass surface with all-weather turf to incentivize public use.
“Listen,” he begins, “At the end of the day, we can’t argue against everyone. There are some people who believe that argument no matter what we say, do, or show. But I think we’ve put our money where our mouth is by spending millions of dollars to put in temporary stands, shipping containers, portable toilets… all over the past five years to prove the concept works.”
Can he make any guarantees that the public won’t lose access to the space?
“Absolutely,” he affirmed. “We’ve been really clear in our proposal that we do not want to be the sole tenant, and nor should we be. It’s difficult for us to move away from a grass pitch because it’s fantastic for professional soccer players, but the artificial turf and its durability… it’s the best thing for the community.”
This surface, he says, would be useable for 365 days a year, and it wouldn’t just benefit the day-to-day public either.
“Citadel High – the high school close by – can gain a new facility,” he continued. “The local soccer clubs, rugby clubs... They can also gain a great new facility. That’s the beauty of these things when they work well. I think what we’ve put together is the best outcome for the community and the sporting community specifically. We really believe that and we’re really going to stand by that.”
The original proposal targeted a May 2025 opening. This timeline was based on approval being granted in early 2024 with construction to begin the following November. Provincial politics being what it is, this “aggressive timeline” has been modified.
“Unfortunately, the 2025 season is unlikely at this point because we've missed the deadline to order the stadium and to have it built. It would’ve been installed in this year’s off-season.”
Will this cause problems for the club going into the 2025 season?
“We’re having conversations with the city to work on a bridge to get us to a permanent stadium. Honestly, it’s a lot of money – I don’t think people realize the tremendous amount it costs us - but I don’t think we’ll be walking away from it at this stage given how close we are.”
With the 2025 season likely to again feature the current modular set-up, Martin has his sights set on 2026.
“That’s a big goal, to be working towards 2026 when the World Cup comes to Canada,” he said. “We want to know for certain by the end of 2024 that the project’s moving ahead for 2026. Then we can use that time to plan for a crucial year for the sport in this country.”
Given Halifax’s proximity to many of the World Cup host cities, the possibility of having a permanent Wanderers Grounds as a pre-tournament base exists. A recent brush with international soccer in October, with the staging of Canada vs. Brazil in a women’s international friendly, both highlighted the possibilities of this and displayed why a permanent facility is so important.
“It was a great event,” he reminisced. “It was so wonderful for all the young girls who aspire to be professional soccer players. But do you know what? We had to make Christine Sinclair use a porta-potty. That… that should be a great source of frustration for the people in this city. Halifax is above that.”
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Despite its obvious limitations, I talk about what the stadium means to me. How it’s become a second home since I moved to Canada seven years ago. How many of the friends I’ve made here have come from supporting the club. I tell him about entering the stadium on a Saturday afternoon and seeing familiar faces, all smiling, all keen to catch up. It’s not just a bi-weekly pastime for many of us, it’s an active community. Having a permanent home for this community is important.
“I love hearing stories like that,” he affirmed. “We do have a community around the club that people want to be part of. They come in the rain. They come when the team isn’t performing. They want to be part of something bigger than themselves. They feel they have a shared sense of something.”
Sport as a modern religion. Match days as the communion. A stadium for the congregation.
“Right. I think uniting society together has become less accessible because of how social media has isolated people,” he said. “Sports give people a real excuse to come together again. Not to get too philosophical, but that’s the great purpose of what we’re trying to do. It's why our mandate as a club is to make our community stronger through the power of sport, because sport does have that ability. It comes with all kinds of other things. It comes with frustrations and joys and everything else, but you can’t deny that it brings people together.”
So, at this point in the process, how confident is he that this will get over the line?
“I’m really encouraged by where we’re at and where things are going. I’m encouraged that we’re going to get where we want to get to”
It sounds like there’s a ‘but’ coming, I say.
“But things are still moving slowly,” he replies, smiling. “As with most things in politics.”
The phone rings for over twenty seconds before anyone picks up.
“Good afternoon,” a woman breezily answers. “This is the mayor’s office. How may I help you?”
There’s a click. A hiss of static. A dial tone. And then a familiar voice comes down the line. It’s the voice of Mike Savage, Mayor of Halifax. It’s the voice that’s launched a thousand ribbon-cutting ceremonies. It’s the voice that usually sounds so booming and gregarious but today, over a phone call midway through his lunch break, he sounds tired.
Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to do this, I begin. I’m here to talk about the stadium propo-
“Derek’s?”
Right.
“Right. Awesome idea! I like it a lot.”
It’s remarkable really, the speed in which he goes from sounding like a man staring wistfully at an uneaten sandwich to an engaged public servant, simply at the mention of the stadium. It’s a proposal he’s backed since its inception.
“For pretty much my entire adult life, there has been talk bandied around the neighbourhood in Halifax of having a stadium,” he recalls. “First, forty years ago, it was going to be in Burnside, and we’ve had more recent examples, too. In fact, the city of Halifax committed $20 million towards a stadium a few years ago, but no other partners showed up.”
The difference with the current Wanderers Grounds location, explains Mayor Savage, is its advantageous location in the heart of Halifax. It sits snugly in the center of the city. Walk five minutes and you’ll find bars, restaurants, shops, and the Halifax waterfront. For most supporters, a game day doesn’t involve a long drive to the outskirts of a dead neighbourhood. Instead, it involves being in the city with all the amenities that it provides. The location of the Wanderers Grounds is the attraction. The location is the point.
“This is a city of history,” adds Mayor Savage. “And I think it’s important for our history to reconnect with the sports heritage of the Wanderers Grounds. And I just like the idea. What the Wanderers have done is they have created a sports ecosystem in the heart of our downtown, which I think has been very positive and it's allowed other sports to come and other events to come. I'm proud of what's happened there.”
We talk about Halifax’s growth. The city’s population is diversifying and aging down. Filtered through a sporting lens, this means hockey is no longer the only show in town. Soccer, lacrosse, rugby, and cricket are growing markets. Building an inclusive environment which celebrates and retains the new demographics these sports represent is important for the long-term health of Halifax.
“I think a stadium like this would add an awful lot to a city that has become so much more international recently,” he explained. “These people have different languages and different traditions, but in a lot of ways are united by what you would call football” he says with a laugh, “but we would call soccer.”
HFX Wanderers FC vs Atletico Ottawa - Sep 18, 2023
Mayor Savage is convinced that the old and the new can co-exist together. An outdoor venue for soccer complements the Scotiabank Centre, an indoor arena for hockey. This can be the city of both. In many ways, it already is.
“Listen, our city has produced Sydney Crosby, Nathan McKinnon and Brad Marchand,” he offered. “This is a city that's had the Halifax Mooseheads here for decades. We've hosted the Memorial Cup, we've hosted the World Juniors, we've hosted just about every hockey championship you can think of, but I think that now many of the people that are coming here from around the world don't know hockey, but they do know soccer.”
A necessary – but slightly delicate - sidebar to this discussion of a growing population is the question of housing. Should a city with an affordable housing crisis and a population which increased by 4% last year be committing funds to a stadium rather than housing-related infrastructure?
“We have to be mindful of the fact that we have housing issues and that we have cost of living challenges for lots of citizens, of course,” he says. “But we still spend lots of money on things like hospitals and schools because they serve an incredibly important purpose in the community. There is a benefit economically to having a stadium, particularly such a modest one in terms of cost. But I also think that there is a societal benefit, a health benefit, a community benefit, and a reputational benefit to having facilities that allow people to come together and enjoy sport.”
There’s also a benefit to the city of Halifax and the province of Nova Scotia. It’s why he believes a portion of the required cost should be covered by the provincial government.
“If we're going to build a stadium, the provincial government will have to pay some of the costs,” he said. “The provincial government gets the benefit in terms of sales tax in particular activities. We don't get a lot of economic benefit, but we certainly would have to be a partner because it enhances the city, makes us more vibrant, and I think makes it a better place for people to live, a better place for people to move, a better place for people to invest, a better place for people to study, and a better place for people to visit.”
The Mayor of Halifax takes a beat of silence, then exhales.
“You know, I’m leaving as mayor this year,” he says. “And I’m honestly very sorry that I couldn’t get this stadium over the line before I leave.”
I thank him for his time. He says it was his pleasure, and that he hopes there’s a positive resolution soon. Then, the line goes dead.
James Covey has a feeling that he just can’t shake.
It’s a feeling that’s familiar to him given his role as a founding member of Privateers 1882, Halifax Wanderers’ original Supporters Club. And it’s a feeling that grows in weight with each year that passes in Halifax’s temporary stadium.
“I mean, it would be so nice,” he says, “To shake the feeling that we’re just these marginally welcome guests who have outstayed our welcome at the Wanderers Grounds, you know?”
HFX Wanderers FC vs York United FC - Sep 04, 2023
Covey is sitting on a bench at Halifax Stanfield Airport waiting for a flight to Montreal to watch Canada’s women take on Mexico in a friendly. His strength of feeling towards a permanent stadium is earned. He was the very first member of Halifax Wanderers Football Club, and one of a handful of people campaigning for the formation of a professional soccer club in the city years before one existed.
“There’s a point in which a temporary set-up starts to feel a little passive,” he remarks. “And I really don’t want it to feel like that.”
In June 2017, James Covey was one of three people at a City Council meeting which sought to vote on whether an unnamed professional soccer club would be allowed to play matches at the Wanderers Grounds. At the time, it was a patch of forgotten grass in the center of the city.
The arguments against the use of the Grounds back then are similar to what they are now; that this is public land, and it isn’t meant for professional sports.
James Covey disagrees. The historical record disagrees, too.
“I’m a history nerd, right?” he enthused. “And I’m someone who’s read through multiple graduate pieces about the history of sports in our town, going back to 1882 when the Grounds first became a sports field. The people who say that it isn’t meant for sports do not know the history of this field.”
The history, briefly, is this. In the 1880s the Halifax Wanderers Amateur Athletic Club (WAAC) started using the Wanderers Grounds as a venue for sporting events, including soccer, rugby, boxing, and cricket. This use continued over the next sixty years. Some highlights during this time include Babe Ruth appearing in a 1942 baseball game and a series of international rugby events.
During the Second World War, the WAAC failed to pay its fees and the land was given back to the City of Halifax. For the subsequent fifty years, it existed as an afterthought; barely more than a muddy field in the middle of the city. Until the day of that City Council vote in June 2017.
“When the vote was taken in our favour,” remembers Covey, “The three of us all just kind of looked at each other like, did this just happen? And then the council took a recess, and we were immediately thrown into a media scrum with reporters who had no one else to talk to. It was a crazy moment.”
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The following seven years have borne out that City Council vote. The Wanderers Grounds regularly sells out its 6,500 seats. On match days, bars and restaurants are full. Among the owners of these businesses, you can find some of the stadium proposals' biggest advocates.
For supporters of Halifax Wanderers Football Club, the benefits are even greater.
“I'll tell you very specifically what it means to me,” says Covey. “For me, I've been watching the sport since I was 12. I’ve loved it for longer. And at various points I came close to leaving Halifax for Toronto or Montreal for opportunities there. And I always kind of assumed that I would have to move to those places to have a local professional soccer club, because Halifax wouldn’t get that. But now it has, and we're in the sixth season of that, and I still feel incredibly lucky.”
For Covey, like so many others, what started as a love for the sport has blended into a love for the community it has given him.
“It's the people, right?,” he continued. “It's the friends you make, the experiences you have, it's all of that. There's an investment of emotion and meaning that goes into it that I don't think you get in other sports and other leagues. They all feel more like they’re just an entertainment product to me. But not this, and I think it’s unique in that way.”
During Halifax Wanderers matches, you can find James Covey in The Kitchen, a small stand on the east side of the stadium. You’ve seen it on TV. You’ve seen the drums and the blue smoke. You’ve heard the noise. It’s a vibrant, colourful, inclusive section of the stadium. You will find yourself represented in their number, whoever you are.
“We've just been at this for so long,” he says. “You know, it was a long journey from the formation of the Privateers supporters group to seeing a professional soccer team in our city actually kick a ball. It’s a journey that continues now that we’re working towards a permanent stadium.”
“And hopefully,” he adds, “the journey will be worth it”.
I can remember now, with some clarity, the first time I laid eyes on Wanderers Grounds. It was 2017, it was late winter, and it was before Halifax Wanderers Football Club existed.
I hadn’t lived in the city for long and would often take lazy, ambling walks around town to get my bearings. One morning, after strolling from the waterfront to Argyle Street to Halifax’s Public Gardens, I found myself at a cast iron gate which flanked a sad and muddy field.
I opened my phone and checked the location. According to Google, I was somewhere called ‘Wanderers Grounds’. I clicked the link to a webpage which chronicled its history. There was a black and white photograph of Babe Ruth poised to strike a baseball. There was a century-old sports team posing on the grass. There were bleachers full of happy, engaged faces.
It was difficult at that moment to reconcile what I could see on my phone with what I was looking at in the flesh. From a vibrant sporting hub to an overgrown square of mud, weeds, and discarded trash. How had this been allowed to happen?
Since then, with the arrival of Halifax Wanderers Football Club, the Wanderers Grounds have been rejuvenated. It reclaimed its status as Halifax’s premier outdoor sporting venue and is once again being used for domestic and international sporting events. A space which was once an afterthought is now a vitally important second home to so many people in the city. But it’s still only a temporary home.
HFX Wanderers FC vs Valour FC - Jun 10, 2023
Until Halifax Wanderers Football Club’s proposal for a permanent stadium is approved, the risk remains that it will be taken away from the sporting community and turned back into what it was.
Fortunately, there are people working to ensure this doesn’t happen. A proposal for permanence exists. Currently, this proposal is moving its way between different departments of provincial government, waiting for approval. The deadline is set for the end of 2024.
In the meantime, people must wait. The stakeholders – ownership, supporters, political allies – must all wait. And while they do so, an unwavering belief that they’ll get this over the line must remain.
“Just the possibility of this… I’m excited,” insists Derek Martin.
And I am too. This is the permanent home that this club, these supporters, and the City of Halifax deserve.
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