Halifax Stadium Discussion

[terrynorthend]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

The Molson stadium is being expanded to 25,000 seats. Do you see any way of fitting 25,000 seats into the SMU stadium? If it can't be done then the most that the SMU stadium can be used for is the SMU Huskies. If that is the case then most likely they will go with a seating capacity of no more than 10,000 which will be a no-go for the CFL and will not be much good for concerts. I think that most likely the SMU stadium will be refurbished to be used just for the SMU Huskies not the CFL.

I absolutely believe 25K seats could be built into a Huskies Refurb. Look back to the comparative photo with Molson I posted. Each are at 50M resolution for side by side analysis. Like I said, it would involve a fairly extensive renovation to the Tower fitness facility and the rink, but assuming this happens, there is even more room at SMU than McGill.

Originally Posted by fenwick16

I disagree with you on a multi-purpose stadium having to be in the suburbs since almost every large city in North America has found ways to build stadiums in the city. Also, I am not too sure about the use of the term multi-purpose stadium since it is basically a football stadium that can be used for anything that can fit in a football stadium. In the past it referred to baseball/football stadiums but very seldom are these combined anymore. However, a football stadium is large enough for several uses such as concerts, soccer, even hockey and basketball (if covered).

I don't assert that other than SMU a stadium has to be in the suburbs. Just that it likely will be in the suburbs. By "multi-purpose park" I an implying that If a CFL owners group comes forth and makes a serious proposal, that group will want a facility that includes not only a main stadium with X number of permanent seats but also room for X number of temporary seats, a team fieldhouse and offices, a practice field and parking for X number of cars. I haven't seen a site on the peninsula yet that would accommodate all this, even the Windsor Park area. It really does take a lot of space. It would be a much easier road politically for an owner's group to look to the suburbs. The path of least resistance as they say.
Personally I'd prefer to see a peninsular facility. It would be unique and in keeping with the tradition and scale of Halifax, and I think the viable (albeit still unlikely) option is having SMU onboard with a CFL group.
Beyond the peninsula, my favorite alternative is Shannon Park. Anywhere else (DC, Bayer's Lake, Eastern Passage, Hammonds Plains, Sackville, Enfeild...) would be a distant and uninteresting location that would make Halifax like most other bland mid-sized North American city. A Wal-Mart stadium.