Halifax Stadium Discussion

[worldlyhaligonian]

That is good news... now will Halifax actually be included as one of the CDN cities or left out is the big question.

[brettinhalifax]

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[MonctonRad]

To be fair, Moncton doesn't have a suitable stadium either but with "temporary" endzone seating like we used for the Touchdown Atlantic game, that would bring us up to minimum capacity seating for a FIFA tournament.

I think one of the reasons why Moncton is interested in being involved with this tournament is to get some more money from the feds to upgrade our stadium. As such, Moncton really doesn't have that much of a leg up on Halifax in this process.

Probably the best that can be said is that Moncton probably wouldn't be looking for quite so much cash from the feds as Halifax would be............

[-Harlington-]

I like our chances but hey you never know with moncton and victoria could be the dark horse but i think if the city really pursues and wants this then it could very well happen

[CorbeauNoir]

I'll laugh so friggin' hard if it turns out Zimbabwe wins this...

[halifaxboyns]

Don't count them out just yet. I'm a person who always believes don't count your chickens before they hatch. We have to get a a stadium design and location approved and then built.

[brettinhalifax]

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[c-way-dude]

Originally Posted by brettinhalifax

http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/news/article/1360881



If those are the only interested cities, then I would guess that Ottawa, Montreal and Vancouver are shoo-ins. Montreal and Vancouver are obvious (MLS soccer, 2nd & 3rd largest cities, history of supporting soccer, etc.) and I think Ottawa is extremely likely given that Toronto and Hamilton are out of the running due to the 2015 Pan Am Games taking up space at BMO and IWS that summer and it is hard to imagine a tournament without any games in Ontario.

I was under the impression that Toronto wanted to build a new stadium to host soccer for the Pan Am Games. If that is the case, then BMO Field would be available (and possibly SkyDome as well). Judging by the stadium that the Pan Am Games were originally going to provide Hamilton, it wouldn't take much of a facility to be a host.
With all of the people and money available, I can't see an event like the Women's FIFA World Cup coming to Canada and Toronto not being involved.
I also believe that either Halifax or Moncton has an advantage over Victoria, because I believe that the CSA will try to make this a nationwide event. I believe whether or not Halifax can take advantage of this opportunity primarily depends on how much the city and province will contribute.

[Wishblade]

Originally Posted by c-way-dude

I was under the impression that Toronto wanted to build a new stadium to host soccer for the Pan Am Games. If that is the case, then BMO Field would be available (and possibly SkyDome as well). Judging by the stadium that the Pan Am Games were originally going to provide Hamilton, it wouldn't take much of a facility to be a host.
With all of the people and money available, I can't see an event like the Women's FIFA World Cup coming to Canada and Toronto not being involved.
I also believe that either Halifax or Moncton has an advantage over Victoria, because I believe that the CSA will try to make this a nationwide event. I believe whether or not Halifax can take advantage of this opportunity primarily depends on how much the city and province will contribute.

Its now impossible for Toronto to be involved. The deadline for bid submissions was christmas eve. Those cities are the final cities involved in Canada's bid.

[wespidel]

Commons would be great for a stadium especially where the Canada Games stadium Oval, will probably stick! But I don`t think they will allow a stadium to be built on the Commons.

I agree with the Gorsebrook site, great location, it`s a natural. I believe there is a Grammar school there and I don`t know what the modern building is, but I will find out for you. There are old baseball, tennis and soccer fields and a old outdoor ball hockey arena.

Yes, I heard the news today about Chile pulling out of the race and there is only two countries bidding for the FiFA Womem`s World Cup of soccer, Canada and Zimbabwe. On CBC local news tonite they had a updated report on the Halifax bid and showed the Events NS 9,500 permanent seat, 20,000 make shift stadium and said that the city council will meet in two weeks to update their bid. Apparently the Canadian Soccer Assocition bid has to present their bid to FiFA on Feb. 11th, with the 6 host cities. Lets hope this time Halifax gets chosen and Canada wins the bid.

I believe there also will be a public meeting in the coming weeks in relation to the stadium structure. I believe if Halifax as a private investor who wants to be a partner, Halifax will have to change their stadium model and build a better and bigger stadium. I believe they are interested in a 25,000 seat, permanent modular bowl type stadium and I believe it`s up to us to encourage Halifax to build a 25,000 permanent seat two level twin sided stadium with all the amenities, skyboxes, concourses with permanent washrooms and concsesion stands on both sides of the stadium, with open endzones to expand to 45 or 50 thousand seats with a make shift to qualify for a Grey Cup and major concerts. I believe this CFL model stadium concept is crucial if Halifax wants to attract a potential CFL owner and stage a Grey Cup game.

Fenwick`s Multi Tier stadium model stadium or reduced to two levels on both sides of the field, with 12,500 permanent seats per/side and with open ends for expansion, that has all the amenities and all the modern features, would be an ideal structure. Cost is a huge factor! But I believe if BMO field can be built for 62 million, seating 20,522 people with all the amenities, than Halifax should be able to build a steel framed 25,000 permanent seat structure with all the features and with open endzones for 75 to 85 million. PCL Canada built BMO field in Toronto and they also have a branch in Dartmouth NS. Nussli`s NT rental temporary BC lion model stadium would not be suitable but they do build a modular type bowl steel frame permanent structure which I believe would not allow Halifax the ability to expand to 45 to 50 thousand seats for major events and I believe strongly that this would be the wrong design to build. So there is where we the public and the fans that will support the facility come in. We have to stand up and convince Halifax not to build a bowl modular type 25,000 seat stadium that can only be expanded to 35 thousand. We have to make a case. So lets do it!

[TedWilliamsHead]

wespidel you might as well copy and paste one of your messages on every page of this forum instead of rewriting the exact same thoughts every single message

[brettinhalifax]

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[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by brettinhalifax

A 20,000 BMO type stadium would cost about $60,000,000. 20,000 metal endzone bleachers would cost around $10,000,000. 2 Grey Cups would cost around $15,000,000.

Total cost would be $85,000,000 and HRM would get 2 Grey Cups, 2 weeks of sold out hotel rooms and restaurants in November, $250,000,000 of economic activity and be left with a CFL caliber stadium. The Feds would probably fund about $20,000,000 of the 20,000 seat stadium, so HRM and NS taxpayers would get $250,000,000 of economic activity for $65 million.

IMO not a bad deal. Way more bang for the buck than the CWG would have been.

And the way HRM runs things, like the Washmill Lake underpass project, it would go over budget by 80%.

[wespidel]

Thanks Brett and Keith for the comments, there was some more information I found out today which I could have made a comment on but there is just to many ignorant people on here and it`s just confirms to me how many rude and disrespectful people are out there in todays world. Thanks again Brett and Keith for being kind and respectful, and totally done with this site and the ignorant rude remarks from these terrible people. I think you know who you are!

[fenwick16]

There was a short commentary in the Chronicle Herald about people's changing attitudes towards building a stadium in the Halifax area - http://thechronicleherald.ca/Sports/1222751.html . The commentary was by Chris Cochrane.

[brettinhalifax]

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[halifaxboyns]

I've always felt (from the get go) it was prudent to build a stadium that could occupy a grey cup. But further to Brett's post - is it possible to get a greycup game, but not have a team? It would certainly be interesting - open the stadium with a greycup?

[brettinhalifax]

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[c-way-dude]

Originally Posted by Wishblade

Its now impossible for Toronto to be involved. The deadline for bid submissions was christmas eve. Those cities are the final cities involved in Canada's bid.

My bad. I shouldn't post at the end of a long day. Toronto didn't submit a bid before the deadline, so they obviously can't be involved.
With regards to the Pan Am Games, the city of Toronto is building a stadium for track and field, not soccer.

[c-way-dude]

Originally Posted by brettinhalifax

Well, the NFL is considering holding Superbowl 50 in LA even though LA doesn't have a team (or a modern stadium) and is considering holding a Superbowl in London, England so IMO if the NFL can do it, why not the CFL? You'd have to get the Commissioner and the 8 CFL owners to sign off on it, so there would have to be something in it for them. Probably $$$. Anyway, the Grey Cup is usually a neutral site game anyway.

The biggest problem in expanding the CFL is that there isn't a suitable stadium anywhere in Canada for a 10th team. If the CFL really wanted a 10th team, Mark Cohon should just dangle the big carrot and say "The first city that builds a modern 25,000 seat stadium with room for 15,000 temporary seats will be awarded hosting rights for 3 Grey Cups in the next 6"

3 Grey Cups might justify the construction of a $150 million stadium in Halifax or Quebec City. Calgary estimated that there was $80 million of economic impact from the 2009 Grey Cup. So 3 Grey Cups means $240 million of economic impact in addition to the $150 million construction project. Maybe I'm oversimplifying, but I think that makes about $390 of economic impact.

The 2014 CWG bid estimated a $2 billion economic impact for $785 million budget. That's $2.54 of economic activity for every $1.00 spent. 3 Grey Cups would have $390 million of economic activity for a $150 million budget. That's $2.60 of economic activity for every $1.00 spent. So in my mind, a Grey Cup Stadium makes as much sense as a CWG, but at less than one quarter of the CWG cost. It would have lower international exposure, but IMO would have more Canadian and North American exposure for HRM.

Then there would be a brand new 25,000 seat stadium waiting for a 10th team.

Everyone wins. Halifax gets a stadium, 3 major sporting events and economic activity. The CFL gets a brand new venue for a 10th team. A prospective owner gets a modern stadium for no upfront investment.

This is a big $$ plan I can support. I have no idea if it would fly with the CFL, Peter Kelly or Darrell Dexter. Probably wouldn't.

I've been saying the same thing for years. For what it's worth, I started a thread in the cfl.ca about holding Grey Cups in non-CFL cities to generate money to pay for stadium construction a few years ago. For what it's worth, IIRC, the responses were generally not positive.