And the news stories on the stadium keep coming! It's going to be hard to keep up!
Is Burnside the right place for a stadium?
The Burnside News - News
Published on February 28, 2011
Richard Woodbury
Park has council supporters, but feasibility still the main question
Although it’s still just in the feasibility stage, talk of a stadium for Halifax could be a big boon to Burnside.
Topics : Dartmouth Crossing , Burnside News , HRM regional council , Shannon Park , Halifax , Dartmouth
Although it’s still just in the feasibility stage, talk of a stadium for Halifax could be a big boon to Burnside.
The most common locations being thrown around for a stadium are Shannon Park and Burnside, according to the sample of 10 council members the Burnside News communicated with.
“Burnside or Dartmouth Crossing lands would be ideal because of accessibility and [their] central location,” says Bill Karsten, the councillor for Portland-East Woodlawn. “Shannon lands keep getting talked about, but they’re still in ownership of DND and much would have to be done very quickly for them to even be a consideration.”
However, Councillor Jim Smith – who represents Burnside on HRM regional council – believes the opportunity for redevelopment at Shannon Park is a hard one to pass up.
“It’s a huge opportunity for the area to be rejuvenated and would create huge employment and business opportunities for local residents,” says the councillor for Albro Lake-Harbourview. “A Burnside location off Commodore Drive would be acceptable as well, but the huge benefit of redeveloping the Shannon lands is difficult to ignore.”
Shannon Park is also councillor Jerry Blumenthal’s preferred location.
“Burnside was set up for industrial use and I’m not sure a stadium would fit in,” says the councillor for Halifax North End.
If a stadium were to be built in Burnside, it would have the support of the company behind Dartmouth Crossing.
“Overall, I love the idea of having it on the Dartmouth side,” says Glenn Munro, the managing partner for eastern Canada for the North American Development Group.
He believes a stadium would have little impact on Dartmouth Crossing’s retailers, but “it would be really good for our restaurants.”
Munro thinks the key thing for a stadium would be to ensure the area could support the traffic that would go along with it.
“As long as we can set it up so the road access works, the parking is supported and it’s supported with public transit, I think it will be wonderful,” he says.
Similarly, with HRM's recent decision to spend $100,000 on a stadium feasibility study, the mood at council is generally one of support for the project, but only if the price tag is right.
“This is all in the theory stage,” notes Barry Dalrymple, the councillor for Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank. He’d love to see a stadium built, but he has reservations.
“If the business case shows we’re going to have to spend $250,000 to $500,000 on operating deficits every year, then that’s not going to fly,” Dalrymple says.
The feasibility study will look at a host of things, says Mayor Peter Kelly, including construction costs, sources of funding, operating expenses, likely revenues and what, if any, municipal tax stream will be generated.
“We will arrive at a sound, sustainable business plan as well as a design which will give us the correct-sized facility for our circumstances,” he says. The analysis is expected to be completed by June.
Bob Harvey is giving the project his conditional backing.
“Yes, if there’s a strong business case to support it,” says the councillor for Lower Sackville. “This would include considerable outside funding from other levels of government and the private sector. This is one piece of recreational, sporting, cultural infrastructure we don't have and we are the largest urban centre east of Quebec and the capital of Atlantic Canada.”
However, obtaining funding from the federal government for a stadium may be difficult. Although Defence Minister Peter MacKay has openly supported the project, the Minister for State and Sport was in Halifax in mid-February and said that while the federal government would provide financial support for the FIFA 2015 Women’s World Cup, the money wouldn’t be for a stadium.
“Our commitment is not for infrastructure,” Gary Lunn told the Chronicle Herald. “That’s absolutely firm.”
With that in mind, Steve Adams feels “the stadium question is now a moot point. Without a federal commitment, we shouldn’t proceed any further.”
One of the advantages to having a stadium would be that it would eliminate the controversy associated with hosting large concerts on the Commons.
“The permanent relocation of staging major concerts from the Commons would resolve constant opposition to such use of this public asset,” says Reg Rankin, the councillor for Timberlea-Prospect.
Jennifer Watts, the councillor for Connaught-Quinpool, says she is neither for nor against a stadium and will reserve that decision until she sees the results of the study, but is already expressing concern about the benefits it would provide.
“The biggest con is the huge amount of money that goes into building this type of infrastructure that has very little active physical activity engagement for those who use the facility – it’s really entertainment infrastructure,” she says.
Watts says the city is already “desperately short” of both capital and operating money for parks, active transportation trails, playgrounds, community recreation facilities and cycling and pedestrian infrastructure. This is also true for funding for local cultural programs, artists and the supporting infrastructure, she says. She believes funding a piece of sports infrastructure like the Canada Games skating oval would be a wiser investment.
“Here is a piece of infrastructure that could (if it continues) be publicly accessible, enjoyed by thousands as a form of physical activity, provide an opportunity for community connection, engage all ages and be relatively accessible to many because of its location,” she says.
Watts hopes the feasibility study includes a thorough cost-benefit analysis.
“It’s enticing to think of all the economic spinoffs from major events, but how does this balance with the benefits of a healthier, more community engaged population?” she says. “An analysis of how, how often and by whom a stadium would be used over a year compared to community recreation infrastructure would be very helpful in the decision making process. A stadium can certainly provide a venue for local athletes and artists, but would the rental charges be financially accessible to these groups? How would the general public use the space outside of paying for ticketed events?
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I have to be careful of what I say since I live in the GTA. PS: The Kelly mentioned in the title of the Toronto Star story is the author, not Mayor Kelly.
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