[Halifax] Permanent Wanderers Grounds Stadium | ? m | ? fl | Proposed

[q12]

The Halifax Wanderers are in the early stages of pitching a new pitch. The professional soccer club is hoping to get a permanent stadium, saying they've outgrown the existing pop-up facility. Their estimated cost is just a fraction of the formerly proposed CFL football stadium, and in this case, there's an established team ready to fill seats.

HFX Wanderers hope to score permanent outdoor stadium in heart of Halifax

By Alex Cooke Global News
Posted May 28, 2022 6:00 am
Updated May 28, 2022 9:00 am

The HFX Wanderers are in the early stages of pitching a permanent outdoor stadium, saying the soccer team has outgrown the existing pop-up facility at the Wanderers Grounds.

“I think we’ve done the best with what we have,” Derek Martin, president and founder of the HFX Wanderers Football Club, told Global News in an interview.

“It was always our intent to use this as a proof-of-concept, to show the public that this was, in my opinion, the best location for an outdoor sports and entertainment venue in Halifax.

“And I think our success to date has certainly proven that.”

As it stands, the current site in the heart of Halifax has a capacity of about 6,500. During a recent game against the Toronto FC, fans were “filling every nook and cranny,” Martin said.

Typically, games at the Wanderers Grounds average about 6,000 people in attendance. Martin said it would be “viable” for the proposed permanent stadium to seat up to 10,000.

It would also include better infrastructure to better serve the fans, he said.

“You know, getting rid of portable toilets, no running water, inability to serve food,” said Martin.

“It’s at the stage now where I think we’ve proven that (the location) works and we’d like to see something a little bit better for our fans and for the citizens of Halifax to enjoy.”

Martin said the venue could also host rugby tournaments – “Rugby and soccer work really well together because they both prefer to play on natural grass, they don’t damage the grass in the way that American football would” – and may even set the stage to bring a professional women’s soccer team to the city.

“That’s something that we think would be a great fit with a new venue,” he said.

Another stadium pitch

This isn’t the first time a stadium has been proposed in Halifax. Pre-pandemic, Schooner Sports and Entertainment hoped to land a CFL franchise in the Halifax area with a proposed $110-million stadium.

While Halifax Regional Council voted in 2019 to provide $20 million to help build it, councillors decided in 2021 to discontinue work on the project indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March, with the announcement of Touchdown Atlantic coming to Nova Scotia this summer, CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie said he is still very committed to expanding the league to the Maritimes, and they were “quietly working behind the scenes” to make it happen. There have been no updates since then.

The CFL stadium was a controversial proposal, due in part to its cost, as well as its proposed location in the Shannon Park area of Dartmouth, where bars and restaurants are lacking and access to public transit is less reliable.

But Martin said the proposed stadium at the Wanderers Grounds is different. The estimated cost would be $15 million to $20 million — a fraction of the proposed price tag on the CFL stadium.

Read more here:
https://globalnews.ca/news/8875419/hfx-wanderers-stadium-proposal-halifax/

I was at the game Tuesday where Halifax played Toronto FC. The atmosphere was great. I think the time has come to rebuild a permanent stadium on the Wanderers Grounds. HFX Wanderers have done great work here to make this site as successful as the Scotiabank Centre in Downtown.

• Video Link