Halifax Stadium Discussion

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by c-way-dude

According to a poster on CFL.ca, the other two potential partners are the universities. If true, I wonder if this could help open up federal funding.
A rally might help the pro-stadium cause at this point. Use the media to invite anybody who is either involved in, or a fan of football or soccer to a rally at the provincial legislature. It could act as a focal point to demonstrate public support for a stadium. It would undoubtedly receive media exposure, and if successful, might sway any politicians that are undecided in their support. Invite pro-stadium politicians like Peter Kelly and Peter MacKay to speak. Try to re-create what happened in Winnipeg, where many people thought the NHL would never return. Play up the underdog angle, as many people love to support someone fighting against the odds.

Interesting. How often does that poster have good info? (Is it HfxTC?). Here is a link to that CFL.ca thread - http://forums.cfl.ca/viewtopic.php?f...0765&start=135. I keep hoping that something will come out of this news.

[q12]

Again on today's CTV news @ 6pm, the stadium/racino made headlines, and they are using fenwick's stadium design almost exclusively to demonstrate what a stadium might look like.

Councillor David Hendsbee was interviewed saying it's very positive to hear from private investors and it should help to get the other levels of government on board.

[c-way-dude]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

Interesting. How often does that poster have good info? (Is it HfxTC?). Here is a link to that CFL.ca thread - http://forums.cfl.ca/viewtopic.php?f...0765&start=135. I keep hoping that something will come out of this news.

He's usually a pretty reliable poster. However, about a week ago he said he had an "inside source" that told him that the mayor had no private interests coming forward concerning the stadium. He has a very strong dislike of Mayor Kelly.

[q12]

Here is the link to Saturday's CTV story on the Racino/stadium:

http://atlantic.ctv.ca/?video=622096

[c-way-dude]

The racino propsal should give the city more bargaining power with the province. The Halifax Casino is a branch of the Atlantic Lottery Corporation. All revenues go to the province, which controls the ALC. A racino would cut into Halifax Casino/provincial revenues on a perennial basis. The city should tell the provincial government that if it doesn't contribute $20 million to the stadium project, then the city will do everything within it's power to ensure the racino/stadium becomes a reality.

[cormiermax]

I hope they can avoid having to deal with the Racino group, I can see that going down hill fast.

[Haligonian88]

Originally Posted by c-way-dude

The racino propsal should give the city more bargaining power with the province. The Halifax Casino is a branch of the Atlantic Lottery Corporation. All revenues go to the province, which controls the ALC. A racino would cut into Halifax Casino/provincial revenues on a perennial basis. The city should tell the provincial government that if it doesn't contribute $20 million to the stadium project, then the city will do everything within it's power to ensure the racino/stadium becomes a reality.

Wouldn't the province have to approve a racino? It was the province who made it clear last year that there was no place for a racino in Halifax.

[spaustin]

Originally Posted by Haligonian88

Wouldn't the province have to approve a racino? It was the province who made it clear last year that there was no place for a racino in Halifax.

Yep. Halifax can't just open a casino on its own! It's a provincial responsibility and we certainly can't blackmail the province into building one. They call all the shots. In any case, we need another casino or a "racino" like we need a hole in the head. Hopefully some of the other potential partners are less out there.

[fenwick16]

I can't think of any way that a harness racing track and football/soccer stadium can be combined. I overlay an image of McMahon Stadium on the Charlottetown Driving Park and the sizes are significantly different.

In my opinion, if a Racino is chosen as the funding partner then the focus will be a harness racing track instead of a stadium since I can't see how the two can be combined.

PS: If a racino is chosen then won't the racino group want contributions from the HRM and other levels of government to go to the racetrack portion of the project? What funds would be left for a stadium, if any?

[thurmas]

Get er done boys what helped with the grassroots movement in getting the Jets back here in Winnipeg was jetsowner.com It dispelled silly myths that Winnipeg couldn't support NHL hockey and was a great place for us fans to post news items about the nhl returning and our memories of the Jets from 1972-1996. You guys could use a similar website that would help give a grassroots push for CFL coming to Halifax. Also I think the supporters of a stadium in Halifax have been too quiet you gotta make some noise about what you want. Get a rally going at city hall or the legislature get the local university football teams involved like St. Mary's, Acadia, the high school football programs, local soccer associations make some noise get on the news. Make a point to the local politicians that a city of Halfax's size and power has no suitable stadium is making Halifax a laughing stock around North America when Regina a city half your size has plans for a mega stadium project. It's one thing to mope and whine about no stadium on internet forums but you have to have actual voices and feet on the ground for people to listen to you. Cheers and good luck!

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by thurmas

Get er done boys what helped with the grassroots movement in getting the Jets back here in Winnipeg was jetsowner.com It dispelled silly myths that Winnipeg couldn't support NHL hockey and was a great place for us fans to post news items about the nhl returning and our memories of the Jets from 1972-1996. You guys could use a similar website that would help give a grassroots push for CFL coming to Halifax. Also I think the supporters of a stadium in Halifax have been too quiet you gotta make some noise about what you want. Get a rally going at city hall or the legislature get the local university football teams involved like St. Mary's, Acadia, the high school football programs, local soccer associations make some noise get on the news. Make a point to the local politicians that a city of Halfax's size and power has no suitable stadium is making Halifax a laughing stock around North America when Regina a city half your size has plans for a mega stadium project. It's one thing to mope and whine about no stadium on internet forums but you have to have actual voices and feet on the ground for people to listen to you. Cheers and good luck!

Thanks for the encouragement thurmas.

I agree with you on this point - "Also I think the supporters of a stadium in Halifax have been too quiet you gotta make some noise about what you want. Get a rally going at city hall or the legislature get the local university football teams involved like St. Mary's, Acadia, the high school football programs, local soccer associations make some noise get on the news."

However, I don't think that a separate website will help much; in some ways I think posting information on this forum is better than having a separate website. This "Halifax Discussion" thread has almost 300,000 views now (and is read by a few Councillors). Having a separate website is just another form of the same media (the internet).

I can agree with your sentiment but when you say "It's one thing to mope and whine about no stadium on internet forums" then some people might feel offended. Residents and ex-residents have been contacting politicians, and public consultations have been held, so people are doing more than moping and whining . People are making their voices heard. Polls have indicated over 75% support for a stadium and one of the leading contenders for the Mayoral position in the 2012 election made it a point to state that he is in favour of a stadium. The current Mayor has been promoting a stadium for a few years now along with a few Councillors. At this point in time, we need Premier Dexter to start listening.

[q12]

Originally Posted by Haligonian88

Wouldn't the province have to approve a racino? It was the province who made it clear last year that there was no place for a racino in Halifax.

Does the province have any authority on building a racino on first nation's land though? The CTV story from friday suggested they might use part of Shannon park lands that were going to be given back to the First Nations.

The NFL's Minnesota Vikings have also looked into using funds from a racino to fund a new stadium.

Racino Could Be Best Option To Pay For Stadium
November 9, 2011 6:53 PM

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) – There’s some new numbers out on how to fund a potential Minnesota Vikings stadium.

A report obtained Wednesday said slot machines located at Minnesota’s two horse racing tracks would generate enough annual revenue to build the Vikings stadium with plenty left over for education. More here: http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/1...y-for-stadium/

[cormiermax]

I don't think the land they're giving to the first nations (Has that even been approved yet?) would be nearly enough to build a Racino, plus from what iv heard they want to build one at their power centre in Truro.

[fenwick16]

Based on some quick research that I posted previously (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=4273) the First Nations land claim area is illustrated below. In order for them to have the entire Shannon Park then they would have to buy it from Canada Lands Company - http://www.trurodaily.com/Natural-re...Shannon-Park/1

Why not have some special lotteries held in the province with the intention of proceeds going to a stadium? (I think Empire mentioned this previously). If a lottery is held to support a stadium then people buying tickets will know that their money is going towards the stadium and can chose to buy tickets or not, without the pitfalls of relying on gambling addictions to fund a stadium (on the other hand, I don't think there is much risk of people becoming addicted to an annual lottery).

A good example is Toronto's Princess Margaret Hospital, which holds an annual lottery to support cancer research - http://www.helpconquercancer.ca/home/main.php.


First Nations Shannon Park Land Claim - my image re-drawn based on an image from this source: http://issuu.com/brucemans/docs/spsiteplan

[D-dog]

I really hope this goes through, I have never been to Halifax but it just seems like yall discuss shit to death and don't actually do anything about getting the job done.

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by D-dog

I really hope this goes through, I have never been to Halifax but it just seems like yall discuss shit to death and don't actually do anything about getting the job done.

Truth. Every once in a while one of the discussions will turn into something real, and then things get exciting. But most of the time it's just talk and studies.

[Empire]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

I can't think of any way that a harness racing track and football/soccer stadium can be combined. I overlay an image of McMahon Stadium on the Charlottetown Driving Park and the sizes are significantly different.

In my opinion, if a Racino is chosen as the funding partner then the focus will be a harness racing track instead of a stadium since I can't see how the two can be combined.

PS: If a racino is chosen then won't the racino group want contributions from the HRM and other levels of government to go to the racetrack portion of the project? What funds would be left for a stadium, if any?

My concern as well is that a race track won't fit inside a stadium. If one is willing to really think outside the box then maybe the two could be combined.

Build the Racino beside the stadium. Build back to back stands. You would have 5000 seats facing the race track and 5000 facing the football field. In between the two stands would be shared bars, restaurants, casino etc. etc. The space in between would be a sports village along with the bars and restaurants.

Enough space should be left between the two stands so that the 5000 seat stand on the football side could be expanded. Columns would be in place in the sports village ready for this expansion.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by Empire

My concern as well is that a race track won't fit inside a stadium. If one is willing to really think outside the box then maybe the two could be combined.

Build the Racino beside the stadium. Build back to back stands. You would have 5000 seats facing the race track and 5000 facing the football field. In between the two stands would be shared bars, restaurants, casino etc. etc. The space in between would be a sports village along with the bars and restaurants.

Enough space should be left between the two stands so that the 5000 seat stand on the football side could be expanded. Columns would be in place in the sports village ready for this expansion.

I agree, this is the only way that I could see the two being combined. Washrooms could also be shared on the one side and the parking lot could be shared (just as long as events aren't scheduled at the same time).

I wonder what else a racino could contribute to the stadium? Maybe it would free up money required for the parking, land cost ...? I am not really a proponent of gambling but I think that harness racing is a legitimate sport and is certainly an exciting sport.

[cjones2451]

Even if they get the shovels in the ground and start this, who is going to step up and put the dollars up to own a CFL team like Jeff Hunt et al have done in Ottawa. I think that would go a LONG way to get this over the hump. It seems the McCains and other big names would have stepped up if they had the interest....

Am I missing something?

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by cjones2451

Even if they get the shovels in the ground and start this, who is going to step up and put the dollars up to own a CFL team like Jeff Hunt et al have done in Ottawa. I think that would go a LONG way to get this over the hump. It seems the McCains and other big names would have stepped up if they had the interest....

Am I missing something?

I think Scotiabank should consider it. If they are going to sponsor sports facilities all over Canada, they might as well in Halifax considering the history and the fact we are a significant banking centre east of MTL.