Halifax Stadium Discussion

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by counterfactual

Great post. I missed it, but yeah, we should build something like this on the peninsula.

We're never going to increase downtown density-- have more families move in-- on the peninsula and downtown, if we build all the new sports facilities out in Bedford and Dartmouth. Very unfair and typical of shortsighted HRM policies.

Thanks!

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by Colin May

Not Swansea.
Here : http://www.nufc.com/html/ground4.html
and here : http://www.themag.co.uk/2013/04/expand-st-james-park/

Died 1989, he knew several of the club directors and players. A guy at a corner store told my brother about the deal for ashes of fans.
He once tossed a bunch Chelsea supporters off a train when they were pulling the safety chain and made them walk from Durham to London. As a police Inspector he wasn't fond of fans who caused problems because it required him to leave the game at half time and get his men prepared for the hordes descending on the station.
Before we moved to Canada I had been to games at most of the big stadiums in England. In Glasgow my wife and I were close to Celtic Park but I never went. I went to Ibrox for the Rangers v Celtic game and asked a mounted policeman which end of the ground was safe and he replied ' If it's safe you're wanting you'd no be here'. Went in and kept my mouth shut.
My one claim to fame is having played football/soccer with Bill Shankly.

Very impressive.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

No, we are talking about a way of thinking about stadium use that goes beyond "CFL" mentality.

Like the library is to some, a stadium is also a cultural landmark and Canadian Football or soccer aside, it should be both for use of lower level teams and our big franchises. We can do this for the cost in the range of the library.

That is why the primarily NASL and St. Mary's football usage, among other local teams and sports, seems to make the most sense from what we've discussed.

No, the conversation is generally about building a large stadium to house a professional level team, and some are expressing concerns about having to drive to the suburbs to take their kids to soccer practice.

[Colin May]

Originally Posted by counterfactual

That's pretty awesome. Your father was a fan of the Geordies! St. James Park is indeed one of the great football stadiums in England.

Bill Shankly is an Anfield/Kop legend. How the heck did you come to play with him?

In Huddersfield he was the manager and he had a home about 400 yards from ours. New estate and as kids we played on any flat surface we found until the developer needed the space. The so called 'pitch' moved several time until we ended up behind his house. A farmer's field was about 150 yards from Shankly and that is where the famous 'Dads and Lads' games were played on a Sunday afternoon. We used to knock on his door and ask 'Can Mr Shankly come out to play ?' His father-in-law lived with the family and my sister went to school with one of his daughters. He went to Anfield in 1959 but continued to drive over the moors to play the Sunday games. Tough as nuts; gave no quarter to man and boy, including me landing on my arse from his tackle from behind. Felt like I'd been hit by a bus, and he stood over me as I lay on the ground and said " It's a man's game laddie". I thought I was football mad but Shankly never stopped talking about the game, the players and the attributes of certain players.The field is now all houses. Here is a link to a photo (not including me, the stone houses in the background are still standing) http://shanklyhotel.com/the-city/ 4th photo down
The old stadium at Huddersfield had a covered side for 10,000 people standing.
And 400 yards in the other direction was the home of Ray Wilson who became an England international. On matchday he would take the bus to the ground, we would go with him if we felt like leaving well before the game started. He'd stand at the bus stop just like any other citizen and in those days players were on fixed wages

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

No, the conversation is generally about building a large stadium to house a professional level team, and some are expressing concerns about having to drive to the suburbs to take their kids to soccer practice.

It does sound a bit silly when you put it that way, Mark.

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by Colin May

In Huddersfield he was the manager and he had a home about 400 yards from ours. New estate and as kids we played on any flat surface we found until the developer needed the space. The so called 'pitch' moved several time until we ended up behind his house. A farmer's field was about 150 yards from Shankly and that is where the famous 'Dads and Lads' games were played on a Sunday afternoon. We used to knock on his door and ask 'Can Mr Shankly come out to play ?' His father-in-law lived with the family and my sister went to school with one of his daughters. He went to Anfield in 1959 but continued to drive over the moors to play the Sunday games. Tough as nuts; gave no quarter to man and boy, including me landing on my arse from his tackle from behind. Felt like I'd been hit by a bus, and he stood over me as I lay on the ground and said " It's a man's game laddie". I thought I was football mad but Shankly never stopped talking about the game, the players and the attributes of certain players.The field is now all houses. Here is a link to a photo (not including me, the stone houses in the background are still standing) http://shanklyhotel.com/the-city/ 4th photo down
The old stadium at Huddersfield had a covered side for 10,000 people standing.
And 400 yards in the other direction was the home of Ray Wilson who became an England international. On matchday he would take the bus to the ground, we would go with him if we felt like leaving well before the game started. He'd stand at the bus stop just like any other citizen and in those days players were on fixed wages

That is an awesome story, Colin. What a great Shankly was; they don't make 'em like that anymore. The passion and dedication unparalleled.

YNWA.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by counterfactual

It does sound a bit silly when you put it that way, Mark.

Ha! I wasn't trying to make it sound silly, but I do think we are talking about 2 separate entities.

[c-way-dude]

This is a video of the North Dakota State Bisons coming onto field at the Fargodome. The Fargodome is a sort of hybrid between a stadium and arena that seats about 19k for football. It has a variety of concert settings that can host almost any musical act. Imagine how much fun it would be to have a slightly larger version of something like this in Halifax.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlqTcbDq088

[portapetey]

Originally Posted by c-way-dude

This is a video of the North Dakota State Bisons coming onto field at the Fargodome. The Fargodome is a sort of hybrid between a stadium and arena that seats about 19k for football. It has a variety of concert settings that can host almost any musical act. Imagine how much fun it would be to have a slightly larger version of something like this in Halifax.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlqTcbDq088

Video unavailable...putting the https:// in front seems to work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIqTcbDq088

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by portapetey

Video unavailable...putting the https:// in front seems to work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIqTcbDq088

Or you can just embed it in your post:

• Video Link

[c-way-dude]

A facility like the Fargodome would provide Halifax with not only a stadium, but also a concert venue that could attract almost any musical act. The only other way to accomplish that would be to build a big arena. It doesn't make sense for the city to build an NHL-sized arena when there is no chance Halifax will ever get a franchise.
A facility like the Fargodome would obviously be more expensive to build, however, the facility in North Dakota apparently has had an operating profit since it opened.

http://www.jamestownsun.com/opinion/editorials/3929489-fargodome-continues-thrive

[cjones2451]

Could they attach a stadium to the IKEA

Ikea Stadium
Team colours are Blue and Yellow

Just sayin'

[q12]

Apparently there is a private stadium plan being reported by the site that shall not be named.

[sneakyzero]

is that just a rumour?

[fenwick16]

I am not posting this to promote a Halifax Stadium, but just out of interest. The Bing.com screen image today showed an image of the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panathenaic_Stadium. The original stadium, which has been rebuilt, dates back to 566 BC. If a stadium is built someday in the Halifax area, I hope that the area's natural hilly topography will be integrated into the stadium.

Here is another image of the Panathenaic Stadium:

(source: http://www.achtypistours.gr/piraeus-athens-city-tour-and-acropolis )

[c-way-dude]

A nationwide survey that, IMO, offers further evidence that Halifax should pursue a stadium and a CFL franchise.
http://www.reginaldbibby.com/thingsnew.html

Another survey from a year ago that also included U.S. sports fans. It's results suggest that 10% of U.S. sports fans follow the CFL.
http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/eh-game...rt-and-growing-in-the-u-s-204506711.html

[c-way-dude]

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/...ey-cup-tallies-71-million-375265561.html

I have long advocated using the hosting of multiple Grey Cup games as a way to help cover stadium building costs. I would like to see city and provincial politicians offer the CFL a deal where they would each invest a significant amount of money towards a stadium on condition the CFL award Halifax the rights to host 3 Grey Cup games over a 6 to 8 year period.
Hosting the games would make a franchise more profitable, and should make it easier to find franchise owners willing to invest in a stadium alongside governments.
The economic activity generated from hosting the games should help governments recoup at least some of their investment in a stadium.
Also noteworthy about last year's Grey Cup in Winnipeg is that they were able to generate a very healthy profit from a crowd around 36k.

[c-way-dude]

http://cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/grey-...illions-for-winnipeg-s-economy-1.3331618

[ILoveHalifax]

NO, NO, NO, we don't want money and/or development like that.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by ILoveHalifax

NO, NO, NO, we don't want money and/or development like that.

The Bousquet Bleatings (TM Regd) alone that we would have to put up with would mean it would not be worth it even if it was free.