Quote:
New Stadium Needed for CFL Kick Off
Josh Pringle
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Frank Clair Stadium is the main opponent for a CFL franchise returning to Ottawa.
The Canadian Football League has awarded a conditional expansion franchise to the group headed by Ottawa 67's owner Jeff Hunt.
CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon told reporters in Ottawa the stadium is a "condition" to the return of football to the Capital.
Hunt says his group hopes to have some "meaningful discussions" with the City of Ottawa about the future of Frank Clair Stadium.
The lower-tier of the southside grandstand will be demolished this spring over structural concerns.
Hunt says there is no other place his group wants a football team to play than at Frank Clair Stadium.
Mayor Larry O'Brien is a supporter of the return of CFL Football, but insists the City of Ottawa will be prudent with city dollars.
O'Brien told reporters using taxpayers dollars to bring CFL football back is "not-on for me personally."
He adds he doesn't see a situation where the City of Ottawa would have to make an investment.
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Please tell me that they're going to tear down that horrid structure and not just the lower stands on the South side. Those stands are a real eyesore for Ottawa and it would be great to see them demolished and replaced with something lower and less brutalist. Just give the Hunt team the contract for Lansdowne and I bet they will do something great with the site. They are all business men from Ottawa who understand the Glebe and it's neighbourhood dynamic as well as it's connection to the Rideau Canal. Having that competition is just a waste of money if we're going to lose any chance of having a CFL team in the process.
If people are serious about wanting a CFL team here in Ottawa we need to start lobying to our councillors to get things moving on the redevelopment of Lansdowne. Clive Doucet seems hell-bent on having a useless city-owned parking lot and dilapidated (and condemned) stadium instead of a privately owned Lansdowne with a new stadium, condos, grocery stores, townhouses, a hotel, etc. The city needs to get their priorities straight, either step up and do something with Lansdowne or step aside and let Jeff Hunt et al do so.