Halifax Stadium Discussion

[Welkin]

Both Fenwick and Halifaxboyns make very good points and I agree with their view of a mass transit future. However, we are going to have to agree to disagree on this one. I think downtown locations are great for baseball stadiums (80+ home dates) and large arenas (100+ home dates for hockey games, concerts and trade shows) but football stadiums are a different animal. Football games happen on the weekends, not during the work week. Football weekends have become events and are much larger than just the game itself. Activities before games can begin hours and hours before kickoff. Many fans from outside Halifax would probably love to drive down in their RV's and make a weekend of it. I know one game I went to had over a hundred RV's camped at the far end of the parking lot and they turned it in to a tailgating festival that started on Saturday and went all the way to game day. You can't do that in a squeezed in downtown location. The NIMBY's will complain about the crowds and noise.

Access to mass transit is great and is very important for moving thousands of workers downtown everyday or reducing parking at high density residential areas. However, for the festival that football games have become, you need open spaces and easily accessible parking. Don't get me wrong, you still need to run buses to the game for those who don't want to deal with the hassles of crowds and parking, but it won't be more than 20% of your fans. Squeezed in downtown stadiums with limited parking no longer fit the environment that football games have become.

Regina is basically building a large downtown arena that happens to host football games. The 10-11 dates per year for football games are supposed to be but a small part of the 100+ events they expect to host each year so a downtown location is just. Personally I think they are building an expensive white elephant and should just build a $100M stadium down in the Grasslands Development, but that's another story.

[ATL Stadium]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

I have to agree with halifaxboyns. We are starting to see a shift away from individual transportation (cars) and a greater emphasis on mass transportation. This has been occurring over the past few decades and Calgary is far ahead of most cities. In my opinion, locating a stadium close to the densest population, mass transportation and existing parking is a good option and will result in more use of the facility. It also reduces sprawl instead of promoting urban sprawl. As gas prices increase this will become more important.

I like the Rogers Centre location in Toronto since it gets people to go downtown and is close to mass transportation. The new Regina retractable dome stadium proposal is being proposed for a site close to downtown Regina (the Saskatchewan government has actually reached an agreement on a site owned by CP).

Being one that actually lives in the HRM area.....we suffer through the never ending battles of geography. The peninsula that is the old city has grown outward all because of the difficulties related to getting on and off the peninsula. There is no reason why a stadium has to be built there. If a Stadium were to attract a tenant like a CFL team or any other sport team that had several home games that needed to attract large numbers....ease of movement for the spectators would be essential. We have no LRT, no subway, but we do have lots of real estate along the major roadways on the Dartmouth and Halifax sides of the harbour.
If you look at the Windsor Park locale....edge of residential area most roads are single lane....Bayers Rd single lane, Windsor St...single lane, off the MacKay Bridge would be double lane ...but could you imagine the congestion at that location.....even if everyone took our only method of mass transport (the bus) it would mean 300 bus trips if you could get 100 per bus.....
That all sounds pretty negative.....because I really think a stadium of that size would have to be located with better feeding roadways....on the outskirts of the city.....ask Bob Young....he has his ticket holders in mind...

[ATL Stadium]

Originally Posted by Welkin

Both Fenwick and Halifaxboyns make very good points and I agree with their view of a mass transit future. However, we are going to have to agree to disagree on this one. I think downtown locations are great for baseball stadiums (80+ home dates) and large arenas (100+ home dates for hockey games, concerts and trade shows) but football stadiums are a different animal. Football games happen on the weekends, not during the work week. Football weekends have become events and are much larger than just the game itself. Activities before games can begin hours and hours before kickoff. Many fans from outside Halifax would probably love to drive down in their RV's and make a weekend of it. I know one game I went to had over a hundred RV's camped at the far end of the parking lot and they turned it in to a tailgating festival that started on Saturday and went all the way to game day. You can't do that in a squeezed in downtown location. The NIMBY's will complain about the crowds and noise.

Access to mass transit is great and is very important for moving thousands of workers downtown everyday or reducing parking at high density residential areas. However, for the festival that football games have become, you need open spaces and easily accessible parking. Don't get me wrong, you still need to run buses to the game for those who don't want to deal with the hassles of crowds and parking, but it won't be more than 20% of your fans. Squeezed in downtown stadiums with limited parking no longer fit the environment that football games have become.

Regina is basically building a large downtown arena that happens to host football games. The 10-11 dates per year for football games are supposed to be but a small part of the 100+ events they expect to host each year so a downtown location is just. Personally I think they are building an expensive white elephant and should just build a $100M stadium down in the Grasslands Development, but that's another story.

Agree to that......has to be very accessable....

[ATL Stadium]

The location, seating and all the parking etc etc....are all issues that need to be resolved....but....only after we actually have the combined, agreed, approved, funded, project going!
Not everyone is going to agree with the above items as far as specs go....but I think we all agree we want a stadium!!!!

NOW!

[halifaxboyns]

I'm totally flexible and willing to compromise on a site; the only thing is that only 3 sites (that I recall) have been talked about. Windsor Park, Shannon Park and Burnside.

Burnside may fit the criteria; but the geography to me doesn't seem to work - there isn't a lot of services around there for any one to go too if they decide not to buy a burger at the game (for example).

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by ATL Stadium

Being one that actually lives in the HRM area.....we suffer through the never ending battles of geography. The peninsula that is the old city has grown outward all because of the difficulties related to getting on and off the peninsula. There is no reason why a stadium has to be built there. If a Stadium were to attract a tenant like a CFL team or any other sport team that had several home games that needed to attract large numbers....ease of movement for the spectators would be essential. We have no LRT, no subway, but we do have lots of real estate along the major roadways on the Dartmouth and Halifax sides of the harbour.
If you look at the Windsor Park locale....edge of residential area most roads are single lane....Bayers Rd single lane, Windsor St...single lane, off the MacKay Bridge would be double lane ...but could you imagine the congestion at that location.....even if everyone took our only method of mass transport (the bus) it would mean 300 bus trips if you could get 100 per bus.....
That all sounds pretty negative.....because I really think a stadium of that size would have to be located with better feeding roadways....on the outskirts of the city.....ask Bob Young....he has his ticket holders in mind...

Firstly, I have no desire to start a debate but I don't really agree with your statements. I have read quite a bit about the Hamilton situation and I lived there for several years in the 1980's. (I think it is a terrific city to live in). I have been following the Hamilton Skyscraperpage discussion regarding the stadium and many of the people posting were in favour of the West Harbour location close to the downtown (these are residents who know the city well). Bob Young wanted a stadium on the East Mountain which is a location that is primarily accessible by car and he wants it to be surrounded by 7,000 parking spaces. He would be getting parking revenue from such a location. It seems as though this is one of his primary considerations and this isn't going to result in an unbiased opinion on the location; my impression was that his primary interests were his own and not in the interest of the fans. He now wants the city to locate the stadium in an area that has been set aside as a research park. Again, this is not in the interests of the city of Hamilton. Since the city is prepared to finance much of the initial cost of the stadium, shouldn't they have a right to want it to benefit the city by rejuvenating a neglected part of the city? He is forcing the city to select his location (not the city's or the fan's choice). I doubt that many Hamiltonians would have selected the East Mountain location as their first choice - probably it wouldn't have even entered into their minds (however, he wants people to believe that this would be one of the first choices by experts who pick such locations - I think the experts are actually the residents who know the city well - much better than I know it and even better than international experts know it).

I think for a stadium to ever become a reality in the Halifax area, it will have to serve a greater purpose than CFL games. One segment of the population that will be lost in a suburban location will probably be university students who will not want to travel to Burnside or Dartmouth Crossings. The DND Willow Park location, where the military salvage yard is currently located, extends over several acres and could have significant on-site parking and has several surrounding lots. It is also relatively close to SMU, Dalhousie University and Mount Saint Vincent University. It has good public transit access (even though it is by bus) and is close to both bridges and the 102 highway. Thus it will be the most central location for the greatest population density both Dartmouth and Halifax. I could be wrong, but this is my feeling.

This is all a theoretical discussion since very little real commitment has been shown by the municipality to proceed. However, many different locations were discussed by people on this form (throughout pages 1 - 20) and many people like the idea of an intimate stadium like Percival Molson Stadium which would fit very well at the DND site. Many on this forum seem to like a central location whereas the comments for an outskirt location tend to be mixed. My 3D stadium model is relatively simple, but I tried to incorporate ideas generated from people posting on this forum, that is - an intimate stadium, a central location, one that can be expanded, and an economical but not dirt cheap cost. Although I don't want to overrate the importance of this discussion, it is a public forum and as such it is a public consultation on what type of stadium and location the majority of people would like to see in the Halifax area.

When visitors come to Halifax, do Haligonians really want them to think of Halifax in terms of some location on the outskirts? Something that sticks out in my mind is the first time I went to Hamilton while I was working in Mississauga (way back in 1980 shortly after moving to Ontario). I took Highway 403 into McMaster University which is located in a very nice neighbour and is a great university. However, my initial impression of Hamilton was that it wasn't a very large city since I didn't see the downtown area. Several months later I moved to Hamilton and realized that it has a very dense downtown which is very impressive with busy streets running throughout and many highrises. Locating a stadium on the outskirts of Halifax will contribute to urban sprawl and give an impression of Halifax of being like any city in North America. Outskirt locations surrounded by thousands of parking spaces won't have any individual civic appeal but will appear to be a cookie cutter stadium in any city in North America.

[hfx_chris]

I think we need to re-list all of the possible sites that have been mentioned in this thread, and try not to take constructive criticism of sites too personally.

The ones I can think of off the top of my head:

• Willow Park (DND)
• Shannon Park (DND)
• Dartmouth Crossing (expansion of existing field on Commodore)
• Wanderers Grounds
• Gorsebrook Field
• Huskies Stadium (SMU - renovation)
• Mainland Common
• Northcliffe Centre
• Marginal Road
• Woodside area (not sure where exactly)

Those are the ones I can remember being mentioned, whether seriously or not seriously discussed, in this thread. Perhaps we can fill that in with any others (I know there are some; somebody mentioned a rock quarry, but I can't remember where) - and maybe start listing some site descriptions, transportation accessibility (both car and transit), pros and cons, etc.

[Empire]

Originally Posted by hfx_chris

I think we need to re-list all of the possible sites that have been mentioned in this thread, and try not to take constructive criticism of sites too personally.

The ones I can think of off the top of my head:

• Willow Park (DND)
• Shannon Park (DND)
• Dartmouth Crossing (expansion of existing field on Commodore)
• Wanderers Grounds
• Gorsebrook Field
• Huskies Stadium (SMU - renovation)
• Mainland Common
• Northcliffe Centre
• Marginal Road
• Woodside area (not sure where exactly)

Those are the ones I can remember being mentioned, whether seriously or not seriously discussed, in this thread. Perhaps we can fill that in with any others (I know there are some; somebody mentioned a rock quarry, but I can't remember where) - and maybe start listing some site descriptions, transportation accessibility (both car and transit), pros and cons, etc.

- Exibition Park
- Shearwater

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by hfx_chris

I think we need to re-list all of the possible sites that have been mentioned in this thread, and try not to take constructive criticism of sites too personally.

The ones I can think of off the top of my head:

• Willow Park (DND)
• Shannon Park (DND)
• Dartmouth Crossing (expansion of existing field on Commodore)
• Wanderers Grounds
• Gorsebrook Field
• Huskies Stadium (SMU - renovation)
• Mainland Common
• Northcliffe Centre
• Marginal Road
• Woodside area (not sure where exactly)

Those are the ones I can remember being mentioned, whether seriously or not seriously discussed, in this thread. Perhaps we can fill that in with any others (I know there are some; somebody mentioned a rock quarry, but I can't remember where) - and maybe start listing some site descriptions, transportation accessibility (both car and transit), pros and cons, etc.

Good effort in posting all the map locations. I like quite a few of these locations but realize that some have no chance of being selected because of the local opposition that would occur.

Willow Park (DND) - This is my top pick. Pros - good highway access, good transit connections, has some of the feeling of the "essence of Halifax" being in an old part of the city close to the Halifax Explosion ground zero, many surface parking spots close by, sufficient space if a significant amount of the DND salvage yard could be obtained. Cons - I honestly can't think of many negatives except that it would be better if there were an additional 50 - 100 feet of width (but this could be rectified if the NSLC building could be obtained)

Shannon Park (DND) - Pros: There wouldn't be much opposition to a stadium at this location, it could be an appealing site with the old residential buildings torn down, good highway access and lots of space available Cons: The public transportation is almost non-existent and there are few amenities close by (such as restaurants).

Wanderers Grounds - I would consider this is a no-go even though it would be a great location. Pros: Fantastic location next to the Public Gardens and Citadel, it could be the Wanderers Grounds Stadium with a historic background and close to downtown with lots of restaurants and hotel rooms Cons: This site would result in overwhelming opposition and sufficient parking is not available within walking distance (at least not without climbing hills from the downtown core).

Gorsebrook Field- Pros: Sufficient space for a stadium, close to SMU and Dalhousie Universities, nice area, and the contour of the land would be idea for a sunken bowl stadium Cons: It would likely be too close to hospitals to permit concerts and the public school at that location would have to close before being available.

Huskies Stadium (SMU - renovation) - Pros: It has a tenant (Huskies) that is already located in Halifax, just fair public transit, within walking distance to many in Halifax and it is in appealing location. Cons: Not much space available without an overhaul of the campus buildings, concerts would likely be opposed at that location, very little available parking and rather poor road access.

Mainland Commons - Pros: Appealing location, a recreation area already exists in that area, good highway access, it has some amenities such as restaurants at Bayers Lake shopping area and West Mall, and it has fair public transit connections Cons: I can't think of any other than it is not very close to the historic part of Halifax and it is not really a central location for people in Dartmouth.

Northcliffe Centre - Pros: It is an appealing location fairly close to Halifax and it has good access to the 102 highway Cons: This is essentially a residential neighbourhood so there would be massive opposition, there isn't much available space without expropriating homes, there aren't many parking spots in the area and there are few restaurants and other amentities.

Marginal Road next to the Via Station - Pros: This is a very appealing location in terms of its proximity to old Halifax and the universities Cons: A stadium would require the parking spaces currently needed for the Pier 21, farmer's market and Cunard Centre, and it has poor road access and public transit.

Woodside area - Pros: Good views of Halifax, good highway access and the land is relatively cheap Cons: People would have to take ferries from Halifax or drive cars, and there are almost no public amenities in the area.

A few others:

Exhibition Park area - Pros: Good Highway access, the land would be relatively cheap and there wouldn't be much opposition. Cons there aren't many public amenities (except at Bayers Lake) and it is to far from the urban center.

Shearwater - I think this is similar in pro's and cons to the Woodside area.

The West Mall area - Pros: Good highway access, lots of parking in the area, probably there wouldn't be strong opposition to a stadium, good public transit, good central location, close to public amenities and fairly close to the historic part of the city. Cons: I can't think of any except I wonder if there is available space and the land cost is probably not cheap.

Dartmouth Crossings - Pros: Lots of space is available, there is a quarry that is already excavated for a sunken staium, if the quarry could be used then it would likely be very cheap land, good highway access and lots of parking (but it is mostly retail parking which would be in use during many events) Cons: Poor public transit from both Dartmouth and Halifax (maybe this has changed?) and it is on the outskirts too far from the historic center

My personal order of choice would be:

1) DND Willow Park - military salvage yard
2) The West Mall area
3) The Mainland Commons
4) Dartmouth Crossings
5) Shannon Park (it is not a top choice of mine because it is primarily accessible only by car)

[Empire]

I still think the city owned property between Ceres container terminal and Seaview Park could handle a stadium.

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&sourc...,0.036306&z=15

[halifaxboyns]

Well; I hate to say it fenwick - but like you said; this is theoretical and there is no committment. I don't see the harm in looking at other sites if they might work better or be cheaper/more practical. I think your site has merit; don't get me wrong. But in my experience staff would (or at least shouldn't) not go forward with just 1 option. They would have a series of options with pro's and con's for each.

And face it - a group of people on a forum are not going to be taken seriously unless they've done their homework and have a series of options with pro's and con's for each; plus well researched costs. I hope that doesn't sound harsh; but my experience with Calgary city council has been that some of people the come out of the wood work aren't taken seriously unless they can prove they've really done some work on it. Please don't take that as a bash on you or anyone else; but I do think we should be well balanced if any of us were to approach people.

It seems to me that we have a pretty interesting list of sites; but I do agree with Fenwick when we look at those near low density residential - chances are; you'll get huge opposition. I also agree with Fenwick that; the stadium must act as more than just a CFL arena. Concerts or other events should be encouraged to be here. The site near ceres is interesting - I never thought about that one. But wouldn't that be subject to potential fog issues - just like being by the via rail terminal? Personally; I'd rather see the area around the via rail terminal remain industrial for now and then if the port were to relocate; it could all become a new urban village feeding the farmers market and regional rail (if we ever get it). I personally have some more lofty goals for that area *evil snicker*.

The mainland common and the wanders grounds- you are just welcoming fringe groups to oppose it. You'll have save the commons and save the park and save whatever...lol. Shannon has some similar prospects to Dartmouth crossing - it does offer a large area but little services and okay road access but no transit. The transit park can be corrected as MT gets a bigger fleet and the Highfield Terminal could see more routes to the site (same from the new bridge terminal). I think I have to agree with Fenwick that being close to the hospital may cause problems - although with the concerts on the commons; that's right near the qe2? Do they have many problems with that? Although the proximity to the school near by may work as a negative (but proximity to SMU/DAL would be a positive).

One site near where fenwick has suggested that might work is the post sorting station site; literally across the street. If the city took that parcel; plus the adjacent office building (NS government) and strip mall/curling club and then re-jigged the parcel - that site could be big enough? Fenwick; you have the drawing - can you check and see if it would fit? If that site could be used - it could form a giant muni-recreation complex which could add more ice surfaces too. As for poor road connections at the Windsor site - isn't the plan to make Bayer's Road 4 lane to connaught and then 6 lanes out to the Bi-hi? If so; the Windsor site wouldn't be so badly served for road capacity that direction. Plus; if you look at all the different directions to get to the McKay (down Windsor; Young to Robie and out the ramp; down Bayers to Connaught and then out the ramp) - you have 3 different directions for traffic to feed. Also; you have Mumford close by for transit terminals and the Mckay bridge close too - MacDonald about 10 minutes drive - so you could radiate special transit services out. Just food for thought.

I'm not in favour of any one location over another. Let's face it; we all will have our preferences. But what we all seem to agree on is that a stadium needs to be built. So with that in mind; lets work on narrowing the potential list down to say 5 options? That would be reasonable to me - what does everyone think? Then; once we've agreed on the five options we should then start working on a list of pro's and con's for each. Keep in mind: we should show that the stadium can easily fit the site; there is reasonable amounts of parking in the area but also access for buses (probably bus bays would be helpful) and that the site can be designed so that traffic can flow reasonably but also that pedestrians can move about safely (IE: ped bridges across major roads if necessary). We should also try to look at existing and future road conditions (ie if a road is slated to be or would need to be expanded; we need to take that into account).

If we all can do that - then I think we'd be ready to actually have someone sit down with a councillor or staff and present the plan.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by halifaxboyns

Well; I hate to say it fenwick - but like you said; this is theoretical and there is no committment. I don't see the harm in looking at other sites if they might work better or be cheaper/more practical. I think your site has merit; don't get me wrong. But in my experience staff would (or at least shouldn't) not go forward with just 1 option. They would have a series of options with pro's and con's for each.

I never said that there should only be one possible location. I prefer DND Willow Park and the West Mall areas as stated two posts prior to your post with pro's and cons and a list of my top 5 picks.

And face it - a group of people on a forum are not going to be taken seriously unless they've done their homework and have a series of options with pro's and con's for each; plus well researched costs. I hope that doesn't sound harsh; but my experience with Calgary city council has been that some of people the come out of the wood work aren't taken seriously unless they can prove they've really done some work on it. Please don't take that as a bash on you or anyone else; but I do think we should be well balanced if any of us were to approach people.

I have a strong feeling for which areas I would personally prefer, that doesn't mean that I am sticking to one location, even in a primarily theoretical discussion.

The mainland common and the wanders grounds- you are just welcoming fringe groups to oppose it.

I don't consider the Wanders Grounds to be a realistic locations (as stated previously). But the Halifax Mainland Commons is where the Canada Winter Games complex is being built. (it is not the Halifax Commons on the Peninsula)

One site near where fenwick has suggested that might work is the post sorting station site; literally across the street. If the city took that parcel; plus the adjacent office building (NS government) and strip mall/curling club and then re-jigged the parcel - that site could be big enough? Fenwick; you have the drawing - can you check and see if it would fit? If that site could be used - it could form a giant muni-recreation complex which could add more ice surfaces too. As for poor road connections at the Windsor site - isn't the plan to make Bayer's Road 4 lane to connaught and then 6 lanes out to the Bi-hi? If so; the Windsor site wouldn't be so badly served for road capacity that direction. Plus; if you look at all the different directions to get to the McKay (down Windsor; Young to Robie and out the ramp; down Bayers to Connaught and then out the ramp) - you have 3 different directions for traffic to feed. Also; you have Mumford close by for transit terminals and the Mckay bridge close too - MacDonald about 10 minutes drive - so you could radiate special transit services out. Just food for thought.

This site would be very good. It would be my top choice if it were to be vacated in the near future. I just haven't heard any talk about it being vacated anytime soon. I like it because it is even closer to downtown Halifax than the DND Willow Park site and has more width for sideline seats and concourse space. It is just a short walk from the Halifax North Commons which has proved to be a good concert site.

[ATL Stadium]

I want to add my 2 cents worth.....again.

The peninsula accounts for only a percentage of what is now HRM. The areas of growth are all on the outside of the peninsula....the reason for that is of course the availability of land. Sackville, Hammonds Plains, Bedford Basin, Dartmouth, Cole Harbour, Colby are all very fast growing areas because of the lack of traffic and parking issues....and yes we all drive because we have poor transportation access. I dont have any numbers but endeavour to get some....but I would wager that more people live and work off the peninsula than on it.......
The university population certainly swells when class is in session but again I would think that a high percentage are not in residence....so they travel in to school.
If you were to step back a bit and look at high school populations as an indicator of where people live....the answer is pretty simple....the families of HRM are outside of the peninsula......yes the ticket buying family for almost any sort of event.

I pointed out earlier a site along the 102 at Kearney Lake Rd....an older quarry right at the off/on ramps that has only a few years left in its rocky life cycle....easy access...easy land available...very close to Bayers Lake Shopping....park and ride....I think it makes perfect sense to build a Stadium right there.....but hey there are similar site on the Dartmouth side....

A peninsula Stadium is simply to hard to access. ( my opinion of course).

[ATL Stadium]

Hey......for information

I dont know if this has been talked about previously or not.....I was reading a little about the CFL game in Moncton later this month....it seems that the game was bought from the Agros....to be played in Moncton at an estimated cost of $1.5 million....this was bought with $800k from the Federal Govt and $700k from NB.

This was done by the NB government to show that CFL and similar events could be had in the Maritimes.....

The estimated ticket revenue to offset this cost...$1.2million..for a sellout crowd of 20,000
Obivously this is a showoff type of event and this would have to be reviewed very closely. It certainly puts some numbers up to the window..

[someone123]

Originally Posted by ATL Stadium

If you were to step back a bit and look at high school populations as an indicator of where people live....the answer is pretty simple....the families of HRM are outside of the peninsula......yes the ticket buying family for almost any sort of event.

Sure, but if you live in Dartmouth it is farther to drive to Bayers Lake than it is to go to the peninsula. Also note how Bayers Lake managed to become a traffic nightmare despite being in the suburbs. I do not find that area any better or faster than the downtown to drive in. The 102 is okay but put a big stadium on it and you will suddenly see the limitations of 4 lane highway - even without the stadium we will see it anyway in 10-20 years when Bedford West and the Uteck Blvd area is done.

Most people live off of the peninsula but it is still a central location. It is also more easily served by transit and it is easier to build a transportation system to serve a more centralized metropolitan area.

[halifaxboyns]

If I look at Calgary or Edmonton (since they are the closest examples to me); McMahon is just outside of downtown on the C-train. Edmonton's stadium is outside of downtown along the NE portion of their existing lrt line.

Putting a stadium on the Peninsula put's it in the central core of HRM (as defined by HRM's regional plan). But oddly enough, if you put it in Burnside; it's still in the Regional Core because the regional core is everything in Dartmouth inside the circ highway and then also the Halifax Peninsula (but not the mainland).

So if you are using the Regional Core concept; Burnside is an option for the regional core, as is CFB Windsor, the Post office sorting station and Shannon Park. I see that getting consenus is not going to be as easy as I thought...so perhaps what we need to start with (rather than location) is the things that need to be associated with the stadium (seating capacity to start; once it's fully finished; services such as food/retail; amount of parking etc). Then from there we can determine the size of the site necessary and work up?

[someone123]

Burnside is outside of the highway.

Most Canadian cities with stadiums have put them in regionally central locations right outside of the downtown where land is a little cheaper. A comparable site in Halifax terms would be Young Street. One could also imagine building it along the Seawall if a third crossing is built.

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by someone123

Burnside is outside of the highway.

Most Canadian cities with stadiums have put them in regionally central locations right outside of the downtown where land is a little cheaper. A comparable site in Halifax terms would be Young Street. One could also imagine building it along the Seawall if a third crossing is built.

Oh yes you are right - I shouldn't try to type and do other things like read reports at the same time lol

[hfx_chris]

Now this is interesting:

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/spo...102574584.html

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper has flung the doors open to the possibility of federal funding for professional sports stadiums across the country, saying if his government sends money to Quebec City it will do the same for others.

Harper stressed that no financing would go directly to pro sports franchises, but arenas and stadiums were another matter.

"In terms of financing major sports facilities, there are demands here, there are demands in Quebec City, I am aware of demands elsewhere," Harper told reporters Thursday in Saskatoon.

[fenwick16]

I spent about an hour or so using Google Streetview around the Young and Windsor area and I can see that it is an industrial type of area (maybe this is why some dislike that site). I still like this area and with the Gladstone towers and other developments, it should only get better in the future. I still think that it is a great location for a stadium.

SketchUp has a new version out - version 8 (I think that it just came out today). It makes creating models of existing buildings very easy (it uses texturing via Google Streetview which it had before, but now the texturing and Google Earth mapping are both incorporated directly into the SketchUp program, plus the Google Earth mapping is now in colour when pasted into a model instead of black and white). Using the new version of SketchUp, I was able to add a couple neighbouring buildings - The Atlantic Superstore and the EastLink office tower. I cut the NSLC building off the Superstore to provide more space for the stadium model. I pasted a couple of images to show how a stadium might look in that area.