Halifax stadium debate raises questions about use of public space, taxpayer spending

On days the Halifax Wanderers play astatine home, Keara Turner tin beryllium recovered successful the stands with an enthusiastic radical of fans known arsenic Privateers 1882.

Before the games, members stitchery astatine assorted Halifax bars for pre-game drinks and meals, past march unneurotic to Wanderers Grounds to ticker the Canadian Premier League shot club. They often caput to a barroom aft the games and signifier ticker parties astatine section pubs erstwhile the Wanderers play connected the road.

"A stadium, successful general, is thing our metropolis needs and this truly is simply a cardinal determination and I deliberation thing that conscionable improves the downtown halfway and past tin besides springiness backmost to the downtown halfway arsenic well," said Turner, a manager with Privateers 1882. The group's sanction is simply a motion to the Wanderers Amateur Athletics Club, which was formed successful 1882 and utilized the tract that present bears its name.

Since 2019, the Wanderers person played successful a pop-up stadium astatine Wanderers Grounds, a portion of onshore that's portion of the Halifax Common. There's nary moving water, porta-potties are the bathrooms and immoderate nutrient served indispensable travel from nutrient trucks oregon blistery canine carts.

The Halifax Tides women's squad besides started playing astatine the venue earlier this year.

Halifax assembly is looking astatine gathering a imperishable stadium astatine the site. City unit precocious came up with a premix of stadium options that would scope successful size, arsenic good arsenic changes to facilities operated by groups specified arsenic the Halifax Lancers and the Wanderers Lawn Bowling Club.

The anticipated cost ranges from $116 cardinal to $123 million, assuming operation starts successful 2029.

The statement astir whether the metropolis should physique a stadium is complex. It's one that sparks passionate discussions about the usage of nationalist abstraction and taxpayer money, what's an due determination and economical benefits.

Turner supports the thought of the projected stadium and its location. She points to however supporting infrastructure, specified arsenic roads, transit, hotels and bars and restaurants are each successful place, arsenic opposed to different locations that sometimes get mentioned, specified arsenic Shannon Park oregon adjacent Exhibition Park.

"It truly promotes much sprawl," said Turner. "And I deliberation we request to get distant from that arsenic a city. We request to truly amended our downtown halfway and ... marque it a world-class downtown halfway and beryllium capable to vie with cities similar Montreal and Toronto for concern and large events."

Moshe Lander, a sports economist astatine Concordia University successful Montreal, has besides lived and taught successful Halifax. He said stadiums utilized to beryllium placed extracurricular of cities wherever radical could parkland their cars successful monolithic lots, but that reasoning has changed.

"People started realizing that possibly the crippled itself is conscionable portion of what radical privation to experience," said Lander.

The reasoning present is being capable to locomotion to and from games oregon usage nationalist transit to get there, helium said, arsenic good arsenic spell to restaurants and bars, overmuch similar Turner and the Privateers 1882 pack do.

With disposable abstraction successful the downtown successful abbreviated supply, Wanderers Grounds is 1 of fewer — if immoderate — options that acceptable the supra criteria.

Wanderers president Derek Martin said the squad consistently attracts much than 6,000 spectators to its games.

"Part of our occurrence is due to the fact that we were capable to unafraid the champion location," helium said. "If we person to move, I deliberation we could inactive marque it work, but I would hatred to spot this spell backmost to being an unused, premier portion of existent property successful the bosom of the city."

Howard Epstein, a longtime committee subordinate of the assemblage radical Friends of the Halifax Common, said helium isn't against a stadium, he's conscionable not successful favour of Wanderers Grounds arsenic the location.

"It's a cheat due to the fact that it takes what should beryllium open, nationalist land, disposable for each comers without paying admittance and privatizes it, which is not a precise bully idea," helium said. "That's a cheat connected the nationalist and the sports-playing amateur public."

A century-old sports space

Using Wanderers Grounds for sports by the nationalist is thing that goes backmost much than a period and has its roots successful immoderate 1886 legislation.

Epstein has said his radical has much enactment than commonly believed, noting they person a mailing database of astir 3,000 people.

He said determination are different sites connected the peninsula that could location a stadium, specified arsenic the erstwhile St. Pat's High School onshore connected Quinpool Road oregon the erstwhile Pierceys Building Supplies tract connected Robie Street.

Epstein besides has a idiosyncratic transportation to Wanderers Grounds. He utilized to tally way determination six decades ago.

The Wanderers and Halifax Tides play connected a writer surface. To support the transportation astatine a nonrecreational standard, it can't grip overmuch much use.

"We perceive arguments against america saying that we're limiting radical utilizing the space," said Martin. "Well, we're not limiting radical utilizing the space. The writer is limiting radical utilizing the space."

Maintaining the writer adjacent limits however overmuch the Wanderers tin usage the field. On a play basis, they tin practise a time earlier a crippled and past play a game. With 15 games a season, that works retired to 30 squad uses per season. The squad holds its other practices elsewhere.

Permanent stadium would see usage by assemblage groups

Under the stadium proposal, the aboveground would beryllium converted to artificial turf, which would let for it to beryllium utilized by assemblage groups and big events similar concerts.

Before the impermanent stadium was constructed, the tract aboveground astatine Wanderers Grounds was acold from ideal. It required a implicit overhaul to be "reconstructed arsenic a premiere Class A tract that meets planetary standards," the metropolis said successful a 2017 unit report.

A 2015 rugby lucifer betwixt Team Canada and the Glasgow Warriors had to beryllium moved to a tract successful Spryfield due to the fact that the tract was deemed unsafe for play.

Martin said helium doesn't think the metropolis needs a 20,000-seat stadium, but he's a spot perplexed by immoderate of the absorption toward an outdoor stadium that could accommodate astir 10,000 radical erstwhile the Scotiabank Centre has a akin capableness a fewer blocks away.

"I don't cognize wherefore we person to combat truthful hard to person radical that an outdoor venue should beryllium built erstwhile there's an indoor venue that consistently is invested successful twelvemonth implicit year," helium said.

The Scotiabank Centre is location to 2 tenants: the QMJHL's Halifax Mooseheads and the National Lacrosse League's Halifax Thunderbirds.

The stadium connection would spot Halifax taxpayers physique the facility, with tenants specified arsenic the Wanderers and Tides paying rent to usage it. This means taxpayers would beryllium liable for immoderate outgo overruns for gathering the stadium, which Lander said are likely.

The city's operation estimates see contingencies of 25 per cent in the estimates to relationship for things similar ostentation and changes made during the operation process.

Lander said outgo overruns get justified by governments who accidental a stadium volition wage for itself successful the other wealth successful tourism oregon events that travel to the city.

"Unfortunately, there's nary grounds to suggest that's true," helium said.

The economical interaction of nonrecreational sports teams

Lander said sports teams person a constricted economical interaction connected their communities.

"If my income hasn't changed and your income hasn't changed, oregon the full magnitude of income successful Halifax hasn't changed, past each we're doing is conscionable deciding wherever we privation to allocate it," helium said.

"And truthful if we privation to allocate it to the Wanderers oregon the Tides oregon the Mooseheads, past we're taking it retired of the Halifax Shopping Centre, we're taking it retired of a sushi barroom connected Lower Water Street oregon we're taking it retired of the Tim Hortons connected Spring Garden."

Lander, who calls himself a sports fan, said helium isn't for oregon against governments utilizing payer wealth connected stadiums. It each comes down to their reasoning.

"If the metropolis wants to enactment wealth into an arena oregon into a stadium, past conscionable spell to the nationalist and say, 'Listen, we're not going to committedness the economical benefits, they're conscionable not there. But what we are going to committedness is that this volition assistance unite america oregon this volition springiness america a spot that we tin stitchery erstwhile we privation to observe thing oregon erstwhile we privation to mourn something,'" helium said.

"If radical privation to ballot for that, that's ideology and I person zero contented with that."

Martin said that portion stadiums don't marque money, their worth is successful the auxiliary benefits they create, specified arsenic the wealth spent connected adjacent restaurants, bars and hotels.

He asks whether radical privation to unrecorded successful a metropolis wherever they tin spell to a shot crippled connected a Saturday afternoon, drawback a performance crossed the thoroughfare astatine the Garrison Grounds afterwards and past spell retired for a bully repast afterwards.

"At the extremity of the day, it's not an economic, dollars-and-cents question, it's a, 'What does the metropolis and what bash taxpayers truly privation their metropolis to look like?'" said Martin.

For Turner, that's the benignant of metropolis she'd similar to unrecorded in. She said she was chatting with a household from the Annapolis Valley astatine a caller Wanderers game. It was their archetypal crippled and they decided to marque a play travel to the metropolis for it.

"I deliberation that is what truly attracts radical to this country and gets them retired into the assemblage and spot much of what downtown Halifax has to offer," she said.