Raise the Hammer

I'm not saying I would like their choice, but if they were paying 100% of the cost to construct and operate a stadium, how could anyone stop them?
In this case, it is tax money being spent to make a wrong decision, and that is unacceptable. If they want to make a ridiculous choice that will be a money pit for decades to come, they should do it on their own dime. In fact, I challenge the Cats - if they think a suburban stadium is such a great idea why not pay for it themselves? Why leave all of us on the hook after Bob Young has had his 10 years of naming rights and parking money and perhaps decides it's time to sell the team and head back to the USA?
If the EM is the right choice, it should be a money maker for decades and be a prized asset that future owners clamour to own. Why is the public being put on the hook here instead of the Cats??

Why are condo, office, hotel, retail and entertainment developers coming out of the woodwork now in support of the West Harbour and offering to join forces to develop the land around the stadium (the whole purpose for choosing WH in the first place, by the way) and yet the only voice of support for the EM is from a group who owns a banquet hall across the street and has been trying to construct a hotel for a few years now with no luck??

For decades people have wondered why Hamilton seems frozen in time while new condo, entertainment options and hotels are built in Toronto and then the rest of the GTA?
Finally we get top notch builders like the Molinaro Group offering to bring their fabulous mixed-use condo/retail concept to Hamilton's downtown and our own council is poised to tell them to get lost?? This was the whole reason for choosing WH 10 years ago. Not because a stadium is some magic bullet, but because we're sitting on the most valuable, undeveloped, scenic waterfront land left in Southern Ontario. If council chooses to stay the course, keeping our city frozen in 1975 I hope they all pay a big price in the next election. Some of us actually want Hamilton to succeed, revive and prosper. If we won't even make the basic, proper choices to enable our own success, why would Balsillie, Katz or Molinaro??

Comment edited by jason on 2010-07-24 22:46:48