Comment 46433

By arienc (registered) | Posted August 27, 2010 at 12:39:14

While I've supported WH for a long time, realistically, I know it will be rejected. While I know this suggestion will receive a lot of flak for "paving paradise and putting up a parking lot" and it goes against sound ecological principles, I think Confederation Park will be the only realistic site for a full-size stadium in Hamilton for the following reasons:

1) it's the Ti-cats preferred location, which fufills the anchor tenant requirement and is likely to bring them back to the negotiating table, which is a must. If we want to keep the Cats in Hamilton this is realistically the only choice.

2) it will be on or near to a GO station, fulfilling Hostco's other requirement - which will be easily accessible from downtown. There is also possibility to extend the LRT terminus there.

3) There is potential to remediate WH to bring some kind of water attraction (replacing Wild Waterworks) on that site (particularly if Bob Young comes on board as he did with the EM proposal. This will preserve much of the green space in the park, by building it largely on the footprint of the existing water park.

4) Conservation Hamilton gets out of a money-losing situation.

5) Nearby Waterfront Trail and pedestrian bridge facilitate walking / biking to the stadium.

The drawbacks I see are:

1) Loss of parkland. Not sure how much parking would be needed. Certainly less than EM's 6000 spaces if the GO train is handy, and shuttles can run from Eastgate, etc. Hopefully it could fit largely on the footprint of the water park.

2) A water park might not be as compatible with mixed use in the West Harbour location due to continued usage and noise concerns.

3) No spinoff effect from the stadium on nearby businesses - except for some of the box plazas on Centennial.

"First they built the road, then they built the town. That's why we're still driving around and around, and all we see. Are kids in buses. Longing to be free." - Wasted Hours, The Arcade Fire

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