Raise the Hammer

Precisely, Ryan. Other potential stadium sites were considered by the City of Hamilton in 2009 and the west harbour was the preferred site. Here is a summary of the timelines:

January 12, 2009- Removal of Confederation Park From Short List of Possible Stadium Sites

On a motion by Councillor Chad Collins at a Committee of the Whole Meeting on January 12, 2009, Hamilton city council voted 10 to 3 (three councillors were absent) to remove Confederation Park from the short list of potential Pan Am venue sites.

For: Eisenberger, Merulla, Collins, Jackson, Duvall, Whitehead, Pearson, Ferguson, Powers, Pasuta,

Against: Bratina, Clark, McCarthy

Absent: McHattie, Morelli, Mitchell

Declarations of Interest: None (Question: Did then Ward 2 Councillor Bratina declare that he was the spokesperson on CHML radio commercials for Baranga’s On The Beach at Confederation Park)?

Here is the link to the Minutes of the January 12, 2009 meeting: http://www.hamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/5AAE...

Eighteen to nineteen months later, Bob Young was demanding a 60 acre, 6,000 car parking lot on 100 acres of land at the proposed east mountain stadium site. Page 28 of the city staff report submitted to City Council at the Committee of the Whole meeting on August 10 and 11, 2010 (and amended by Council on August 12, 2010 and September 29, 2010) summarizes the parking situation at the east mountain site: http://www.hamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/2390...

In retrospect, thank goodness Hamilton city council had already removed Confederation Park as a potential stadium site by then. Confederation Park would have become unrecognizable if Bob Young had somehow commandeered 100 acres and a 60 acre parking lot.

February 3, 2009- City Staff Report on West Harbour, Downtown Core and Airport Stadium Sites

City staff concluded that a west harbour Pan Am athletics/football/soccer stadium and velodrome site was preferable to a Downtown Core site and an Airport site for various reasons: http://www.hamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/043C...

February 23, 2009 - After hearing several apparently supportive presentations including one from Tiger-Cat President Scott Mitchell, Hamilton City Council voted to spend $60 Million for a Pan Am stadium and velodrome with the west harbour as the preferred site contingent on winning the Pan Am bid.

Here is a link to the Minutes of this Committee of the Whole meeting on February 23, 2009: http://www.hamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/B4BA...

Questions: If the Tiger-Cats were vehemently opposed to the west harbour stadium location and wanted the track removed after the Games, why didn’t Scott Mitchell inform city council of this before they voted to spend $60 Million on the Pan Am athletics/football/soccer stadium on February 23, 2009 and again on February 18, 2010? Why didn’t Bob Young attend either of these meetings? Why did Young and Mitchell wait until May 7, 2010 to publicly declare that the Tiger-Cats would never play at the west harbour?

The fact remains that city council had a well prepared preliminary plan, approved by the Pan American Sports Organization, for a Pan Am multi-use west harbour stadium until the plan was later destroyed by the Tiger-Cats when they began their threats in July, 2010 to move the team out of town. What seemed to be a synergistic "win win win" Pan Am opportunity for the City of Hamilton, amateur sport and the Tiger-Cats has become a hollow victory for the Ticats and a salvage job for the city and amateur sports.

Comment edited by RenaissanceWatcher on 2011-10-18 21:47:17