Halifax's long, complicated relationship with building a stadium

As Halifax council ponders a plan to transform a pop-up stadium at the Wanderers Grounds into a more permanent space, it's the latest chapter in a decade-plus long debate about building a stadium in the city.

Past discussions have come with a range of price tags for taxpayers and been derailed by unforeseen circumstances, including a global pandemic.

"It's a huge opportunity for us right here. Our city is truly growing and we need to get this right, but we've been talking about a stadium for way before my time on council," said Coun. Tony Mancini, who first joined council after a January 2016 byelection win.

He made the comments Wednesday as municipal staff presented a plan for the so-called Wanderers Block to the city's community planning and economic development committee. The area is mostly municipal land and part of the Halifax Common.

"How do we finally get to a conclusion on this stadium conversation?" said Mancini.

The Halifax Wanderers professional men's soccer team has played at the site since 2019, while the Halifax Tides women's team started playing at the Wanderers Grounds this year.

City staff came up with a mix of stadium options for the site that would range in size, as well as changes to facilities operated by groups such as the Halifax Lancers and the Wanderers Lawn Bowling Club.

The anticipated costs ranged from $116 million to $123 million, assuming construction starts in 2029. Contingencies of 25 per cent were included in the estimates to account for things like inflation and changes made during the construction process.

No action was taken Wednesday, and council will consider the plan at a future meeting.

In 2023, the Wanderers suggested a stadium alone would cost about $40 million. They asked Halifax to build and operate the facility with the team as the lead tenant.

CFL hopes

While stadium talk in Halifax now relates to professional soccer teams, the previous debate was anchored on bringing a CFL franchise to Halifax.

A group known as Schooner Sports and Entertainment was behind the proposal and it sought municipal and provincial funding to build a 24,000-seat, $110-million stadium in Shannon Park in 2022. Besides professional football, the space would have been used for community sports and major concerts.

In December 2019, Halifax council voted to give the proponents $20 million, but only if a list of conditions were met.

Considering that the proponent's preferred location for a stadium was Shannon Park, it was odd that council approved the funding on the condition that the stadium be built in another approved location.

The proponent's enthusiasm wasn't dampened.

"We're thrilled. We thank council for their due diligence and very spirited debate. We're very excited to move forward," said SSE partner Anthony LeBlanc.

By April 2020, LeBlanc had taken an executive role with the NHL's Ottawa Senators.

But in his absence, other SSE officials remained bullish.

"We're more optimistic than we've ever been probably on the stadium itself," said founding partner Gary Drummond in late 2020.

The project soon quietly disappeared from the public conversation, while the two affiliated companies behind the venture — Schooner Sports and Entertainment and Maritime Football Limited — have had their registrations revoked in the Registry of Joint Stock Companies.

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup

The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was played in six Canadian cities: Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal and Moncton, N.B.

For a time, Halifax hoped to be one of those cities, but Halifax council voted in early 2012 to withdraw its bid.

The reason? A stadium was too expensive to build on its own. While the stadium cost was estimated at between $54.8 million and $71.1 million, the provincial government had not signed on to the project. The city was willing to spend $20 million on it.

2014 Commonwealth Games

A different international sporting event was the motivation behind another Halifax stadium push.

In 2005, Halifax won the right to be the Canadian city to bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

While hosting the games was once projected to cost $785 million, Halifax abandoned its bid in early 2007 when the projected bill reached $1.7 billion.

At the time, Chris Algar, a 1999 Canada Games athlete, described the disappointment of missing out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"They're saying we couldn't host it because we don't have the infrastructure," he said. "This is a chance to build that infrastructure. How do you suppose we're going to get it now?"

Almost two decades later, Halifax is still trying to figure out the answer to that question.

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