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CBC
18 hours ago
- Business
- CBC
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 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 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.
CBC
26-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Halifax says new plan will help city properly communicate in emergencies
The Halifax municipality has a new plan to better communicate with residents in emergencies, and staff say upcoming artificial intelligence tools could help gather details in real time. Staff gave councillors an update on the municipal crisis communications plan on Monday. It lays out who is responsible for crafting and issuing messages, and what should happen in the first hour of an emergency. The main principles of the plan say the Halifax Regional Municipality should share information quickly, in plain language, and explain the exact actions residents must take if needed. Deputy Mayor Tony Mancini said he has come to realize, after being involved in multiple local crisis events, how important it is to release quick and accurate information. "When there are information gaps — boy, do residents fill up those gaps, and that can be dangerous. Very dangerous," Mancini said during the executive standing committee meeting. Lessons from recent emergencies like Hurricane Fiona and the Upper Tantallon wildfire also influenced the plan. "There was no … plan, quite frankly, in the previous responses. It was best effort," said Bill Moore, Halifax's commissioner of public safety. The plan said the provincial Alert Ready system should be used to send a message to all cellphones in times of "imminent life-threatening" events, like evacuation orders during natural disasters, air quality issues or chemical hazards. The city's hfxALERT system, which is subscriber-based and currently has about 44,500 people signed up, should be used for less pressing situations like upcoming weather events that might pose a "moderate" risk to residents. An incident in January when picric acid was discovered in Dartmouth marked the first time this crisis communications plan was used, staff said. The plan said one site with frequent updates — like a page on the city's website — should be prioritized, rather than employing a piecemeal approach across multiple channels. Coun. Cathy Deagle Gammon said when residents turn to councillors for information, it makes sense to share one page with the latest information, rather than crafting their own responses. "Information is gonna change and be fluid — it's hard to stay on top and be current when you're dealing with a crisis," Deagle Gammon said. Chief administrative officer Cathie O'Toole said Halifax also works closely with the province and its new Emergency Management Department. She said the province will start using artificial intelligence to gather "real-time situational awareness" during large emergency events by monitoring social media. Provincial spokesperson Patricia Jreige said the PC government is looking to buy Dataminr software that would monitor public social media accounts, or newsfeeds, from municipalities, police and weather organizations for emergency management topics like hurricanes, storms and floods. She said the tool won't be used to search private social media accounts on platforms like Facebook, Instagram and X. Jreige said the software costs about $15,000 a year and the province expects to begin using it this summer. She said the tool is part of the move to 24/7 monitoring at the provincial emergency co-ordination centre. The tool could also help address a recommendation from the Mass Casualty Commission that the province and Nova Scotia police agencies should run an education campaign to increase awareness about public warnings and how to respond to them, Jreige said. Staff told councillors on Monday that Halifax Water now has the ability to send its own intrusive provincial alerts without waiting for HRM, and the utility now has a policy dealing with boil-water advisories after public backlash over how recent incidents were handled. Halifax Fire, Halifax Regional Police and Halifax RCMP can also send provincial alerts without going through HRM if an update must be shared as quickly as possible. A consultant's report from 2024 said Halifax's various emergency documents and policies evolved in an "ad hoc manner over decades," and the city should update those plans across the board. A staff report to the committee Monday said some of these projects are underway, like a hazard risk vulnerability assessment, while a new comprehensive emergency management plan will be started soon.
