The Halifax Wanderers have pitched their case for a permanent downtown home.
Derek Martin, the president of the soccer club, presented a proposal for an expansion of the Wanderers Grounds facility, a part of the Halifax Common public park, during a Community Development and Economic Development Standing Committee Thursday.
The project is estimated to come with a $40-million price tag.
Some main priorities involve a 2,000-seating expansion that would increase the venue’s total capacity to 8,500, the introduction of permanent grandstands to replace rented bleachers, and the installation of a bubble dome for year-round, multi-sport use.
“We have one of the best atmospheres in Canada for professional soccer because we consistently sell out a venue that’s appropriately sized for the Halifax of today,” Martin said during a presentation to councillors.
“With the Wanderers now a proven entity, we can contribute financially to the costs associated with the stadium. And thus, enable an asset to be built that can service the community without putting the full cost on the taxpayer.”
‘For the entire community’
The presentation came with a 30-year lease proposal for the club be the main tenant at the Wanderers Grounds through a “fair agreement that will contribute to the cost of construction over the lease period” along with a commitment to further attract national and international events to the venue.
Some expenses apart from the project include the installation of permanent washrooms, new lighting and sound facilities, modular stadium components, broadcast infrastructure, and a new turf.
Martin said he’s proposing that the municipality spearhead the development as the team “can’t do anything on the Wanderers Grounds” with it being on public land.
“As a private entity, we can’t go to a bank and get financing for something that we can never have a long-term lease on,” he said. “We are willing to help contribute financially … and to be a lead tenant that allows the facility to be full and to be used on a consistent basis, with the city to build something that then can be used for the entire community,” he said.
Pending approval, Martin hopes to see construction groundwork begin in November 2024, following public consultation.
After about an hour-long debate, Maggie Macdonald, with the municipality’s Parks and Recreation department, recommended further discussion be completed before the committee moves any motion to carry the process further.
“We’ll be looking at the proposal surrounding the stadium but where we don’t have direction is in relation to the financial component of the request,” she said. “I think it’s worthwhile for us to go away and consider what might be appropriate as far as further direction.”
Despite some suggestions to consider using similar facilities at nearby Saint Mary’s University, Coun. Tony Mancini sided with Martin’s location request — agreeing that Wanderers Grounds is the most ideal place to continue providing a positive economic impact to nearby businesses.
“We’re limited to where that location can be and I think this can be the right location,” he said. “I’ve seen it on game day. People are downtown, in our bars, in our restaurants, in our shops, gathered together with the jerseys on, parading up to the field, having a blast, coming backdown again. That works really well.”
Opposition to location
The Canadian Premier League side has utilized the Wanderers Grounds as a “pop-up” venue since the club and league’s inaugural season in 2019.
The current venue does not have permanent washroom facilities, running water or the ability to serve food. Its locker rooms operate inside two shipping containers.
Despite optimistic projections for the future, the project wasn’t welcomed by everyone in attendance.
Howard Epstein, a member of the non-profit community group Friends of the Halifax Common, said he wasn’t in favour of a permanent outdoor sports venue.
“This is not in any criticism of soccer at all … this is about location,” he said, adding that a 2017 municipality report labelled the hosting of a professional team at the Common area as a “short-term experiment” and that it isn’t an “appropriate location for a permanent, ongoing professional soccer league”.
“This is not private land, you are trustees of the land on behalf of the citizens of Halifax and this cannot go forward in the way that it is being proposed,” he said to council, pleading for a “better location” to be found for a permanent stadium.
Epstein said his group will take legal action if the project begins to make advancements.
“This is not something that’s legal on the Common, and even if it were, it’s a really bad idea,” he said following Thursday’s meeting.
David Bentley, another resident who spoke on the issue, voiced opposition to the idea of a permanent stadium due to concerns about the vulnerability of the nearby Public Gardens.
“The whole garden’s neighbourhood is at risk,” he said, advocating for the idea of relocating the stadium to Saint Mary’s. “The idea for a for-profit soccer stadium to be allowed on public property right next to the Public Gardens ought to be unthinkable, totally disrespectful to the gardens.”
The next steps
Coun. Waye Mason, who represents constituents in the area of the proposed development, said he hopes a staff report will be completed to determine the cost.
“My read is the policy going back to 1994 supports what’s proposed,” he said. “These things have coexisted for a long time, I don’t think it’s a ‘No, because it makes noise’, I think it’s about managing the impacts and trying to do the best you can to manage everyone’s experience there.”
Mason said after a staff report, public consultation would begin with discussions surrounding the balance of public and private costs to most effectively manage the project.
“If he (Martin) is offering a 30-year lease, that actually should go a long way to cover the whole cost,” he continued, “he’s paying a lot out-of-pocket every year right now to have that stadium.”
Mason said “normally” he’s against public funding for stadiums, but he said the municipality has a commitment to an artificial turf field somewhere on the common.
“Artificial turf stadiums need to be fenced and we don’t want to fence anymore of the Common, so there’s a really good argument that this is the right place for that because we’ve only fenced this one part,” he said. “Putting in the three or four million bucks for that, that we’d put into any community, I think that’s a fair contribution, but I don’t want the taxpayer to be carrying this whole burden.”
According to an emailed statement to the municipality from Martin, the location has welcomed more than 400,000 citizens and visitors to the downtown core over the past five years, “bringing significant economy vitality and civic pride,” it read.
By the end of 2023, the temporary venue will have hosted 75 professional soccer matches and five international rugby events.
“The Wanderers are now firmly established for the long term, which provides, for the first time in the ongoing stadium discussion, a proven tenant that can enable the sustainability of a venue that will be accessible to the entire community,” Martin said in the email.
The email continued to state the permanent stadium wouldn’t only serve as a space for the Wanderers professional side — as the club would look to host cultural events, concerts, other sports organizations such as local soccer and football clubs, and additional community bookings at the property.
“I think it’s time once and for all to get a stadium built in Halifax that serves the need of everyone,” Martin concluded at the end of the committee meeting.
On the field, the Wanderers are currently amid the “most significant 13-day stretch” in the club’s short history, as recently noted by Martin on social media, as they fight to remain in the top half of the standings during one of the tightest playoff races in the Canadian league’s five-year history.
The Halifax side will return to play their third fixture in eight days as they host Atlético Ottawa at the Wanderers Grounds on Saturday afternoon.
Martin’s proposal comes with an estimated May 2025 completion date.
— With files from Global News’ Zack Power