Comment 42898

By -Hammer- (registered) | Posted July 07, 2010 at 13:31:29

I have been a supporter of the West Harbor or a Downtown proper stadium for some time. However in this case, given that Young has put a substantial amount of money on the table, and that the facilitator has suggested a site that will cost the city far less to build due to the remediation issues, I have to say I support the East Mountain site. Unless a substantial partner in the private sector comes forward (Mr. Katz would seem to fit the bill) to put money into the West Harbor location, the city is better served by this location.

Yes, highway access and suburban stadiums have issues, however in this case there is commercial development around this location, and room for new local development to occur. In addition to this, taking a fiscal weight off of the city's shoulders allows the city to invest in slowly re-mediating the Rheem lands and adding small scale commercial development, or a potential place to replace the aging Sir. John A. Macdonald school, enhancing the West harbor and will allow another parcel of land to become available in the core, perhaps for a joint Mohawk/McMaster campus.

I still think the West Harbour is workable, but without substantial private investment, it simply isn't feasible to put it there. It is also even less feasible if we don't have a tenant to offset the maintenance costs of the location, just as Copps has taught us. Thankfully at this time, the Pan Am Corp and the city are still moving forward at both sites, so there is still a chance an investor may come forward for the West Harbour, but if it doesn't, it simply does not work.

Still waiting for the Randle Reef mess to get cleaned up, but hopefully not much longer!

http://www.cbc.ca/hamilton/news/story/2012/12/18/hamilton-randle-reef-announcement.html

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