Raise the Hammer

It is incumbent upon Hamilton city council to have much more financial and other information on the idea presented yesterday by Mayor Bratina and Bob Young to build the Pan Am stadium as a rebuild of the south side of Ivor Wynne Stadium before it can realistically vote on that idea. While the discussion of the idea is absolutely necessary tonight, staff needs to study this latest idea. It would make sense to hold special council meeting next week with a final vote at the Hamilton city council meeting on January 26, 2011.

As a starting point, the stadium construction cost numbers presented yesterday by Mayor Bratina and Mr. Young need to be closely examined. They suggested a $115 Million stadium construction cost split of $70 Million for Hostco and $45 Million for the City of Hamilton. However, the original agreement with Hostco requires a 56 per cent/44 per cent cost split between Hostco and Hamilton. For a $115 Million stadium, Hostco would be required to pay $64.4 Million, not $70 Million. Hamilton would be required to pay $50.6 Million, not $45 Million. Hamilton taxpayers need to know where the extra money will come from to fully fund a $115 Million stadium.

The ancillary plans plus the actual proposed contributions of Mr. Young, Molson's, Tim Horton's and Primus to the stadium project, as well as who would operate the stadium and how much it would cost to operate, must be known by Hamilton city council prior to a vote on the Ivor Wynne Stadium plan.

Lastly, since Hostco has already approved the west harbour site (it was contained in the bid book), Hamilton city council should also consider submitting the scalable west harbour stadium plan to Hostco as a backup plan to the Ivor Wynne Stadium refurbishment plan just in case the Ivor Wynne Stadium plan does not meet of all Hostco's criteria.