Raise the Hammer

I say again, West Harbour is the wrong place for the Pan Am Stadium. It does not fit with a largely residential neighbourhood, it is not on ANY major transportation routes, it has low visibility. The location makes no sense for the area residents. It makes no long term business sense for occupants. It's logic as a location smacks of political opportunism, the availability of senior government money and the need to clean up a major area pollution hot spot. But after this and the games are done there will be little use for this structure. Businesses (Ti-Cats) won't want to be there. Residents won't want large events held there.

Meanwhile the altnernatives suggested above make little more sense for the reasons raised. The ideal location is Cathedral Park, between Main & King immediately west of Dundurn. It is on major city and regional roadways and transit lines. It has high visibility from those routes. It is immediately proximate to a developing commercial strip and close to the city centre (after-game Hess Village anyone?) Of course there are significant obstacles to construct there (a large underground sewage holding tank, highway ramps and perhaps private land holders on Dundurn) and I expect the costs are higher. They SHOULD be higher, reflecting the desireability of the location for this sort of development. But we already know the long-term costs of selecting unsuitable locations for municipal institutions in order to save a few dollars now, don't we? (Hint: we lose the potential for significant revenues in the future.)

If this rant of mine is just more Hamilton negativism and whining, so be it. Better not to build a new stadium at all than to repeat the mistakes of Ivor Wynne where every event is a disruption for area residents. No stadium is better than the current proposal or the suburban suggestions.

Condo development in park-like settings would enhance the west harbour location significantly, however. And bring in lots more area residents to support commercial strips a short walk away.