Raise the Hammer

Here is the link to an excellent information and opinion piece by Mark Chamberlain in the Hamilton Spectator today: http://www.thespec.com/news/local/articl...

This should be required reading for Bob Young, Scott Mitchell, Senator David Braley, Ron Foxcroft, Hostco, Hamilton city council and staff and the Hamilton community at large.

Can anyone, including Bob Young's stadium experts, name one city in the world where a high tech innovation park was sacrificed in whole or in part to build a stadium?

In the meantime, here is an excerpt from page A4 of yesterday's Hamilton Spectator:

'The Ticats' Mitchell says though there are a number of sites that could work, the team is sticking to is agreement to investigate MIP.

"The time for examining 20 different sites was two years ago, and unfortunately, we've spent the better part of our time trying to fit a square peg into a round hole," said Mitchell. "Now the deadline is upon us."

At a Committee of the Whole meeting on February 23, 2009, Hamilton city council considered for the first time whether to commit $60 Million of Future Fund money to a Pan Am athletics stadium and velodrome with the preferred site to be the west harbour. Bob Young did not attend that meeting but Scott Mitchell made a presentation to city council that day. Mr. Mitchell did not tell city council that Bob Young would make no financial contributions to a west harbour stadium, that the Tiger-Cats would never play at a west harbour stadium, that the Tiger-Cats wanted the track removed from the athletics stadium, and that Bob Young required a 60 acre parking lot. Based on all the information it had received including the presentation by Mr. Mitchell, city council voted to spend up to $60 Million on a Pan Am athletics stadium and velodrome if and when Toronto was awarded the 2015 Pan Am Games.

Here is a link to the Minutes of that meeting:http://hamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/A74BC236-F8F7-4DE8-B2B9-DDCE411F94EF/0/Feb23Minutes.pdf

City staff began making Pan Am bid preparations and plans. Hamilton was featured in the Toronto Pan Am bid book as the site of the athletics stadium.

On November 6, 2009, a majority of Pan Am Sports Organization delegates voted in favour of the Toronto bid largely based on its bid book. Hamilton has already lost the Pan Am athletics stadium primarily because the Tiger-Cats insisted on the removal of the track after the Pan Am Games. As a result, Hamiltonians will not get to see Usain Bolt try to break his own world record in Hamilton in 2015. We will not get to see Canadian medal winning track and field performances. And the city has lost the chance of having Pan Am marathons run along its wonderfully reclaimed harbourfront before a national and international audience.

At a Committee of the Whole meeting on February 18, 2010, Hamilton city council accepted a stadium feasibility report from Deloitte Canada and a transportation study from IBI Group as well as presentations from various community members. Bob Young did not attend the meeting. Scott Mitchell attended the meeting but made no presentation. Based on all the information it had received, Hamilton city council again voted to spend up to $60 Million on a Pan Am athletics stadium and velodrome at the west harbour.

Shortly after that, the Tiger-Cats began their anti west harbour stadium campaign.

Hamilton has already lost the Pan Am athletics stadium primarily because the Tiger-Cats insisted on the removal of the track after the Pan Am Games during the facilitation meetings with Michael Fenn. The Ticats' demands caused much concern for Athletics Canada and made it easy for HostCo to move the athletics stadium to York University. As a result, Hamiltonians will not get to see Usain Bolt try to break his own world record in Hamilton in 2015. We will not get to see Canadian medal winning track and field performances. And the city has lost the chance of having Pan Am marathons run along its wonderfully reclaimed harbourfront before a national and international audience. In hindsight, had the city invited Athletics Canada into the facilitation meetings with Michael Fenn, perhaps Athletics Canada could have been secured as the legacy tenant for the west harbour stadium site.

The facilitation process resulted in the identification of a two-track stadium location process including the existing west harbour stadium location and an East Mountain stadium location. Bob Young, Scott Mitchell and Ron Foxcroft went over the heads of the Hamilton community and pleaded their case for an East Mountain stadium through the national media. They also apparently initiated discussions, with Mr. Foxcroft as the admitted go-between, with other municipalities about moving the team out of Hamilton. Based on the information it had, Hamilton city council again voted in favour of the west harbour stadium site on August 10th and 12th. However, on August 31, 2010, it eventually bowed to the enormous weight of the HostCo timelines, local and national media pressure and the fear of losing the team.

Now Hamilton is faced with the prospect of a capped, downsized or partially relocated West Hamilton Innovation District (including the McMaster Innovation Park) because the Tiger-Cats will not talk to the city unless this stadium site is on the table. The city could end up sacrificing billions of dollars in lost employment income and intellectual property economic spinoffs over the next fifty years by building a stadium in that district.

In retrospect, it appears that, for city building purposes, the Pan Am Games was the "round hole", Athletics Canada was the "round peg" and the Tiger-Cat organization was the "square peg". One wishes that the Ticats had tried to be a little more "well-rounded" and tried harder to make the west harbour site work for everybody or that the Ticats had disclosed their "squareness" to Hamilton city council back on February 23, 2009 to spare the city the time, effort and money it has directed toward the Pan Am stadium issue.