Raise the Hammer

I agree with your points Trey. That is sort of how I seen Bob's bomb that he dropped late that night just before I went to bed, that left a few late night forum-goers scratching their heads.

I can see why he wants to avoid the comments that you see so often, about half a stadium build and such and as you stated and as Bob later talked about the next morning on the Cats forum, about how until they (IO) see exactly what they are facing with regards to the north stands, it could be much more of a new build or total north stands new build, than was originally anticipated.

I don't think anyone is going to complain if there is enough money in the kitty to do it all properly and just start anew. It was more the way Bob dropped a bomb and went to bed that bothered me. He is likely tired of misconceptins but then he leaves half a message which in turn, opened up more what if's and well, if he would have given us the entire message up front much speculation could have been avoided.

Trey, you are a graphic artist. Mahesh might also be able to add more to this specific question as well, but would it be out of the question if they were to open up the design process on this to everything from students, back-yard designers and small firms to large firms, to see what everyone could come up with to give us the best bang/design for our buck, possibly bringing back some historic features like the concrete wall/entranceway that once lined Beechwood in the Civic Stadium days. Or a design that would allow us to keep 30,000 seats and some kind of semi-permanent endzone that doesn't feel like cheap bleachers, yet would still be able to add the extra endzone seating required to host a Grey Cup?

If this is a commmunity stadium, wouldn't it be a great way to start this project and planning of a stadium district, by opening up the design process to the public and see what comes out of it? The architects will all be able to decipehr won't won't work and of course IO will have to approve of the plans, but just wondering.

I know nothing of this sort of process. I understand RFQ's in both forms (quote/qualification) as I have been involved in a few major ones myself, but nothing to do with the buildilng of a stadium or anything of the likes.

I know with cable, every firm that wants to submit a proposal does their own design with a general idea having been provided to them, of what is required. If the city, citizens, Cats, IO etc. all listed their requirements and nice to haves and of course the budget/timeline is known, than why would we limit this to just major firms. Just because some high school student who is a great designer and has had a weird facination with books on building planning, codes and guidlines and safety standards, bu doesn't have a degree in architecutral design, why shouldn't he have a crack at a drawing? The firm who wins the build portion of the RFQ, could fix any minor erros in the design and give it their stamp, etc.

This is a big thing for Hamilton, Cats fans, and even the CFL in general. I just want this to be something special. I know in many ways it will be either way, but I would like to see the fans and citizens of this city, have some input. What don't they want to lose? What haven't we had that we would like to see? What can we sacrifice and we won't miss it? Do we really need some of the bells and whistles that would cause us to lose out on keeping such and such?

At the end of the day the powers that be will make the final decisions but I think we go a long way in opening up this whole process more as everyone is asking what is going on. Be a little more transparent here if we can. That's all I am personally asking. What is the next step in a little more detail. How does this RFQ process work from initial designs, to who will build it.

The public owns/will continue to own this stadium, so where is their money going and how is this thing their taxes (municipal, provnincial, and federal), being built?

We aren't talking about private cable companies here. We are talking about something being built FOR citizens. We have been talking about Open Data for quite awhile now. If you can't open a door, then why?