Save Ivor Wynne Stadium
- by: A Beautiful Night For Football dot com
- recipient: 10,000
With the indecision surrounding the desired location of Hamilton, Ontario Canada's proposed stadium, the future of our city and our Canadian Football League team are at risk, because of a location and physical design focused on one series of events. Our site will play a small part in the overall picture of the 2015 Pan Am games (Hosted by Toronto with games being played in Hamilton), that will span one or two weeks, and then we may be left to sit amongst the stands and forever see a Pan Am vision instead of a football vision; the future of our city vision.
The talks related to the stadium location have mostly focused on a waterfront site in Hamilton's West Harbour, with other lands such as Confederation Park (on Lake Ontario), and the airport (Mount Hope, Ontario), and most recently an East Mountain site intersecting power lines at at a highway crossroads, next to a Big Box Power Centre.
There is however, one location that has not been considered. The current home of the Tiger-Cats, nestled amongst the community it has called home for 80 years.
We believe that the City and the Tiger-Cats, are overlooking something special about Ivor Wynne Stadium being in the centre of Hamilton%u2019s downtown district.
Visit http://www.saveivorwynnestadium.com for more information, including reports and facts to support our cause ranging from Sustainable Sports Stadiums, to the price tag to upgrade and repair the current stadium, versus the substantial costs to build a new venue.
Dear members of City Council,
We the undersigned, truly feel that the best choice for the home of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League, is their current residence at 75 Balsam Avenue North in Hamilton, Ontario Canada, formally known as Ivor Wynne Stadium.
Ivor Wynne is rich in history and tradition, and has been part of this community for 80 years, and home of the Tiger-Cats for 60 of those years.
For us, Ivor Wynne is more than a building. It's part of our legacy and should be left as such for future generations.
Based on the 2007 City of Hamilton report on Ivor Wynne Stadium, we believe it also makes sense financially, to continue the plan outlined in that report, and spend $16 Million dollars over a period of 10 years, from 2006 to 2014, for the repairs and upgrades to the stadium. From there, we either continue the search for a site that better suits the City and Tiger-Cats needs, or work together as a community to find ways we can make Ivor Wynne sustainable either at 75 Balsam, on adjacent lands, or elsewhere in our cities core.
In our opinion, the price tag to build the proposed stadium is too high for one, and second, the entire Pan Am process has divided this city in two and our fears are that in the end, by choosing one site over the other, we will further divide this city and possibly, leave us without a football team.
The Tiger-Cats themselves, stated that the East Mountain wasn%u2019t their ideal location, but that it does serve many of their needs, but why should any side have to settle and rush into a decision that one party (or both), could later regret; one that the entire city could regret.
Community is important to us, and the fact that Ivor Wynne Stadium is amongst and so much a part of its current neighbourhood, is what makes this a true home for its tenants and fans. West Harbour is the only other option on the table that can give us that same sense of community, but that choice alienates the Tiger-Cats from this process. After all, this is about the Tiger-Cats on many levels as they have been asking the City to look at other locations for a stadium for several years.
The Pan Am bid looked to provide an answer to the long standing concerns surrounding Ivor Wynne Stadium but unfortunately, more questions, concerns and indecision have been the result as we have also tried to use this opportunity as a 'quick-fix' to solve our West Habour issues.
We sincerely wish that you would either consider including Ivor Wynne stadium or adjacent lands in the Pan Am process, or say no thank-you to the games offer completely, and look at new opportunities to clean up and grow the existing Ivor Wynne neighbourhood. West Harbour already had an attractive blueprint for revitalization and growth in the 'Setting Sail' plan. By choosing none of the above, we can move ahead with this original West Harbour vision, spend $16 Million on the upgrades and repairs to Ivor Wynne Stadium, and use the 'Future Fund' money for something the whole city can feel good about.
Thank-you very much or your time and for considering our proposal to vote 'None of the Above', and save Ivor Wynne Stadium.
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