The Halifax Wanderers have made a pitch to city hall to bring a permanent 10,500-seat stadium to Wanderers Grounds, and the club wants to move quickly. Capacity could increase to 17,500 for concerts or other events. The stadium would be built on a single-storey parking garage, with capacity for 650 vehicles. Derek Martin, the franchise founder and owner, said he wants to hear a decision from city hall on a privately-funded stadium by the end of the year and do away with the current pop-up model. “We believe Halifax deserves a better option,” he said. “We don’t have time to continue debating, whether this is the right place, and hopefully, with our offer to put up the capital needed to make it happen, we can move this along in a very expeditious kind of way.” Martin said his plan addresses a slew of concerns about the existing pop-up stadium model, such as a lack of amenities, like running water, aluminum bench seating and shipping containers for locker rooms. Martin also noted there will be a winterized dome and an increased availability for community use of the field. Public opposition has also focused on ensuring community has access to the public land, hospital parking concerns and the municipality’s financial situation with some big-ticket infrastructure projects to pay for. The proposal asks Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) to continue owning the land, but to enter into a 99-year land lease with the team. But perhaps the biggest hurdle to address with prior stadium plans has been how it’s funded, with loud opposition against using public funds to pay for the stadium. “Given all of these challenges, we have taken it upon herself to come up with a solution,” Martin told councillors. “Our solution is that we will privately fund the construction and ongoing operations of a stadium that will unlock, maximize and modernize the existing Wanderers Grounds.” The cost for the Wanderers Grounds project is about $70 million, Martin said, while another $30 million would upgrade Maybank Field in Dartmouth to support a ‘community hub’ and a training space for the Wanderers. It’s unclear how much public money could go towards the project. Wanderers Grounds would open in May 2028, with Maybank Field upgrades to be completed in May 2027, if all goes according to Martin’s plan. A motion to have municipal staff pen a report with more information passed 15-to-one, with Patty Cuttell, the deputy mayor, voting against. She said she’s “not a fan of the stadium going here.” “When you have simultaneous events happening at the Convention Centre, the Scotiabank Centre, on the waterfront, in other areas, you can actually reach a tipping point where things stop working, transportation systems stop working,” Cuttell said. “The noise becomes unbearable, the congestion becomes something that actually creates, you know, a bad experience, as opposed to a good one.” Coun. Trish Purdy took a different stance, calling Martin’s pitch to Halifax councillors an offer that “seems too good to be true.” “I think we are being given an offer of a gift of $100 million,” she said. “It is going to solve several problems that HRM has right now.” But for Coun. Cathy Deagle Gammon says it’s disingenuous to say the private sports franchise is taking on all the risk of a potential stadium deal. “The risk isn’t all theirs,” she said. “It is also ours. “HRM is taking a significant risk in giving up land on the Halifax Common. I don’t think that we should sort of brush off the concern of the public or of the Friends of the Halifax Common.” “I appreciate that it has taken a long time for us to get here, but we’ve done the studies, we’ve had the debates, and quite honestly, we’ve proven that this works,” Martin said. More to come… For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
