If you thought the Canadian Premier League (CPL) team Halifax Wanderers FC (Canada) previous pitch for a $40 million stadium was a head-turner wait until the new privately-funded $100 million offer from the club hits your ears.
Ambitious Stadium Proposal
‘NORTHERN TRIBUNE’ stated that recently the Halifax Wanderers FC President Derek Martin unveiled the club’s most ambitious stadium proposal yet with the Canadian Premier League side offering to fund both a permanent downtown stadium at the CPL team digs – the Wanderers Grounds – and a new training complex across the water in Dartmouth (Municipality in Canada).
Generational Home
With Martin’s privately-funded $100 million proposal on the table the club is going all-in on making the Wanderers Grounds its generational home – though whether the Halifax Regional Council agrees to a 99-year commitment and all the fine details that come with it remains to be seen.
Timeline
Should all go to plan the timeline proposed by Martin would see the Dartmouth facility completed by May 2027 while the new Wanderers Grounds would be complete by May 2028 during the club’s 10th season.
New Vision
The new vision for the Wanderers Grounds would see the spectator seating in the stadium covered and shifting the pitch from its current East-West orientation to a new North-South orientation as recommended by FIFA.
Toronto (Canada)-based the Canadian Premier League (CPL) is a professional Men’s soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams from five of Canada’s 10 provinces. Each team plays 28 games in the regular season which is followed by Playoffs culminating in the CPL Finals.
The Halifax Wanderers FC is a Canadian professional soccer club in Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada). The club competes in the Canadian Premier League (CPL), the top of the Canadian soccer league system.
The 7,500-seat Wanderers Grounds is a sporting complex in Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada) and home to the Canadian Premier League professional soccer club Halifax Wanderers FC.
Securing Approval
‘NORTHERN TRIBUNE’ further stated that Martin presented the proposal to the Halifax Regional Council recently in the hope of securing approval by November thus allowing construction of both the facilities to begin as soon as January 2027 while the club funds the entirety of the $100 million project.
Private Funding
The Halifax Wanderers FC have played out of temporary stands without running water or permanent washrooms since the Canadian Premier League launched in 2019. The aluminum stands were always meant to be a temporary solution placed on the public land that has historically been used for sport with Martin now pitching a 99-year lease to the City Council in exchange for privately funding the construction and assuming the associated risks.
Game-changer
That same Council had hemmed and hawed over elements of the previous plan pitched three years ago with Martin hoping the new proposal will prove to be a game-changer.
Equal Lease Terms
The Northern Super League (NSL – Canada’s first and top-division professional women’s soccer league) fans will be happy to hear that the proposal seeks equal lease terms for the NSL team Halifax Tides with a dedicated locker room for the NSL side as well.
Parking Spaces
Martin’s proposal would also see some 650 parking spaces installed beneath the stadium to help add capacity not only for the venue itself but also for the neighboring QEII Health Sciences Centre.
Expansion Project
The Wanderers note that the QEII expansion project saw the elimination of 600 parking spaces with underground parking coming as a creative solution to a space-sensitive problem.
Community Use
While the Wanderers have enjoyed a natural grass pitch from Day One the artificial turf would be installed to permit community use the year-round. In all, the Wanderers estimate that the artificial turf pitch would unlock over 5,000 hours of community field time each year thus opening up the pitch to amateur and high school sports, international soccer and perhaps even outdoor hockey and the other kind of football. The venue would also sport a permanent concert stage installation capable of accommodating crowds of up to 17,500.
Indoor-Outdoor Space
Following consultations with the local businesses and organizations the Wanderers have ensured their plans preserve important space for the other Wanderers Block (a downtown land area located on the Halifax Common in Halifax, Nova Scotia) users with the Halifax Lancers (Canada’s only urban nonprofit riding school and equine therapy center) receiving expanded indoor and outdoor space while the Wanderers Lawn Bowling Club would get a new green and clubhouse.
Rugby-Lawn Bowling
The Wanderers Grounds first hosted a sporting club in the 1880s through the Halifax Wanderers Amateur Athletic Club for rugby and lawn bowling. That team failed to pay its lease fees during the Second World War with use of the land reverting to the city which has controlled the site ever since.
Significant Redevelopment
Beyond the stadium ground itself the $100 million proposal also includes significant redevelopment for the Maybank Field (a Municipal sports and recreation ground) in Dartmouth which would become the permanent training ground for the Halifax Wanderers. A full-sized soccer pitch would be installed that could be covered by a winter dome for year-round use along with a regulation flag football field that can also be used for youth soccer.
Temporary Home
During construction of the club’s permanent home, however, the Maybank Field would also be the club’s temporary home while the Wanderers Grounds is covered in hard hats and construction equipment. This would allow the stadium build to go full steam ahead through both the CPL and the NSL seasons.
Portable Toilets
Martin’s proposal notes that there is not a single large-scale outdoor sport or music event that can take place in Halifax without portable toilets with Martin adding that for a city that considers itself one of Canada’s best “it is safe to say that we deserve to flush”.
Private Investment Model
The Halifax Regional Council vote 15-1 in favor of requesting a staff report examining the implications of the plan. The private investment model is certainly a head-turner though some councilors raised concerns about granting a 99-year lease on the publicly-owned land.
Sellout Crowds
Since the inaugural Canadian Premier League season in 2019 it’s fair to say that the Wanderers have shown professional soccer can draw sellout crowds in the heart of downtown Halifax even from a temporary stadium with aluminum stands and no running water.
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