Mystery surrounds proposal for outdoor stadium in Surrey
An as-yet-unnamed group has proposed to build an outdoor stadium on city-owned land in Surrey for a yet-to-be-identified pro team, said Coun. Bob Hayne, rolling out a mystery as to who that might be.
It doesn’t appear to be either the B.C. Lions or the Vancouver Whitecaps as management of both teams, which play home games at B.C. Place Stadium now, expressed little knowledge of the proposed development.
However, Surrey has received an unsolicited bid from a group, Hayne said, though he declined to even name the sport in question, citing a non-disclosure agreement signed with the proponent.
But the city has opened a request for expressions of interest to see if other proponents are willing to put in competing bids for a stadium.
“It wasn’t of our own volition that we went out and said, ‘Gee, this is the time to test the market,’ ” Hayne said. “We had an unsolicited opportunity come to us and in order to do this properly, we put out this request for expressions of interest.”
In it, the post indicates that Surrey wants to “establish a shortlist of preferred respondents with the required expertise, capabilities and resources” to finance and build a multi-purpose outdoor stadium.
Hayne was also coy about how big a proposed stadium would be, which would depend on the proponent’s business model, including the kinds of amenities, such as restaurants or entertainment options.
To this point, Hayne said the city’s contribution to high-level discussions over the proposal is to point out plots of city-owned land it would consider leasing to a stadium. But the proposal would also fit Surrey’s ambitions for a signature sporting facility.
From fields to arenas and Olympic-sized swimming pools, Hayne said Surrey has great sports facilities for residents, but lacks facilities capable of hosting significant national or international sporting events.
“I think it would be huge,” Hayne said. “Also just in sports development (for) youth and being able to see higher-level teams compete in the city and to call the city home.”
The proposal, however, isn’t on the radar of the Whitecaps or the Lions. Caps president Bob Lenarduzzi said the team hasn’t had any recent discussions with Surrey and was unfamiliar with the request for proposals that the city put out last week.
“Even if they’re talking about a stadium (approaching B.C. Place’s scale) or whether it’s a Swangard (Stadium)-type facility, it’s tough to really comment because I don’t have enough information,” Lenarduzzi said.
The Lions have a practice facility in Surrey, but team spokesman Jamie Cartmell said in an email that the organization has “no plans to play our games anywhere but B.C. Place now and in the future.”
Lions owner David Braley, however, said earlier this year that the team is up for sale and that he has been in discussions with potential buyers.
Potential Surrey stadium competing bids have until Oct. 16 to sign confidentiality agreements to take part in the selection process.
We had an unsolicited opportunity come to us and in order to do this properly, we put out this request for expressions of interest.