Halifax council to hear details of CFL bid
Halifax Mayor Mike Savage believes the proponents of Maritime Football Ltd. will open their playbook in July.
He expects Halifax Regional Council will be given details related to the company’s potential bid for a Canadian Football League franchise at either the July 17 or July 31 regularly scheduled council meeting.
“I think what could happen is the group could give some indication of where they ’re looking and general information about what type of stadium they’re talking about and in general terms how they would intend it would get paid for, what the municipal contribution would be over time, what the provincial government might do. These are all things I want people to have a chance to see and weigh in on,” Savage told Postmedia last week.
“What we would want to do is have a conversation about the general scope of the project and decide as councillors if this is something that we would direct our staff to go away and get into some detailed number crunching with (Maritime Football Ltd. official Anthony LeBlanc) and his team. That’s where we are.”
Savage said the ownership group is in regular contact with Halifax Regional Municipality chief administrative officer Jacques Dube and staff, checks in every couple of months with him, and has been in front of council on two occasions.
“I have a lot of faith in this ownership group, and I think they have done things the right way,” said Savage. “They have checked in when they needed to check in. They are very professional. At the end of the day, the numbers have to work for the citizens of Halifax region. It’s our job to determine if that is the case. I’m hopeful, but that’s what I would say right now.”
Winnipeg’s new Investors Group Field, rightsized for the CFL and that city, seats 33,500, with room to expand to 40,000. Construction cost $210 million, though ancillary costs will boost the final tally.
LeBlanc told the Halifax Chronicle-Herald he favours the Ottawa model of a football district, with residential, commercial and retail surrounding the stadium. Mayor Savage said he wants a rightsized building for Halifax and region.