Sunday, May 9, 2010

More Thoughts on the West Harbour

An issue for the Cats is the cost of going from the 20,000 seat taxpayer funded stadium to one with 25.000 seats. Supposedly this extra 5,000 seats would cost tens of millions extra that the Cats would somehow have to come up with. Does the extra 5,000 seats have to add that much? Personally I don't think so. With the current taxpayer design, the 20,000 seats are along the sidelines, somewhat similar to Ivor Wynne's west end. I say the extra 5,000 seats could come from two sets of bleachers, of 2,500 seats each at the back of the endzones. These would end up being 20 to 30 rows each and could be constructed at a much smaller cost than the more substantive main structure. In the CFL this year, both BC's temp structure and Moncton's extra seats are similar and are relatively cheap. Sure the seats would not be as grand as in the main structure, but they would be the cheapest ticket option, which the Hamilton market seems to require. This would require a longer footprint lengthwise, but 30 rows would not be that much extra. Maybe parking spots could be offered under them.

Strange in the reporting on the stadium issue that the recent news with Bob Young's firm LuLu has not been mentioned.

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