ConfederationPark

Need some help here. Ti-Cat fan living in Calgary. In one of his letters Young said the ideal place for the new stadium is Confederation Park. Is this far and away the best place for it? Any site has to be near public transportation. Calgary is an example. C-train stop, 5 minute walk to the stadium. But anyway, what was the problem with Confed. Park or is just a matter of City Council wanting Weswt Harbour for some unknown reason. Cynically, is anyone lining their pockets her?

Without a doubt this is the best place to put the stadium. Green space bull@@@@, I ride my bike down there everyday. There is more ashphalt there than grass. The commuters that can usually see through the smog over the harbour see Hamilton for what it is. A steeltown. There is a high bridge called the skyway bridge that seperates Hamilton and Burlington. From the bridge you get the picture. Oh by the way some moron is building a bridge to nowhere and from nowhere over the highway to this Confederation Park. This Confederation Park is the biggest waste of waterfront property in Ontario. Its worth millions. The water is dirty, the sand is philthy, weeds and who knows what else is growing there. Very rarely you see people going into the water there and if you do its the lower class of people(cause they don't know better). The good things about it are a wave pool, a bike walking trail(from ashphalt), and hutchs(Hamiltons promoting healthy eating)sarcasm, new childerns pool(iguessforlittlekids and its very small). Most people go there to bike, rollar blade or walk. Really the only thing in the actual park is a wavepool, camp grounds that are empty, and a small snack place with washrooms with tons of parking. The rest of the stuff is along this ashphalt trail along the beach. Oh by the way this is Hamilton so you know someone is getting greased. Its in our fabric.

The enviormental wacko lefties (and that includes the mayor) run the city. They are anti-business and that is well known in the business community. Yes, Confed. Park would be a great site but then it doesn't suit mayor Fred's agenda. Also you'd have go through so much enviormental red tape that you'd just through your hands up and say WTF! :cowboy:

Anyone who looks up Confederation Park in Googlemaps would see that it’s not a good site for the stadium… you’d have to tear down the water park to make room for the stadium and all the parking that the Cat’s seem to require. If you don’t have the parking then you’d have to have people get across the QEW on foot in one way or another. It’s a park… and the only one that Hamilton has on the lakefront. You’re exaggerating anyways… it may not win awards for scenic beauty but it does the job for the average family. I can see why people aren’t keen to plonk a giant concrete stadium on the limited land that’s available there. About as ignorant as building something at WH.

What are they planning for with the derelict camping area now? It's starting to look like a natural regeneration zone, which is fine I guess if that's what they are planning it for.

Confederation Park in November would make for a cold place to sit and watch a football game.

Think of the old exhibition stadium that was close to the lake, and all the cold wind, not to mention seagulls.

Not only that, gameday would see the QEW gridlocked from Oakville to Welland.

Why is this considered the preferred location?

The more I look at it, the more I am convinced that Confederation Park has got to be the worst location for a stadium.

Currently, you have one road, confederation drive, running parallel with north service road, but nowhere do they intersect.

At the end of the game, all traffic would be on confederation drive.

Going east would take you to Gray's road, with no interchange to the QEW.

Going west takes you to Van Wagner's where you could make a left and head for the QEW interchange, a right and head for beach road and the lift bridge, or Nash Road.

Think about how Canon and Barton, with multiple lanes, become gridlocked after ticat games now.

The roads around Confederation Park would need major upgrades, including several more lanes, to even be as good as the roads currently surrounding IWS.

Somebody please enlighten me as to the merits of Confederation Park as a stadium location.

Well I'm glad it's Hamiltons dilemma and not Calgary's. Christ here they get all bent out of shape when it comes to spending 2 mil on a walking bridge across the bow river,. But if Bob is willing to spend what is it, 35 or 75 mil of his own money then he's got to be the man to listen to. This is the CFL. It's not like he's going to sell the franchise for a huge amount of cash, if he does sell. And it doesn't look good on a city if you lose a pro sports franchise. Not that I care, but the NHL may look at this when it comes to awarding a franchise to Hamilton. And should the franchise leave can the Hall of Fame stay in a city with no team?

There is some land near Confederation that I believe Walmart no longer is interested in. Its right next store to Home Depot. There is room for a stadium and some parking, This is not greenspace as there were factories(auto recyclers) there at one time. That is a great spot if the size is right. There are pieces of land near by or small businesses you could buy to build extra parking.Sorry tried to attach an image of area from google earth but couldn't figure it out. Take a look yourselves tell me what you think. You could always buy the Pinetree Restaurant across rd and tear it down to build parking. Then build walkway over Centennial. :cowboy:

Well I'm down there everyday as I was today riding my bike and checking out the site. Please don't use google earth and come down for yourselves. You don't have to tear down the water park lol. There is a huge piece of weed grass that was the former camping grounds that you can put parking there. The entrance to the park is already planned to go directly from Centennial Pky into the park. You can put an entrance at grays rd. to get into the park( there was one there before ). There seems to be a planned Go station right at centennial pky. The LRT is going to Eastgate, shuttles to the game would take 5 mins. for anyone needing public transport. Not sure if some people don't know or haven't been there but Highway QEW access is right there at centennial pky. The road can easily with some cash be expanded heading toward the beach strip and other highway access, burlington St, Woodward. They're building a pedestrian walkway over the highway right now at the moment. If you see this walkway, 1 you ask yourself what for, 2 why waste 17 million dollars for that instead of expanding the road to 2 lanes from centennial to the beach strip. ??? I just shrug my shoulders. Maybe it was a forshadowing for the pedestrians walking over from globe park to go to a tiger cats game. Oh I guess there is parking there also. This is not to argue with anyone this is strictly debate about whats best for the team. If your want to debate whats best for the city well it shouldn't even have participated in the Pan Am games. A stadium a WH will not help the city like people think.

The problem is somehow facts are getting skewd, I know most of the people that even post on this forum don't go down there never mind the people of the city. Most people go to the new beach down the road in Burlington, half are from Hamilton down there. Please people take what ever the media throws at you with a grain of salt, find out for yourself. And if its green space they care about mark my words there with be a hotel complex build down there. Guess who might have vested interest in that. Follow the money.

As for congestion lmao its there everyday during the day. Most games are at 7pm at night or saturday in the afternoon. It will be quick to get out of there and quick to get in.

Sorry for the long post.

Yeah, Confederation Park is only a park in name. Resembles Ontario Place without the Ontario funding.

At this point in time, I am afraid to go to Confederation Park. I have walked along the magnificant Burlington waterfront and enjoyed the shops, the various resturants and admired the residential development. If I went to Confederation, I'm afraid I'd have fish and chips at Hutchs; walk down to Barangas and have a few beers; then, as the beer kicks in, walk down another hundred meters and realize I still live in Hamilton and drown myself in the wavepool!

If the PAN AM games are held in Confederation Park then something needs to be done with those eyesore hydro towers along the beach, perhaps bury the lines.

Unfortunately the piece of property I was referring to is owned by Smart Centres?(They are shopping centre developers).
I saw their sign there the other day when I drove by the site. They were levelling the land. I believe a Walmart was supposed to got there?? That to me would have been a perfect spot for the stadium as its already developed from previous companies that were already located there. I wonder if the City could buy the land off Smart Centres and put the stadium there. There are other parcels of land near that spot and on the other side of Keefer where the Pine Tree restaurant is and where the Keefer Crt Industrial area is. You can buy some of these businesses and possibly build a parking lot on that side.
I live near Millen so I know Centennial quite well. I just didn't realize all the hidden roads and pieces of land that are hidden from Lake Ave N all the way to Nash Rd N. I wish that someone could call them and find out if they are willing to sell back to the city at a decent profit. :rockin:

Hey R4578 you are right about those hydro towers. They are everywhere. I took a drive to the Smart Centre site that I was referring to and yes you can definately see them; but anyway the East Mtn site had the same towers?? :cowboy:

Confederation Park would be a disaster.
Road access would be a massive problem! Just drive around there and try to figure out how anyone would reach the stadium. Where could new (and very expensive) roads be built? The QEW blocks any new road development. The WH has been slammed for alleged access problems. Confederation Park would be a thousand times worse.
The winds off Lake Ontario would be bad..and if the winds came from the opposite direction, pollution from the steel mills would be very unhealthy.
I can't believe anyone would think this site would be suitable.
Why are we wasting time on this? Time is running out for other, more sensible site suggestions.

I am not proposing Confederation at all just next to Home Depot instead--- If that Smart Centre land were available for repurchase. I do agree somewhat with your winds though. But what about other stadiums built near water don't they have wind issues??? I don't want to build in Confed. but just near by on Centennial-- there is no residential there; therefore great for concerts. :smiley:

I believe Walmart’s plan for the use of that land has been approved.

Their Ontario Municipal Board hearings are over

and they want to proceed with their plans.

Another question to ask is what is being showcased at Confederation Park.

There will be people from around the world visiting, and ultimately what they will see is a beach where you can't go swimming.

Welcome to Canada, large country of pristine wilderness and clean lakes and rivers, except at the site of the PAN AM games...

WH is not perfect, not by a long shot, but at least at WH you have people sailing and boating.

Hey Ronfrontigertown; I'm not sure if thats still true. I thought I spoke to a few people that they had pulled out and are building at Fifty road instead. I'm not 100%; I wish that someone who had the inside scoop could fill us in. Anyway I did drive by about half an hour ago and there were big Trucks there cleaning up the land and maybe paving more of it. I'M hoping for selfish reasons that Walmart did pull out and that there is an opportunity for the city to make the developer an :cowboy: offer that they can't refuse. :rockin: