CTF Stadium renovation "Bad Business"

I'd say NO to Canadian Taxpayer Federation's idea of renovating/rebuilding the Winnipeg Stadium on Maroons Rd. for 2 reasons:

  1. The Maroons Rd. site is prime real estate, worth millions of dollars. Keeping an old stadium there or even building a new one on this site just doesn't make financial sense. The Bombers should sell that land to David Asper or some other land developer.

  2. We require a new enclosed stadium/complex to improve revenue streams. Look at MTS Centre; they're drawing acts that wouldn't have otherwise come here & fill the venue at least 200 days a year. The old Winnipeg Arena could barely draw flies.

An anchor tenant like the Blue Bombers + property sale + govt. money would provide the seed money to build our "field of dreams" with a retractable dome and would attract surrounding facilities such as a casino, hotel, amusement park, etc.

The new complex could compete with True North for events and use its unique venue to house indoor sports like soccer, arena football, gymnastics and indoor racing (track, moto-cross, go-kart, maybe even whitewater rafting like the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing!

We could hire management and marketing firms to run things and ensure the new complex is open 364 days a year like True North.

We don't need private investment when we have millions in equity, govt. funding and civic cooperation re: land, tax breaks, etc. Mr. Asper isn't a "white knight." He sees an opportunity to make money and so should we.

Winnipeggers should wake up and smell the coffee before another one of our beloved sports franchises is sold on a street corner like a naive runaway. In my opinion, the Bomber Board of Directors has "souled out" the Bombers to private interests and we should pressure City Hall to replace the entire board.

...the Taxpayers association or whoever they profess to be... should really go into big centres like T.O. and Van. (see humungus tax dollars going toward olympic venues) and lend them their expertise...in other words bugger off ....who do they think we are some kind of second hand city that deserves less tax dollars than other parts of the country when we want something built....what a laugher :lol: :lol: :lol: