The Ottawa group who were granted a conditional CFL franchise earlier this year will be making an announcement tomorrow about their stadium plans:
[url=http://sports.sympatico.msn.cbc.ca/abc/News/ContentPosting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CBC-SPORTS-V3&showbyline=True&newsitemid=football-ottawa-expansion]http://sports.sympatico.msn.cbc.ca/abc/ ... -expansion[/url]The Ottawa Citizen Friday, October 17, 2008
Jake Rupert, with files from Don Campbell.
Lansdowne redevelopment proposal to be revealed
If secret plan doesn't measure up, it may be rejected: councillor
First problem
'The failure of the developers to involve city council
could land the proposal in the garbage,
a powerful councillor warned."
Second problem
Mayor Larry O'Brien said..one of two things would probably happen.
If the proposal meets public-policy objectives...
the proposal could be put out for public consultation,
followed by
committee and council votes on whether to proceed with it.
If the proposal doesn't match the city council objectives...
the mayor said
an international design competition for the park,
which was suspended while the city
waited for this particular proposal,
could be restarted.
There doesn't seem to be any room for
the proposal to be reviewd and altered.
Or am I wrong on this?
Maybe. Here’s a response from their Q&A.
It all depends on the structure of the arrangement we negotiate with the City. At this point-in-time we need to determine exactly what the City would like to do and then we will determine exactly how it’s financed.
Sounds like there’s still room for negotiation.
The plan to develop Lansdowne Park and refurbish Frank Clair Stadium is impressive. However, it still needs approval by the City of Ottawa. Here is the link to the story and picture in the Ottawa Citizen about today's announcement.
[url=http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=77b52def-74c7-4851-b18d-c2a1925ed998]http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/new ... a1925ed998[/url]And that’s never a slam dunk because that might mean that they actually gasp accomplish something!
Still, at least it’s progress. :thup:
Here is the link to a further report posted today on the Ottawa Citizen website. The Ottawa CFL group has a deadline of March, 2009 to inform the CFL whether they will be proceeding with their conditional franchise. That gives them only a few months to obtain approval from the City of Ottawa for their stadium project. Group spokesman Jeff Hunt has therefore expressed some doubt that an Ottawa CFL team would be ready to play by the start of the 2010 season.
[url=http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/sports/story.html?id=960ae691-e57e-4659-ac17-25f1646502e0]http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/new ... f1646502e0[/url]Sounds like there's too much involvement by the politicians. The constituents need to let their councillors know that they want to see this move forward to completion. With a progressive mayor and a few key councillors on board, they have a decent shot at redeveloping the Lansdowne Park area which is a big zero at the moment. What a waste--it's got huge potential.
An Argo-Cat fan
Ottawa dose not want a Team bad Enough
Politicians. know that Land worth more without the Stadium being there.
also with a Recession way who going to fill the stands?
Ottawa should have been Brought back no sooner then 2016
Have Teams in Quebec City 2012 and Halifax 2014 and Windsor 2015 in Place
Go to 3 Div EAST CET WEST in 2016 when they add ottawa
EAST Div
Montreal
Halifax
Quebec City
Ottawa
Cent Div
Toronto
Hamilton
Windsor
Winnpieg
West Div
BC
Calgary
Edmonton
Saskatchewan
Top Two Teams From Each Div Make the Playoffs
with the next 2 Best Records having Wild Cards.
8 Teams make the playoffs
Though this list of ciries is prety darn cool, why do so many people ASSUME other cities want CFL teams?
You’ll never get another CFL team in Quebec, but a true East Coast team would be nice, like Halifax.
I know a few people in the Windsor area and from what I know, they are ALL NFL/LIONS fans.
Those of us with teams shoudl be grateful we have a piece of this great CANADIAN League, but let’s not expect everyone else to want the same.
Please give up on this Windsor/Quebec/ Halifax nonsense -
Is there a group coming forward in any of these cities to put up $120M to build a sports complex and run a team??
The Ottawa group have a lot of cash and would be willing to take losses. This is a slam dunk for the city.
Ottawa fans always supported the Riders and Gades - the teams folded because of ownership and the way it was run not by low crowds.
I seem to remember Ottawa out drawing Hamilton and Toronto …lol
It would be a sad day for the CFL if the city blocks this only to build an outdoor stadium in Kanata for Eugene's MLS team.
I liked this line from today’s Citizen earlier today.
“Minto’s Roger Greenberg, we all know, is richer than God. Someone whispered in my ear on Friday that he may not even be the wealthiest of the four players behind the proposal.”
You ain’t kidding. The good thing is that parts of it are still verymuch flexible. There was a mention, for example, that if people wanted the residential portion out, it would be dropped. So if there are real concerns somewhere in the plan, they should be able to address them.
The only real worry is the money that the city would have to pony up. It claims to not have it, but Greenberg suggested the city take out a loan and pay it back with the money they used to waste with Park “maintenance” (if you could even call it that).
There’s only one councillor who appears to have a big problem with it. Others have expressed some concerns, but not outright opposition like this one clown has.
I agree on the Windsor front anyway. This is a town that has been decimated by the auto industry. Aside from the entire area being strapped for cash (Metro Detroit included), this is NFL territory. Well, actually, maybe moreso Wolverines territory.
I don’t t think the CFL would fly in that region. American media dominates – and like in the U.S, the CFL gets almost zero coverage.
The council will never aprove it, it is so left wing and is the reason why ottawa has gone waaaaaaay down as a nice city to visit. A capital of one of the richest countries in the world and what have they done in the last 20 years? All they have done is get a needle exchange program going and nothing else. They screwed up big time on transit,the city has become a haven for druggies and people that do not want to do there share,like the rest of us. It has become a 3rd world city and it is all because of the very leftist council,who everyone was re-elected last time. Ottawa deserves what it gets. Clive doucett wants a park built there, and what would happen to that park ,is it would be taken over by the druggies and pimps and such. It will be a very unsafe and unpleasant place to be.