saw this on the specs live blog and its a pretty funny exchange. lol:
Pam Am - 10:33 a.m.
Councillor Terry Whitehead just noted some people are positioning this debate like there’s an accident and you can only save your wife or your son from the car. (He’s referring to critics who think the stadium money should be spent on other infrastructure.) Without entering into the political debate, Whitehead asked Tony Tollis, acting head of finance to address the issue.
I would say splitting the stadium project into two parts is a very smart move.
It makes it easier for the councillors to vote for the stadium to get the share of the Pan-Am games and the loot.
Then it gives time for Bob and the others to come up with something more concrete as far as how the other 15 thousand seats will be paid for...and for other developers to climb aboard.
The enlarged stadium for football will be a lot easier for everyone to swallow once the Pan-Am version is built.
thats the way i see it. if the pan am stadium is 15k seats and that is what its for then great. anyone who wants or needs a bigger stadium can step in and pay for it. i can only think of one business in the city that needs 30k seats and its the tigercats who already said they have friends with tens of millions towards it. It would sure set a great example if the cats and local business community can come together and pay the entire cost over the pan am bid price. Take the 15k and give everyone the opportunity to expand it with their own money.
If council decides not to get into the pan am games, every councillor that votes against should not be re-elected next election.
Wether or not the athletes are "3rd or 4th class" doesn't matter. These games provide an opportunity to get government funding for the city to spend on facilities that are going to attract people to the city. If there was no market for these games they wouldn't exist.
"Councillor Tom Jackson questioned how Cooper feels about all the critics who say this money would be better spent fighting poverty. Cooper said he thinks the city can do both. "By building a strong community we can do the things we need to do to reduce poverty."
Bread AND circuses - Hamilton the Ambitious City once again.
I don’t mean to sound rude – but is there really much of a call for soccer?
I know everyone drools over the “success” of TFC, but the fact is that they sell out a small stadium and virtually no one watches them on TV.
Guess there are suckers at BMO and Carlsberg who are willing to prop these guys up.
But, again…willing to entertain arguments to the contrary.
sports teams dont have value in the business they are in. the value lies in the subsidies they can get from the taxpayers. Like tony trollis said at todays meeting “He also said there many be an opportunity for the city to end its $1.4 million annual subsidy to the Ticats if there was a new partnership for the new stadium”.
You shouldnt call mr young a sucker willing to prop up a soccer team, he is part of the ownership group that own the carolina railhawks soccer team. wonder when they will need a new stadium and who will pay for that?