Motion on development of Wanderers Grounds in Halifax put on hold

A motion on the redevelopment of Wanderers Ground in Halifax has been delayed.

A motion to direct staff to devise a functional plan for the development of the Wanderers Block in central Halifax was delayed at a council meeting on Tuesday.

“We are in need of a stadium,” says Deputy Mayor Tony Mancini. “We have a pilot project with the Wanderers Grounds which has proven successful and we now have a second professional team, a women’s league that plays out of there that has been successful in the early stages.”

The grounds are home to two professional soccer teams: the Halifax Wanderers and the Halifax Tides.

Mancini supports the idea of constructing a permanent stadium on the Wanderers Block.

“Right now our focus should be in this eight-to-10,000 seat stadium is the right size in the downtown and the Wanderers Place is the right place. I know there’s people that are opposed to using the Wanderers Grounds for that purpose, but I disagree,” he said.

Mancini noted there was originally pushback on the Halifax Convention Centre (which opened in 2017) and the Scotiabank Centre (which opened in 1978), but now both sites contribute millions to the economy.

“We’re coming off of some really record-setting years and both Scotiabank Centre and the Convention Centre in terms of the number of events we’ve attracted and the impact that we’ve created for our city and province,” he said.

“Since 2018 we’ve hosted over 1,500 events and generated over a half-a-billion of economic impact for the city and province,” says Events East’s executive director Suzanne Fougere.

Currently the Wanderers and Tides are playing in a 6,500-seat pop-up stadium.

“Whenever there’s considerations around those type of public investments in public venues, or purpose-built infrastructure is what we likely call it, it’s important to consider overall the use that it’s for, the audience that is for and then turn the location that’s going to make sense for that type of investment,” Fougere says.

The Friends of the Halifax Common has said the land is meant to be use by the public.

The deferred redevelopment motion is now scheduled to be discussed in August.

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