Halifax Mayor Pessimistic About City Landing CFL Team
HALIFAX – Mike Savage has long been a supporter of a CFL team coming to the city of Halifax. Last year, the Mayor was in favour of the municipality giving $20-million (under certain conditions) to go towards a brand new football stadium. At that time, it seemed momentum was in favour of The Atlantic Schooners landing in Halifax. But a lot has changed since December of 2019.
The Covid-19 pandemic hit the CFL hard. At one point they asked the federal government for $150-million. Recent media reports suggest the federal government rejected a $30 million loan request from the football league. Worst of all is the fact the CFL recently cancelled the entire 2020 season.
Mayor Savage is a fan of football and would love to see a team in Halifax. But after all the setbacks, he is pessimistic of that happening any time soon.
“I think I have to say, in all honesty, it’s very unlikely,” Savage said bluntly when asked about the odds.
“It always seemed to me that it would have been nice to complete the link and have a team on the east coast. It would have balanced out the East Division and the West Division. And I think there would have been a lot of enthusiasm across Atlantic Canada for a team.”
“But it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. From our point of view, it seemed too good to be true to get a $120-million stadium for $20-million. Sometimes things that seem too good to be true turn out to be just that.”
The plan to bring a team to Halifax was controversial from the early days. Not everyone agreed on the city spending $20-million on a stadium. The split in opinion was shown in the 2019 vote on the subject, which was approved 10-7 in council chambers.
The original location for the stadium, Shannon park, was also controversial. But council disapproved of this location and the Schooners are now looking elsewhere to build a stadium.
Savage still defends the $20-million stadium deal. He says it would be a safe investment since it is contingent on other parties picking up the majority of the bill. The Halifax Mayor also noted a new stadium would attract concerts and other events to the city.
“The municipality, eventually, would have gotten that $20 million back in the form of property tax,” said Savage. “It was too good a deal to pass up, even though it was far from certain that it would happen. But if it doesn’t happen, there’s no risk.”
Mike Savage may be pessimistic about football coming to Halifax, but The Atlantic Schooners ownership group has a different mindset. David Wallace, who is legal counsel and group spokesperson, believes a new sports team can help lift spirits coming out of the pandemic.
“We don’t look at necessarily as something that may not happen because of the pandemic, but something that may actually help Atlantic Canada mend and emerge from the pandemic,” said Wallace.
“Obviously, we’ve embarked on uncharted territories in 2020 with the pandemic. We’ve certainly appreciated the Mayor’s support on the project. At this point, we remain optimistic.”
Wallace is also putting a positive spin on the cancelled season, saying the Schooners and league officials now have more time to discuss the possible expansion. Wallace also claimed that the group has found three potential sites for a new stadium, but couldn’t give specific locations.