Misconceptions about the proposed stadium
1) The stadium is on private land
No. The proposed location is on largely on Federal land owned by the citizens of Canada.
2) This stadium is a public facility
No. This structure will be privately owned. The enjoyment of public waterfront will be lost forever.
3) The stadium needs to be located on the waterfront with its exceptional views
Stadiums are about looking inward to watch a game or a concert. The building of a waterfront stadium, with its limited use, will deny generations of the free enjoyment of our public waterfront.
4) Vancouver “needs” this stadium.
- BC Place will be renovated and is likely to have a retractable roof. BC Place has both extrensive public transit connections and road ways. Vancouver does not need two stadiums within 1km of each other!
- The Vancouver area currently has seven major stadiums - three of which are open air and four that are covered with a roof.
- Swangard stadium has undergone a major upgrading to 10,000 seats and is approved by FIFA for major events such as the under 20 soccer World Cup.
- Soccer seating up to 50,000 can already be accommodated by B.C. Place. A friendly soccer match was held in B.C. Place in the Fall of 2007.
5) This will be a “green’ project.
Reduce, reuse and recycle are the key words of the green movement. The proposed stadium fails on all three accounts.
- Reduce: Existing stadiums can accommodate various activities and crowd sizes. There is no need for a new stadium!
- Reuse: Current stadiums can be easily modified for any special events. It is greener to use current facilities than create a massive new stadium and its road ways. This will save the environmental impact of mining of materials, extraction of oil to make the plastic seats, transportation of building materials and construction energy costs
- Recycle: If built, the majority of the stadium will contain new materials and will hasten the demise of other stadiums in Vancouver. We will end up demolishing one stadium, with its millions of kilograms of waste that will go into landfills, only to burn up more energy and resources building a new stadium that will serve the same function as the building that was torn down. In no way is this a “green” development!
6) The stadium as a community asset
The Central Waterfont has been a true community asset for over twenty years! The public waterfront is the home to Crab Park, the memorial to Vancouver's murdered and missing women, the loction of Canada day and Rememberance Day events. Every day the public land of the Central waterfront is enjoyed by the citizens of Vancouver. It is the greatest hypoctacy to suggest that a private stadium that consumes this cherished public waterfront will be a community asset. Shame on the Whitecaps for suggesting this to be the case.