Dan Stinson and Frances Bula
Sun
VANCOUVER SUN of Radical above-ground plan Built on a platform above the city’s rail nexus, the facility might not have its own parking area
Vancouver‘s downtown waterfront is slated to become the site of a high-tech, ultra-modern open-air stadium. Built above the city’s railway tracks, it would provide not only a home for professional soccer, but also a showpiece entertainment venue.
The Vancouver Whitecaps were to announce today their plans to construct a 15,000-16,000 seat, soccer-specific outdoor stadium on a seven-hectare parcel of rail lands property east of the Waterfront Station SeaBus terminal, extending approximately north of the Steamworks Brewing Co. restaurant at 375 Water St. to north of the steam-powered clock in Gastown.
The stadium, tentatively named Whitecaps Waterfront Stadium, would feature a three-sided horseshoe shape, a natural-grass playing surface, two grandstand seating areas capable of accommodating about 6,500 fans each, and a 3,000-seat end zone seating area, The Vancouver Sun has learned.
The stadium would be capable of supporting a second deck of seats, raising seating capacity to about 30,000.
It would have an unobstructed view of Coal Harbour and the North Shore mountains.
It’s a development that Vancouver Coun. Jim Green, who is running for mayor in this fall’s civic election, says will alter Vancouver’s connection with its waterfront, showcase innovative design and be an example to the world about how to combine major sports and transit.
“It will certainly be very modern and very sophisticated. It will be the first major stadium in the world with no or limited parking,” said Green, who has met with the Whitecaps planning team several times in the past few months.
“And it will extend Vancouver onto the waterfront, which is great. I think this is an incredibly creative concept.”
Green stressed that the project still has an intensive city approval process to go through, with issues such as view blockages, protection of train tracks, local employment and connections to Gastown all to be properly resolved.
Staff will make final recommendations on what the parking requirements should be, but the city has in the past exempted projects from normal parking requirements if they are close to transit.
The waterfront stadium is described by the Whitecaps as one of the most transit-friendly facilities in the world. Built seven metres above the existing rail tracks, the stadium would be within easy walking distance of several transportation links, including the Expo, Millennium and RAV SkyTrain lines, the SeaBus, the West Coast Express, and several city bus lines. Additionally, about 30,000 downtown parking spaces are within walking distance.
Non-Partisan Association council candidate Suzanne Anton, who has lobbied for an outdoor stadium in the city for years, said the proposed stadium will be a jewel for the city and that, although it needs to respect the community-consultation process, the city should do everything it can to facilitate its quick approval.
Green said that so far, the Whitecaps team has given every sign of bending over backwards to consult with communities in the Downtown Eastside.
The stadium, scheduled for completion in 2009, would be the new home of the Whitecaps men’s and women’s teams.
Whitecaps owner Greg Kerfoot purchased the property for a reported $17 million from Fairmont Developments Inc. on July 14 and is expected to cover the cost of the new stadium, currently estimated at $62 million.
Kerfoot is the former president and chief executive officer of Vancouver-based Crystal Decisions Corp., an international software company. The media-shy businessman became the owner of both Whitecaps teams in November 2002 after former owner David Stadnyk bailed out in June 2002. The teams finished their seasons that year under interim United Soccer Leagues ownership.
Kerfoot’s project is still very much in the planning stages. It’s expected that his application to the City of Vancouver for a building permit will take about two years for approval, meaning that construction of the stadium wouldn’t start until 2007. That rules the stadium out as a venue for the July 2007 FIFA World Youth under-20 men’s championship tournament, which will be staged in six Canadian cities.
Vancouver was one of the successful bid cities for the 24-nation, 52-game tournament, but local tournament matches will be played at Swangard Stadium, which can be expanded to as many as 13,000 seats.
Although the stadium would be soccer specific, it could accommodate other events such as rugby games and concerts. It’s also a possible new home for the Canadian Football League’s B.C. Lions, whose lease at B.C. Place expires in 2010.
Lions general manager Bob Ackles has said if the team moves after that, it would have to be to a stadium with “about 35,000 seats, with the ability to go to 50,000 so we could host Grey Cup games.”
© The Vancouver Sun 2005
