The stadium debate heads back to city council next week with the release of the results of the last three months of negotiation with the Lansdowne Live group. If you still want MLS in Ottawa, make sure that the case for the Kanata Stadium is kept on the front burner, and don't be swayed by 'promises' of pro-soccer at Lansdowne. There is currently no potential owner of any new soccer franchise in Ottawa, other than Eugene Melnyk. http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/Ottawa soccer dream dead/1923222/story.html
Remember that this motion was delayed from the council meeting in April, and will be reactivated and voted on during the September 2 council meeting: MOTION NO. 65/13 Moved by Councillor M. Wilkinson Seconded by Councillor S. Qadri WHEREAS the City of Ottawa has received an unsolicited proposal from the Senators Sports and Entertainment (SS&E) to provide a stadium for professional soccer in Ottawa; and WHEREAS the growth in popularity of soccer would benefit from a dedicated facility and the provision of community fields would be beneficial to the City of Ottawa; THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Ottawa be directed to negotiate an agreement with the Senators Sports and Entertainment (SS&E) to develop 30 acres of City-owned land along Palladium Drive for a soccer specific stadium and community soccer fields, subject but not limited to the following terms and conditions: 1. SS&E receiving confirmation of a Major League Soccer (MLS) Franchise prior to development of the stadium; 2. That ownership of the stadium and community fields remain with the City of Ottawa; 3. The financial contribution from the City for the stadium be limited to $17 million; 4. That the City of Ottawa supports the SS&E in raising the additional funds to construct the facility; 5. That 50% of all profits from every operation in the stadium be paid to the City of Ottawa; and. 6. That the City and SS&E agree to expedite further development on SS&E lands that are estimated to provide $5 million annually in property taxes.
Seems like Wednesday is gonna be "Watchin' Paint Dry Day". umm three cheers for hours of watching council on tv...
The only certainty is that there won't be any sort of decision made this week. I do hear that some councilors will be supporting the Kanata stadium, even some who voted for Lansdowne all those months ago.
Some details are starting to leak out regarding the 'improved' Lansdowne Live plan that will be revealed tomorrow. http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/open canal driveway stadium traffic Brien/1948774/story.html It looks as though the only improvement to the hopelessly inadequate parking and transport infrastructure on the site is to open up Queen Elizabeth to buses on event days.
Just posted this on the USL-1 expansion board, but it may be of interest to Ottawa soccer fans here as well: According to CBC, the Lansdowne Live group will apply for a USL-1 Franchise, in partnership with John Pugh who owns the Ottawa Fury in the PDL league. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/stor...owne-live.html Sounds like good news, but I'm not sure how a USL-1 team will draw in a 25,000 seat stadium with CFL-endzones. The atmosphere is rarely good if your stadium is empty, and even if Ottawa managed to double the league average attendance, Lansdowne would be less than 40% full. Of course, maybe I'm being unnecessarily negative. Maybe Ottawa would pack Lansdowne for USL-1??
I sort of agree, but I think if we start in USL, that's where we will end up as well. The reason the Ottawa MLS bid made sense was a deep pocketed owner and a soccer specific stadium. Melnyk has already said that he can't make MLS work as a secondary tenant at Lansdowne. Maybe another deep pocketed owner comes forward in the future, but I don't see MLS looking at Ottawa without a SSS, particularly if the owner doesn't have a track record running a sports team.
