I admit, I know nothing about the Vancouver stadium situation, being that I live in Dallas. But looking at your website, I couldn't help but notice Swangard Stadium. From the pix on your site, it looks perfect for an MLS team, after expanding it by another 15,000 seats or so. And you cant beat the natural grass. What's the deal with this place? What's the history? Why no expansion of this stadium?
It's owned by the city of Burnaby, it is in a park, has a track (which will not be gotten rid of since many other events are done there), it is hard to get to and the infrastructure around it isn't good enough for that many people.
Swangard is where the USL Whitecaps play... The city council of Burnaby has been dominated by the same left leaning political party for the past 30 years. No signs of that changing any time soon. This point is relevant because the party is vehemently opposed to any permanent expansion of the footprint of the stadium site. The Whitecaps made offers to build a second, permanent grandstand during the 2008 U-20 World Cup (Swangard was a host venue). The city refused, opting for 10,000 seats via temporary bleachers instead... because god forbid a crow or squirrel be disturbed! As the other poster mentioned, the stadium is in the middle of a suburban park. Seating capacity for Whitecaps games is 5,700, and the parking lots at the park do not come remotely close to meeting the demand. As such, about a third of the drivers, possibly more, are forced to find street parking in nearby residential areas where the city's tow trucks gleefully wait with greedy anticipation. Any suggestions about expanding parking lots at Swangard would be laughed out the door at city hall. So all these things aside, let's say Swangard could be bulldozed and replaced.... it's still a suburban stadium in a park with virtually NOTHING in the way of pre/post game entertainment venues such as pubs, restaurants, etc. Add in the fact that transit to the area is woefully inadequate.... it's amazing the Whitecaps haven't folded already. Any location downtown - whether it's BC Place or the proposed Waterfront stadium - will result in a massive attendance boost. Downtown is an entertainment destination for our region - people go there for the games, and the fun that can be had afterwards. Swangard offers nothing but a long silent ride home back to the city after rolling through the McDonald's drive thru for a late dinner.
Lets also not forget that the City of Burnaby also is in charge of upkeep of the pitch, the club has no conttrol over it. Sometimes they don't like to cut the grass, or like last season loved it to look like crap.
Exactly! As someone who will be coming in for a half dozen games or so from outside the region, It will be great to be able to do several things that make the downtown area enjoyable for those of us who moved away years ago. If I had to drive 10 hours (or pay for a flight) to sit in the middle of Burnaby, I'm not sure I'd be making the plans I am now for 2011. Now, just hoping the club comes up with those six or seven-game flex packs.