The announcement that Canada will be bidding for the 2015 Women's World Cup has caused some in Halifax to wonder if this might not be the opportunity to finally get a decent stadium. Currently Huskies Stadium, which is said to hold 9,000, which might be true if you include the area around the porta-potties, is the only stadium of note in Nova Scotia.
If you look beyond the celebrating (other) football players in this photo I took in 2005 you can get an idea of the quality of stadium that we are talking about.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
It's tiny and has grass growing on some of the outer steps. It's also turf, although they did switch from the old concrete stuff about 5-years ago (I covered the 2002 CIS soccer championships at Huskies Stadium when it still had old school Astroturf - if you thought BMO Field was bad in 2009...). Clearly there is no chance that Halifax is going to be part of the party in 2015 without a major stadium project.
That's especially the case when you consider that Moncton built this place:
It would need to be expanded (as it was for a CFL game earlier this year), but if the Maritimes are to play host to games in 2015 you would have to think that Moncton, not Halifax, would be the logical place to go. The problem with that is that the above stadium is in Moncton.
Moncton, New Brunswick is roughly the size of Kingston, Ont. (or Red Deer, Alb., if you prefer). It's hard to get to and lacks the type of tourism infrastructure that you would like in a host city for a World Cup. It also lacks much to do if you are thinking that a WWC can be used to boost tourism. It's essentially the gateway to PEI and, well, Halifax. Like the province it's in, it's a place you go to to get somewhere else.
Halifax, on the other hand, is a wonderful place that everyone in Canada should visit at least once. Vibrant, fun and beautiful, Hali truly is a gem (it's almost as nice as my second favourite city in Canada, St. John's). A Women's World Cup in Canada that does not include a stop in Halifax would be missing something.
Based on the history of stadium debates in Halifax the 2015 Women's World Cup will likely be missing something. The Maritimes is an inherently small-c conservative place. Convincing the taxpayers of Nova Scotia and Halifax to take a risk on building a stadium will not be easy (read the comments below the linked article). In the past it has proven to be impossible. And that's why Huskies Stadium remains the only option to hold an event in Nova Scotia.
There is little doubt that spending on sports infrastructure is something that needs to be examined carefully. There are things -- health care springs to mind -- that are more important. However, building a stadium that serves the region and would allow Halifax to take part in the Women's World Cup (and to bring the CFL and professional soccer to the region) is not without worth.
Hopefully Haligonians will see that value while this debate plays out.