Track is out. Soccer is in. A new plan for a west harbour amphitheatre is on the table. A competing plan, from White Star, is retooled, proposing a velodrome instead of a stadium at the site, with stores and condos. The Future Fund board says no to funding an east Mountain stadium. The Ticats say they will never play at the west harbour.
The city's Pan Am landscape has become confused and cluttered with proposals, ultimatums, pitches and schemes.
In the middle of the debate are 16 city politicians only 10 days away from deciding if the stadium will be built on the west harbour or the east Mountain. Both options have passionate advocates and critics.
"It doesn't matter where we put it," said Councillor Robert Pasuta. "It will never be the right place."
Yesterday, 2015 Pan Am Games CEO Ian Troop announced the Games' organizers are pulling track and field events from Hamilton and moving them to Toronto. Instead, Hamilton's stadium will host half of the Games' 65 soccer matches.
"This could make Hamilton the soccer centre, more or less," he said. "I think that will be good for ticket sales, good for traffic and good for Hamilton."
Troop says the switch doesn't jeopardize Hamilton's stadium, but it means the city will lose out on some of the highest-profile events of the Games. Continued...
