Dear Editor:
I read with interest the proposal and various letters about the Whitecaps' USL team and the stadium at Queen's Park.
I also closely followed the extensive and well documented Queen's Park rejuvenation plans between January 2012 and May 2013. I note that the report indicated the stadium needs upgrading.
Prior to moving to the city, I lived within blocks of Central Park and Swangard Stadium for over 30 years, so I am well acquainted with all that is involved with living in close proximity to a large stadium, even without soccer games. I closely followed all the various local newspaper headlines, letters, and reports to Burnaby city council about the team's proposals to improve the stadium when they were granted MLS status in 2008.
After a somewhat lengthy and contentious time those plans fell through, and they moved from Burnaby to Vancouver, where the team's proposal for a new stadium also fell through. Both city councils seemed to find major fault and issues with who was footing the bills and for how much.
Like others I am not impressed with the proposal - there are too many "may" and "should" words about increasing local revenue, and recognition, and putting Queen's Park Stadium on the soccer world's map, and very little about the actual costs (which almost always end up being higher than anticipated) and who exactly is paying those costs.
I am not happy that the city and its citizens are being asked to basically turn part of its crown jewel park over to a private "for-profit" corporation. There area has virtually nothing in the way of pre-/post-game entertainment like pubs or restaurants; transit is virtually non-existent - and 3,500 fans need to park their cars somewhere and pay an unknown amount for "family entertainment."
Why is this necessary when there are so many other "family entertainment" opportunities in other areas where the infrastructure is already in place?
Queen's Park is a suburban oasis of green space, used by a wide variety of people, which is something that is becoming more and more difficult to find in the Lower Mainland.
I am not happy with how quickly the Whitecaps are attempting to push this process through.
As has been famously stated: "Marry in haste, repent in leisure."
N. Hebert, by email
