Special Report: Pan Am City Staff Report on Ivor Wynne Stadium Renovation The estimated cost of the Ivor Wynne renovation is $156.5 million - $174.5 million. With $115 million on the table, the plan is short $36.5 million - $54.5 million. By RTH Staff

Published January 23, 2011

The City's Ivor Wynne Stadium Report for the January 24 General Issues Committee (GIC) is now available, and the estimated cost of the stadium renovation is a shocking $156.5 million - $174.5 million, putting the funding gap at between $36.5 million and $54.5 million.

The City is expected to contribute $45 million from the Future Fund and Toronto 2015, the Pan Am Games host corporation, is to contribute another $70 million in Federal and Provincial contributions. The report assumes another $5 million from the sale of naming rights to the stadium.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have not committed any money toward the capital costs of the stadium, but have offered $679,250 a year in operating costs, funded through a ticket surcharge. The report that the City's net operating costs will be similar to today's costs for Ivor Wynne.

The capital cost estimate comes from Toronto 2015 and Infrastructure Ontario, which is the body actually distributing the higher level funding.

It is not clear how the shortfall of $36.5 million - $54.5 million will be covered, and the report highlights several areas of risk to the City:

The rezoning application to increase the stadium height could be appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board, though a Provincial Minister's Zoning Order could avoid this issue.

Brian Timmis Stadium will be demoloished to construct the new south stand and provide parking. This will result in the reduction or elimination of community sports programming time.

The south stands will also require an agreement with the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board.

The cost to bring the renovated north stands into conformance with the Ontario Building Code is estimated at $9.8 million.

The report suggests that the stadium "could act as a catalyst for broader neighbourhood devleopment in the areas around the stadium."

Staff note that the IWS renovation proposal has not left time for public consultation, and recomment community engagement in a "resident-led planning process" for the neighbourhood around the stadium that takes into account the social inclusion recommendations prepared by the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction.

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