Anthony Leblanc with Maritime Football Limited said the hope is to announce a stadium location by September

HALIFAX - One of the founding partners of Maritime Football Ltd. will meet with city officials this week to discuss financial details of a proposed stadium bid in HRM.

Anthony Leblanc said progress is being made on a bid for a CFL franchise and stadium in Halifax and talks will continue with HRM's CAO Jacques Dube.

The comments from Leblanc come after Halifax Regional Council voted this week for a staff report on 'opportunities and risks' involved in a potential team or stadium in Halifax, a decision Leblanc called 'good news.'

The approval means staff will open discussions with Maritime Football and the province about the bid and return to Council with a recommendation.

While short on specifics, Leblanc said the goal is still for a 24,000 seat stadium that could also be used for other events like concerts and university games. Mosaic Stadium in Regina is being looked to for guidance on a stadium model.

The hope is to announce a stadium location by September and Leblanc said while earlier reports the group had narrowed their search to two sites within HRM were correct, the wishlist has been widened once again.

"Now we're back to the drawing board a little bit looking at all the sites again," Leblanc said, which he added was one of the reasons firm numbers could not yet be given to Council when they met behind closed doors earlier this month.

Work continues on a stadium model, however, which Leblanc said he's been working on this week in Regina.

"We've been working with a group of consultants that we have retained," Leblanc said, with specialities ranging from stadium financing to architectural design.

"We have really gone to school on how these stadiums have been built in other jurisdictions but focusing on Canada," Leblanc said.

Leblanc said from the get-go his group never went to HRM or the provincial government asking for a big cheque, but rather, they've prepared a solid business plan to move ahead.

"I think that's what really differentiated our group from possibly other groups that have been through in the past," he said.

"We're not looking for you to take what's referred to as 'general funds' to finance a stadium. Any type of involvement from a governmental agency, we've said from the beginning, should be purely based off of revenues that are generated but for a stadium and a football team."

He remains hopeful a team will come to the area, a stadium will be built and private funding for all of it will pull through.