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Reasonable decision

I was pleased with the decision Halifax city council reached at their Dec. 10 meeting concerning the stadium project. I would love to have a stadium in the city, but within reason. The decision to not have the stadium at the Shannon Park site was perfect. This area of Dartmouth can be developed to be a landmark site, financially and aesthetically pleasing.

My preference for the stadium site has always been the Dartmouth Crossing location. It meets all the basic requirements — near a 100 series highway and existing transit routes. This location would make the stadium a truly Maritime facility, with easy access and egress.

I remind everyone that back in 2011, there was a huge study conducted to evaluate the probability of a stadium in HRM. This was part of the process of submitting a bid to host the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament.

Key stakeholder interviews and consultations were completed (17 in total), in addition to three public open house meetings, attended by a combined total of approximately 200 citizens. As well, over 30 sport and non-sport event groups were represented in meetings with the consulting team. All provided feedback related to stadium feasibility. The conclusion of this massive study was a unanimous decision to have the stadium located in the Burnside area. Good work so far to the staff and councillors.

Ken Stevens, Dartmouth

Incomprehensible

I put off writing this letter to The Chronicle Herald for 24 hours, hoping that my anger and disappointment with our community civic leaders with regard to the Canadian Football League stadium decision would go away or at least subside. It hasn’t.

I have had the pleasure to serve for the past several years on the Dartmouth General Hospital’s fundraising golf tournament, which has raised to date over $1 million. This past fall, as chairman of the 30th anniversary of this event, I approached the Dartmouth councillors for a grant from their district discretionary account, and was successful with all, except Councillor Tony Mancini, who said he could not contribute $100 to this worthwhile cause. I noted, however, that Mancini was one of the councillors who felt that $20 million to support a CFL stadium was a great use of taxpayer dollars.

I can’t comprehend how city council can find $20 million to commit to this project which, in my opinion, will undoubtedly become one of the biggest boondoggles in our city’s history, regardless of where they ultimately decide to build it. I commend all councillors who voted against this CFL stadium proposal.

Alex A. Joseph, Dartmouth

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