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Photo Courtesy: Halifax Wanderers FC
Halifax Wanderers Pitch Privately-Funded $100M Stadium Plan
By If you thought the Halifax Wanderers’ previous pitch for a $40 million stadium was a head-turner, wait until the new privately-funded $100 million offer from the club hits your ears.
This week saw Halifax Wanderers President Derek Martin unveil the club’s most ambitious stadium proposal yet, with the Canadian Premier League side offering to fund both a permanent downtown stadium at Wanderers Grounds and a new training complex across the water in Dartmouth.
Martin presented the proposal to Halifax Regional Council on Tuesday in hopes of securing approval by November, allowing construction of both facilities to begin as soon as January 2027 while the club funds the entirety of the $100 million project.
The Wanderers have played out of temporary stands without running water or permanent washrooms since the Canadian Premier League launched in 2019. These aluminum stands were always meant to be a temporary solution placed on public land that has historically been used for sport, with Martin now pitching a 99-year lease to city council in exchange for privately funding the construction and assuming the associated risks.
That same council had hemmed and hawed over elements of the previous plan pitched three years ago, with Martin hoping the new proposal will prove a game-changer.
The new vision for Wanderers Grounds would see spectator seating in the 10,500-seat stadium covered, shifting the pitch from its current east-west orientation to a new north-south orientation as recommended by FIFA.
Northern Super League fans will be happy to hear that the proposal seeks equal lease terms for the Halifax Tides, with a dedicated locker room for the NSL side as well.
Martin’s proposal would also see some 650 parking spaces installed beneath the stadium to help add capacity not only for the venue itself, but also for the neighbouring QEII Health Sciences Centre.
The Wanderers note that the QEII expansion project saw the elimination of 600 parking spaces, with underground parking coming as a creative solution to a space-sensitive problem.
While the Wanderers have enjoyed a natural grass pitch from day one, artificial turf would be installed to permit community use year-round. In all, the Wanderers estimate that the artificial turf pitch would unlock over 5,000 hours of community field time each year, opening up the pitch to amateur and high school sports, international soccer, and perhaps even outdoor hockey and the other kind of football. The venue would also sport a permanent concert stage installation capable of accommodating crowds of up to 17,500.
Following consultations with local businesses and organizations, the Wanderers have ensured their plans preserve important space for other Wanderers Block users, with the Halifax Lancers receiving expanded indoor and outdoor space while the Wanderers Lawn Bowling Club would get a new green and clubhouse.
Wanderers Grounds first hosted a sporting club in the 1880s through the Halifax Wanderers Amateur Athletic Club for rugby and lawn bowling. That team failed to pay its lease fees during the Second World War, with use of the land reverting to the city, which has controlled the site ever since.
Beyond the stadium ground itself, the $100 million proposal also includes significant redevelopment for Maybank Field in Dartmouth, which would become the permanent training ground for the Halifax Wanderers. A full-sized soccer pitch would be installed that could be covered by a winter dome for year-round use, along with a regulation flag football field that can also be used for youth soccer.
During construction of the club’s permanent home, however, Maybank Field would also be the club’s temporary home while Wanderers Grounds is covered in hard hats and construction equipment. This would allow the stadium build to go full steam ahead through both the CPL and NSL seasons.
Should all go to plan, the timeline proposed by Martin would see the Dartmouth facility completed by May 2027, while the new Wanderers Grounds would be complete by May 2028 during the club’s tenth season.
Martin’s proposal notes that there is not a single large-scale outdoor sport or music event that can take place in Halifax without portable toilets, with Martin adding that for a city that considers itself one of Canada’s best, “it is safe to say that we deserve to flush.”
Yesterday saw Halifax Regional Council vote 15-1 in favour of requesting a staff report examining the implications of the plan. The private investment model is certainly a head-turner, though some councillors raised concerns about granting a 99-year lease on publicly owned land.
Since the inaugural Canadian Premier League season in 2019, it’s fair to say that the Wanderers have shown professional soccer can draw sellout crowds in the heart of downtown Halifax, even from a temporary stadium with aluminum stands and no running water.
With Martin’s privately-funded $100 million proposal on the table, the club is going all-in on making Wanderers Grounds its generational home – though whether Halifax Regional Council agrees to a 99-year commitment and all the fine details that come with it remains to be seen.
Header Image Courtesy: Halifax Wanderers FC
2 Comments
When the Wanderers U21 team played Nottingham Forest this summer, they played in St. John’s and Charlottetown, but not the Wanderers Grounds, because it was too expensive/difficult to work an extra match in between CPL and NSL schedules.
So it’s not just about community use or saving money — Wanderers fans could see more Wanderers games at the Wanderers Grounds, if there’s an artificial turf. The switch won’t get any argument from me.
Here’s hoping that Halifax city council supports this.
Would be beautiful. Hopefully the first of many for CPL sides.