Winnipeg: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) unveiled a design today for a refurbished Blue Bombers football stadium. The CTF recommends paying for the refurbishment by using proceeds from land development around the existing site and through a per ticket fee. The CTF plan also calls for returning the $40 million of provincial and federal dollars currently dedicated to a new stadium, back to taxpayers.

"Over the years, millions of tax dollars have gone into the current stadium" said Canadian Taxpayers Federation Manitoba director Colin Craig. "In fact, according to a City of Winnipeg report, we're still paying for previous upgrades to the stadium. Before simply writing the facility off and building a new one, we deserve a public debate."

The CTF unveiled one stadium possibility today, but hopes that elected officials will solicit even more ideas before proceeding.

"There's a lot of potential for developing the current stadium site and using the proceeds to pay for fixing it up." added Craig. "For example, we could put a hotel at the south end of the field with suites that double as luxury boxes. Another option would be to put additional seating on the roof of the hotel, similar to the seats outside of Wrigley Field in Chicago. Certainly, some of the valuable land around the stadium could be developed and used year round instead of as a parking lot ten times a year."

Below is a breakdown of the CTF's stadium refurbishment strategy:

Project Cost: Approximately $20 million

• 2004 City of Winnipeg stadium condition report ("Tower Report") noted repairs would cost about $8.9 million to give the stadium another 10-20 years. An estimate of $20 million was put forward by Lyle Bauer, Blue Bombers President and CEO, in 2007.

Revenue: $20 million+

• $10 million+ by developing the land around the existing stadium (retail, potential hotel, restaurants, etc.)
• $10 million+ introduce a per ticket refurbishment fee of $3.60
• Potential revenue stream from hotel luxury boxes, seating on the roof of a hotel

Taxpayer Refund: $40 million

• $40 million - give back the $25 million of provincial dollars and $15 million of federal dollars currently dedicated for this project to all Manitoba taxpayers through a one-time refundable tax credit of about $45.

"This proposal isn't perfect, but we're trying to shift the debate back to where it should have started, with a public discussion about what we can do with the current stadium" said Craig. "Hopefully it will prompt our elected officials to solicit even more ideas from the public."


A high resolution photo of the CTF's stadium refurbishment design can be found here:
File Name


A media backgrounder for the CTF's proposal can be found here:
File Name