9 November 2007
Stadium Slow, But 'Caps Look at MLS
Vancouver British Columbia - The Whitecaps Waterfront
Stadium proposal won't return to Vancouver city council until the new year.
Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi said the city council update is "on the backburner" until a land deal is reached with the
Vancouver Port Authority.
"We're hoping by the end of the year that deal can be done," Lenarduzzi said.
Two years ago, the Whitecaps announced their intention to build a 15,000-seat stadium atop railway tracks north of
Waterfront Station.
New plans were revealed last January showing the stadium site extending over the SeaBus terminal and into Coal Harbour.
City council gave unanimous, conditional approval in July 2006 to the project, which would be privately financed by
media-shy Whitecaps' owner Greg Kerfoot.
The B.C. Major Projects Inventory lists the estimated cost at $75 million.
Meanwhile, Lenarduzzi said the Whitecaps could host another international match at B.C. Place Stadium with a high-profile
box office draw.
Wednesday's scoreless exhibition with David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy drew 48,172.
"What this game has done for us is it's resulted in us perhaps seeking out those kinds of opportunities that we might not have
done," he said. "We've heightened our credibility, if it needed heightening, in North America."
The possibility of the Whitecaps joining the Galaxy in Major League Soccer, which may expand to Seattle for 2009, hinges upon the new
stadium being built, Lenarduzzi said.
For now, the club is committed to the United Soccer Leagues' First Division.
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