So, we’re told, we need a new BC Place Stadium, common known in Vancouver as “the Dome”. Moreover, we the people should pay for it. I don’t think so. I recognize the need of government to help with some entertainment such as the Symphony, visual arts centres and the like but I have trouble equating that with a stadium for overpaid jocks to peddle their wares in.

I don’t entirely buy the argument that taxpayers generally should not have to pay for matters that happen in Vancouver. People from all over the province come to Vancouver and use the facilities there. In that sense everyone should pay. For example, Vancouver Hospital, which gets more tax money per capita than, say Prince George or Kamloops, must have funding from general revenue because in addition to being Vancouver’s hospital it is a referral hospital and is used around the province. However that question wouldn’t arise if I had my way.

The example we should look at is San Francisco. Largely with public money, Candlestick Park was built and became a glowing example of Mair’s Axiom I which says “you make a serious mistake in assuming that people in charge know what the hell they’re doing”. The sun shone in the outfielders eyes, it was in the windiest part of  the Bay area, it was too large and too far away. A new Stadium was needed.

Three times the Giants put the proposition to the public – three times it failed. The Giants were forced to look for private funds and they found Bell Pacific. The new group recognized that you don’t need  80,000 seats when you’ll never fill it. 40,000 was just right so a new, smaller ballpark was build called Bel-Pac was built. It was completed ahead of time and on budget. Everyone’s happy including the San Francisco Giants and the citizens of the Bay are.

David Braley, the owner of the Lions, wants to take over the stadium and deal with such improvement as are necessary including, I believe, building a new one. Sell the stadium to Mr. Braley then. Let those who need a stadium build it and run it.

In short, let professional sports pay for their play pen.