Pacific FC, Starlight Stadium and the cost of stadium expansion
For a topic we were going to go to a referendum on not long ago, this one has been surprisingly absent from any election campaign talk that I've seen unless you count candidates that have been more generally campaigning to peoples' interest in sport.
To summarize, Stew Young and his previous council approved paying $4.25 million to move a hydro pole as part of plans to eventually expand Starlight Stadium to 10,000 seats from the current 6,000. The pole was moved in 2023.
It was said that back in 2022 proposals for that expansion were received with estimates ranging from $10.4 million to $14.6 million. Langford was to hold a referendum to give all residents a say borrowing the money necessary:
https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/langford-to-hold-referendum-on-expanding-starlight-stadium-8297564
At the time I recall some vocal opponents of council including Lisa Foxall (who is currently running for council) as supporting the expansion and disputing that money would need to be borrowed. I haven't seen comments from Young himself or other council candidates to know where they might stand and whether they feel a referendum would need to take place on any city dollars that would need to be involved.
My concern personally has always been that I'm not convinced the need for an expansion has been demonstrated. This year Pacific FC, who I think put out an excellent entertainment product, averaged less than 3000 fans per game and didn't have one game at Starlight reach 4000 fans.
Does anyone have any more current information on this topic? It seems we're at a time to make a major directional choice for the city and I'm wondering if this project is still potentially on the table and something we need to get candidates' current views on?