Stadium renovations millions short

Hamilton city councillors are meeting this afternoon to discuss a possible $54 million shortfall in funding for the proposed Pan Am stadium.

A staff report shows renovating Ivor Wynne to meet the needs of both the games and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats will cost between $156 and $174 million — $54 million more than what’s currently on the table from all levels of government.

Hamilton city councillors voted unanimously a little less than two weeks ago to have city staff look into renovating Ivor Wynne instead of building a new stadium. That was after a last minute pitch by Mayor Bob Bratina and Ticats owner Bob Young.

A 5,000 seat stadium at the city’s original west harbour site is also still an option, but it would leave the Tiger-Cats out in the cold.

All other stadium locations proposed in Hamilton over the last two years have been dropped for various reasons, and Toronto 2015 has asked other cities to be ready with proposals for their February 1 deadline if Hamilton can’t decide on a feasible location.

Marvin Ryder from the DeGroote School of Business looks at the situation: