Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Stadium Now: Beckham, soccer, and a stadium

John Kostiuk of Stadium Now took some time yesterday to share his thoughts on the upcoming L.A. Galaxy game and how it demonstrates the obvious need for the Whitecaps Waterfront Stadium. David Beckham and the Galaxy will face the Whitecaps at B.C. Place on Wednesday, Nov.7 at 7PM. Ticket information can be found here.

From Stadium Now:

It was announced today that David Beckham and the LA Galaxy will be here November 7 to play the Vancouver Whitecaps FC at BC Place.

So what does this post have to do with the Vancouver Whitecaps FC efforts to build a soccer specific stadium in downtown Vancouver? Burnaby is currently home to the Vancouver Whitecaps FC as they play their games out of Swangard Stadium; however, its capacity is limited to 5,288 fans and the team does not own the stadium - with all the limitations that entails.

The more than 40,000 tickets sold so far for an exhibition game are one example of the potential for soccer in the city of Vancouver. While Burnaby has been a good host for the Whitecaps it is time to bring the team home.

Whether it is easy access to numerous modes of public transit, the ability for residents and workers downtown to walk to the stadium, and a host of other benefits - the viable option is to build the Whitecaps Waterfront Stadium downtown, not in the suburbs.

Where a parking lot now stands lies the opportunity to open up the waterfront to residents and visitors alike - and that’s a step forward.

It is time to match the facility with the demand and build a world class stadium. If we had that already the Beckham game could have been a regular season game instead of a one off.

John Kostiuk

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