Wanderers president pitches $100M privately funded stadium, wants 99-year leases in Halifax and Dartmouth

Halifax Wanderers president Derek Martin went to regional council on Tuesday with a proposal to build a permanent soccer stadium at the Wanderers Grounds and a year-round practice facility in Dartmouth, paid for privately, in exchange for 99-year leases on both pieces of municipal land. Council has not made a decision.

Martin is asking for a total capital spend of $100 million and told council he has financing secured. He is proposing to carry the risk on both sites and keep the revenue they generate.

The Halifax piece is a permanent artificial turf stadium on the Wanderers Grounds, holding 10,500 for sports and 17,500 for concerts, with fixed seating, a permanent concert stage and solar panels over the stands. The field would be reoriented north to south, the alignment FIFA recommends, using part of the Museum of Natural History parking lot to make room. Underneath the structure, Martin is promising 650 parking spaces at ground level for people using the QEII, arguing in his presentation that Nova Scotians who need the hospital should be able to find a spot. The proposal also leaves room for a winter bubble dome and an extended field for Canadian football.

The Dartmouth piece is a practice facility on Maybank Field, city land near Mic Mac Mall, which would include a flag football field.

The timeline Martin laid out is tight. He wants a council decision in November, ground broken at both sites in January, the Dartmouth facility open in May 2027 and the stadium open in May 2028.

The ask lands roughly a year after municipal staff brought council three redevelopment options for the Wanderers Block, ranging from $116.2 million for an 8,000-seat stadium with a second Halifax Lancers riding arena to $122.6 million for a 7,100-seat north-south stadium with two riding arenas and a larger conservatory. Council ordered a financial feasibility assessment rather than picking one.

Martin has argued since then that a cheaper option exists and is being left out of the conversation, pointing back to the 8,500-seat, $40-million plan he brought to a council committee in September 2023. He has also said publicly this summer that the club has about one more attempt at the Wanderers Grounds before it starts looking at sites elsewhere.

The club’s board has Hamilton connections that matter here. Tiger-Cats owner Bob Young and executive vice-president Doug Rye both sit as directors of the Wanderers FC. Young’s Hamilton Sports Group, which has several minority investors, negotiated funding from the City of Hamilton about a decade ago for the Ticats’ 23,200-seat, $146-million stadium.

The Wanderers have played at the Wanderers Grounds since 2019 in what was always described as a pop-up, a venue with rented bleachers, no permanent washrooms and no running water on site. Capacity there went from 6,500 to 7,500 for the 2025 season. The grounds sit on the Halifax Common, which is why a private stadium on the site has been contested every time it has come up.