Langford wants to be the home for sports in Greater Victoria, and it鈥檚 making yet another push to make that a reality. Given its history, don鈥檛 bet against this play.
This time, the municipality has a plan to expand Westhills Stadium to 8,000 seats, from 1,718, in hopes of attracting some high-level games and teams. That would make it bigger than Centennial Stadium at the University of Victoria, which has 5,000 seats.
As usual, Mayor Stew Young is leading the charge.
鈥淲e need this in the region,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he metro region is now around 400,000 people.
鈥淲e are going after sports. If you don鈥檛 set the goal, you鈥檒l never do it. Let鈥檚 do it.鈥�
For about $5 million, the region would get a facility capable of holding sa国际传媒 Lions CFL exhibition games and international soccer and rugby matches, as well as the events already using the field.
Young predicts that as soon as some power poles on one side of the field can be moved, work can begin.
Finding enough parking space and enough money will be issues, but Young is confident it can be done. With $60聽million worth of recreational facilities already built in the municipality, his confidence seems well-placed.
The city should be sure that the facility will be used often enough to justify the expenditure, so those 8,000聽seats don鈥檛 sit empty. However, if there is one thing Langford is good at, it鈥檚 turning ideas into buildings.
