It's no big secret that the Vancouver Whitecaps are in the market for a piece of land with which to build their clubhouse and training facilities on. Multiple local news papers have been reporting that their respective community leaders have been in talks with the Whitecaps front office with regards to a national training and development facility.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
...but time is of the essence...
When asked about the current training facility situation, Bob Lenarduzzi was quoted as saying "The timeline was yesterday. We would like to conclude something as soon as possible.”
I'm sick of hearing about how Fiorintina and AC Milan are playing in Montreal and Philadelphia, or Everton going all over hells half acre and we get nobody because we don't have the proper facilities to host them.
These are only potential sites at this point, I also threw in a bonus of the proposed Delta Facility that was shot down earlier this year!
8 Rinks Sports Complex, Burnaby
-Word on the street is that this is one of the front runners for the $31 million project. The trip lasts 48 minutes via public transit from BC Place which I randomly chose as a central landmark for anyone downtown. Ideally the most direct route of driving is supposed to take you around 20 minutes. That's according to Google Maps Directions, and I'm sure we all know that it's not always the most accurate source. I think you could probably shave 5 minutes off the drive if you took Venables for as long as possible through the higher traffic zones as you went east from the city.
Burnaby Lake is actually in The Central Valley Corridor at the bottom of Burnaby Mountain (aka Suicide Hill) on the North. Swangard, Metrotown, and Central Park sit to the South at the top of another ridge.
It rained up at SFU for just about every Whitecaps PDL game last year, it's miserable up there in the spring. As far as housing the pdl, youth teams, and most of the women's team, SFU is probably the best deal around. There is a bus that could take the players from SFU Residence down to Production Way train station and then transit isn't too bad from there on out. There's a bit of a walk from Sperling Skytrain Station though.
Supposedly the ground isn't all that great for building on down in the valley since it's so damp. Beyond that the Mayor of Burnaby has said that city council isn't all that keen on selling the land to a private interest group as it is heavily used by the public. In a column by Wanda Chow, of The Burnaby NewsLeader, Burnaby's Mayor Derek Corrigan went so far as to say "“It would be unlikely we would sell to a private interest, but never say never.”
Delta Site at Hwy 91 and Hwy 10
- Of all the options it was probably the best land to build on as far as building foundations for structures, the overall terrain, and usable topsoil is concerned. Burnaby Lakes is in a river valley, and well... it rains here alot. Especially at the top of the mountain that drains into the valley where the club is persuing. Richmond is in a river delta and the soil is incredibly sandy, construction costs would be higher then at Hwys 90 and 10. Lastly Surrey is a heavily developed piece of land. I would imagine that a large portion of the costs to developing this land further would have to do with demolition of buildings and facilities.
As far as travel goes...while it was at a fairly major crossroads, the Delta Facility would have received a fail. It's too far from the airport to even bother calculating, It's a 30 minute drive from BC place. I would have to imagine that those are in ideal circumstances. Those ideal times are rare. Bridge and tunnel traffic is a nightmare, and one of the most frequent causes of congestion on the city's major routes. Transit doesn't really run anywhere near the location either. That would certainly make things very difficult for youth players to get to the facility from Simon Fraser.
Garden City Park in Richmond
- With regards to the project Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie said he was unaware of any discussions involving the Whitecaps. But according to the Richmond Review, they are in the running. While Richmond is fairly flat, the soil composition is pretty sandy. Apparently it's a pain in the rear to build there. From what I've been told, if there was ever an earthquake in Vancouver, Richmond would be screwed. Supposedly buildings would just sink into the sand. I don't know how much validity there is to this, but its kind of a neat visual to picture a bunch of leaning tower of Pisa style buildings. I like the Richmond location the most of all the potential spots for a couple reasons though. It is incredibly close to the Airport. A mere 13 minute drive. Transit also runs from the airport to within walking distance of the site.
The facilities that were once the Olympic Oval have now been transformed into a fitness facility so clearly Richmond has health and well being on the mind these days.
The proximity to the airport would make travel arrangements way easier for everyone. Trialists could stay in any number of the hotels that line Hwy 99. If the club housed its youth players in the neighbourhood on the Canada Line between Broadway City Hall, and Olympic Village (where they housed their USSF D2 squad last year) they would be on the transit line and it would be just over a 30 minute journey for them on the Canada Line to Lansdowne Station, and then just a short walk.
Cloverdale Exhibition Grounds
-Surrey is far from everything. It would be a 44 minute drive under perfect conditions. Again those perfect conditions are rare. Cars coming from Mapleridge, Langley and Pitt Medows always cause chaos from the Mary Hill Bypass till the Burnaby/Coquitlam boarder. That's a crappy chunk of road to travel during rush hour, but luckily training sessions would likely go against the flow of traffic, but rubberneckers are always a pain. It is incredibly far from the airport and it's an hour and a half from Stadium Skytrain Station via transit. The land is already heavily developed. Beyond that there's not a whole lot going on in Surrey these days. In my eyes it's the least realistic of the 3 sites.
So those are your main candidates for potential locations of the Whitecaps and National Training Facility, what do you think?