Fans of the Ottawa Charge continue to be outspoken as future plans for a new arena at Lansdowne Park could leave thousands out in the cold.
Fans of the Ottawa Charge continue to be outspoken as future plans for a new arena at Lansdowne Park could leave thousands out in the cold.
After recent reporting by the Ottawa Citizen, the topic of a smaller arena at Lansdowne Place in Ottawa, which will exclude more than 1,000 PWHL fans per game in the city, has again sparked outcry and concern from frans.
"Sean Moore, director of the Lansdowne redevelopment, may be correct in saying (hoping?) that Ottawa Charge attendance will “work itself out” — right out of Ottawa, perhaps, as other cities continue to push hard for a PWHL franchise," wrote one individual in a letter to the editor published by the Ottawa Citizen.
The letter to the editor was in response to reporting by Citizen journalist Bruce Deachman.
According to Deachman, Sean Moore, the city's director of the Lansdowne Park redevelopment project seemed to be predicting the downfall of interest in the Charge.
At the meeting Moore stated he was “confident that that the facilities we’re bringing to them are state-of-the-art, and they want to stay at Lansdowne, and over time, the attendance will — it’s a new league — and the attendance will work itself out.”
As Deachman wrote, Moore "seems to be predicting that attendance at PWHL games will fall, or is it that attendance will “work itself out” because the arena will only hold so many people, so that’s how many will be able to go to games? Either way, it’s not a particularly ringing endorsement of the Charge."
The overall redevelopment project carries a $419.1-million price tag, which has been another element residents have voiced concern over.