A new Halifax pop-up stadium at Wanderers Grounds is approaching its debut, a reminder of professional soccer’s forthcoming arrival to the city.
Starting next year, Halifax will be the home of HFX Wanderers–a club in the upstart Canadian Premier League. The club will be operated by Sports & Entertainment Atlantic, which is led by Derek Martin, and begin play in 2019 at a stadium on the Wanderers Grounds.
While 2019 will mark the arrival of a professional soccer tenant to the Wanderers Ground, a pop-up stadium will be put to use this summer and fall for events. The pop-up concept allows for the 6,000-plus seat stadium to be assembled at the site, and be dissembled once its event schedule for the year concludes. Work has been underway for the stadium’s first event this coming Saturday, a rugby test match between Canada and U.S.A. More from StarMetro Halifax:
Sports & Entertainment Atlantic will host a series of eight rugby, soccer and football games on the Wanderers Grounds this summer and fall before the HFX Wanderers start using the site next year. As it’s a temporary stadium, the seating will be removed at the end of each year.
On Wednesday morning, a few rugby players were practising while the grounds were being mowed and workers completed the elevated VIP platforms.
“We are looking at this event as a really exciting chance to kick off a dream that we’ve had now for a few years, to bring this site back to life and give Halifax a stadium, and here we are now and we’ve got one,” said Derek Martin, president of SEA, who gave StarMetro a tour of the grounds.
The grounds will accommodate 6,200 spectators for Saturday’s rugby game, and as of Wednesday Martin said only 300 tickets are left. He expects they’ll sell out before the weekend.
HFX Wanderers was announced by the CPL last month, and will be a charter member when the league launches in 2019.
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