Surrey's mayor has a vision for a new 12,000-seat venue

The mayor of Surrey, B.C., says the "groundwork has already begun" on a new 12,000-seat stadium or arena in the city.

Brenda Locke made the announcement at a state of the city address on Thursday, while an economic and feasibility study for a new venue to host sports and entertainment events launched on Friday.

The mayor also said the city is planning two new entertainment districts — one in the city centre and another in Cloverdale.

In her first state of the city address, Locke said her council is committed to bringing more entertainment options to Surrey.

"We know our residents want this," Locke told CBC's On the Coast Friday. "We've talked to them enough in all kinds of public forums to know that they want that entertainment to be right here in Surrey."

The city has earmarked three potential locations for a new venue: the Chuck Bailey Recreation Centre, a site in the Newton neighbourhood, and the Cloverdale Fairgrounds.

It's not yet clear how much a new facility will cost.

Following the announcement, some questioned whether a 12,000-seat venue is an ideal fit for B.C.'s second-most populous city.

The B.C. Lions, who have their football operations office and practice facility in Surrey, appeared to have been caught off guard by the announcement, saying in a statement that it was not aware of the plans until they were announced on Thursday.

Duane Vienneau, the CFL club's chief operating officer, said a stadium with a seating capacity of 12,000 wouldn't be large enough to host Lions home games, but the team is eager to learn more.

The B.C. Lions have a practice facility in Surrey, B.C., seen here in a 2013 photo. The CFL team said a 12,000-seat stadium wouldn't be large enough to host Lions home games. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

"We really just need to understand better what they're intending to do," Vienneau said. "And if it means upgrading ... our practice facility as a part of that development, then we're all ears."

Venue a 'vanity pet project,' says councillor

Surrey's previous mayor, Doug McCallum, promised a 60,000-seat venue ahead of the 2022 municipal election, which he lost to Locke.

In a statement from the Safe Surrey Coalition, McCallum called the notion of a 12,000-seat venue "short-sighted."

"Surrey deserves a facility that mirrors its global aspirations and dynamic growth, not a small-minded, out of touch lacklustre plan that undermines our potential," McCallum said. "Surrey is not just a suburb of Vancouver; it is the city of tomorrow, ready to host the world."

He is calling for a stadium with a capacity of least 40,000 on city-owned land at 168 Street and Fraser Highway next to the new SkyTrain station.

Coun. Mandeep Nagra, with the Safe Surrey Coalition, said he is concerned Locke is going to cancel plans to build a new community centre in Newton and redirect those funds toward a new venue he called a "vanity pet project."

'Is this the time for the City of Surrey?' asks professor

Meg Holden, a professor of urban studies and geography at Simon Fraser University, also had questions about venue capacity, saying it might be worth looking at expanding a facility over time.

"Can we do this in a way that it can scale up?" Holden said. "A 12,000-seat stadium is a little bit of a strange number. The university stadiums would probably be a little smaller. The major stadiums would be quite a bit bigger."

Locke said there is potential for a venue with a larger capacity.

"It may well be larger than 12,000 seats," she said. "We don't know but certainly we're going to do our due diligence and make sure we do it right."

Holden says other aspects such as public transportation and public-private partnership also need to be considered for the project to be successful.

"It's a massive cost and is this the time for the City of Surrey to be sinking all of that money and all of that sort of public confidence into something that is not built for the taxpayers today but built for the promise of future investment or future activities?"