Statement by Mayor Eisenberger concerning the End of the Stadium Litigation
Hamilton, ON - Today the City of Hamilton reached a settlement agreement with the parties involved in the Tim Hortons Field litigation launched in 2016.
Council and I are pleased with the settlement, and with the work of our settlement team, the contractor, the Province of Ontario and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. They worked hard and in good faith to achieve this resolution with no additional costs for the stadium passed on to Hamilton taxpayers.
There are no outside legal costs associated with the litigation. The settlement was conducted using only internal City staff and no external counsel was retained.
As a result of the resolution, the City is on budget and has sufficient monies remaining to complete final works at the stadium.
The stadium was funded by the City, the province and a federal government as part of the 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games, and was meant to be delivered as a fully functioning stadium that residents and visitors could enjoy for years to come.
The stadium was scheduled to be complete on June 30, 2014, but was delivered to the City on May 7, 2015. Since taking over the stadium, the City has worked with the contractor on a number of completion and remediation works, including and not limited to an examination and remediation of all overhead speakers and other overhead fixtures, leak remediation, work on transformers, lighting controls, audio and visual systems, scoreboard upgrades, floor drains on the concourse levels, adjustments and repairs to various mechanical systems throughout the stadium. The parties involved in the stadium litigation have been in confidential settlement negotiations since early 2016.
This resolution concludes on a positive note a chapter in the city’s history and allows us now to move forward to refocus on enjoyment of the stadium and all of the wonderful sporting, cultural and community events still to come. For example, this clears the way for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, in partnership with the City, to work together to secure a Grey Cup for the people of Hamilton and again showcase our great city to the entire country. It also clears the way for major league soccer to possibly come to our city for the benefit of all.
I wish to thank Ted McMeekin MPP, the Province and all the parties involved for bringing about this resolution.