The media is all over the opening of the new BC Place Stadium today: live TV and radio shows, endless highlights, interviews with PavCo officials, etc.

But all the pretty pictures in the world can’t change the fact that this renovation cost taxpayers $563 million. To put that number in perspective:

• You could build a new St. Paul’s Hospital for that price tag
• You could build 40 Empire Field stadiums for that price tag
• You could build two brand-new Rogers Arenas for that price tag (and the original Rogers Arena was privately funded!)
• You could balance the 2013-14 provincial budget for that price tag
• You could build 38 new elementary schools for that price tag

This half a billion dollars came just after BC spent billions on Olympic facilities. That’s a lot of athletic welfare on the taxpayers’ dime.

Making matters even worse for taxpayers is the fact that Vancouver Whitecaps owner Greg Kerfoot was willing to build a waterfront stadium on his own dime, but Vancouver City Hall wasn’t interested. Vancouver City Hall has been a problem for taxpayers on this file twice—first dooming the Kerfoot stadium and then killing the proposed BC Place casino and hotel which would have raised revenue to pay for stadium retrofit.

I’m a huge sports fan. I love the Vancouver Canucks, the BC Lions and the NFL, but this is a question of priorities. Were there no cheaper options? Did PavCo need to go the Cadillac route? Is a 52,000 seat stadium guaranteed to host just ten CFL games and 18 MLS games a year really worth it? Will it ever break even, let alone turn a profit?

For an in-depth review of the history of BC Place Stadium, check out the Vancouver Courier’s story here.