Cgy Flames unveil $890M downtown arena/stadium plan

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sj-roc
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Been talked about in the last few years but now it's a step close to fruition: new downtown digs for the Stampeders are on the horizon.

http://calgaryherald.com/sports/hockey/ ... adium-plan
Flames reveal details of $890M downtown arena-stadium plan
Annalise Klingbeil, Calgary Herald
Trevor Howell, Calgary Herald
Published on: August 18, 2015 | Last Updated: August 18, 2015 1:05 PM MDT

The Calgary Flames organization wants to build an ambitious $890-million hockey arena and events centre, as well as a football stadium with a roof on property west of downtown, the club officially announced on Tuesday.

Ending years of speculation, Flames CEO Ken King introduced his plans for a new mega-sports complex, which he hopes will one day replace both the 32-year-old Scotiabank Saddledome and 55-year-old McMahon Stadium.

The $890-million budget would be paid from four sources — a $240-million community revitalization levy, a $250-million ticket tax, $200 million from the city to fund the fieldhouse, and a $200-million contribution from the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation, the Flames’ ownership group.

“I’m so happy to share this vision. It’s going to be a little different than people think,” said King on his way into a Tuesday morning event introducing the plans to season ticket holders.

The development, dubbed ‘CalgaryNEXT,’ is proposed for land west of downtown, in the community of Sunalta, near an existing Greyhound bus station, auto dealership and a recently built LRT station.

King said it was “dumb luck” that Sunalta LRT was built near the proposed West Village site but “it works perfectly.”

At the session for ticket holders on Tuesday morning, King described the project as a “live, work, play project” that is on par with something you would see in New York.

The football stadium would be housed inside a sports field house, and the project would include a regulation sized FIFA soccer pitch, and a track. In total, the facility will be almost 1.4 million square feet.

King has been working on plans for a new arena concept since at least 2007. In mid-March, the concept was relayed to city council in a closed-door session.

For months, the plans have remained a tightly guarded secret.

Media are scheduled to be officially briefed on the plans this afternoon.

The entire development is proposed for several blocks in the West Village that has long presented an environmental headache to the city and developers.

Much of the area is contaminated from a former creosote plant. The project’s price-tag does not include the costs of remediating environmental contamination on the site.

Previous estimates have put the cleanup costs at between $50 million and $300 million, and a city-owned agency is in the process of hiring a consultant to review previous reports and study the scope of environmental contamination in the area.

Nenshi and council unanimously oppose direct taxpayer subsidies for professional sports buildings, and King tried to head off talk of a massive funding request in a radio station interview earlier this year.

Premier Rachel Notley said publicly this week she would keep an “open mind” about funding for the professional sports facilities.

Edmonton’s $480-million Rogers Place, the new home for the Oilers, is being constructed without direct provincial investment.

More to come …
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dtrain
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Good to hear for Stamps/CFl fans, I was wondering when Calgary would take action on their outdated facility.
The only thing that seemed odd was stating that the stadium would have a roof, no mention of it being retractable.
I can't see a covered football stadium being attractive to Calgarians.
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dtrain wrote:Good to hear for Stamps/CFl fans, I was wondering when Calgary would take action on their outdated facility.
The only thing that seemed odd was stating that the stadium would have a roof, no mention of it being retractable.
I can't see a covered football stadium being attractive to Calgarians.
its a translucent canopy ... hockey rink looks like it has one too
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DanoT
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Oil prices and the layoffs in the oil patch and in Calgary, a tumbling Canadian dollar and economy tells me that this is still a long way from becoming a reality.
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Toppy Vann
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DanoT wrote:Oil prices and the layoffs in the oil patch and in Calgary, a tumbling Canadian dollar and economy tells me that this is still a long way from becoming a reality.
They must feel their funding sources are realistic OR it's good enough to go to trial balloon stage. These guys aren't dumb.

Not sure what the community revitalization source is? Is that gov't? In that case, that'd be a stretch for sure these days. Edtmn is not getting gov $$$ so no precedent there.
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fyi
Screenshot 2015-08-18 20.03.33.png
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Lions4ever
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Thing looks like a glorified high school/small college stadium. And a track around it? Good grief, that's a terrible concept. Pass on that thing and stay at aged, decrepit McMahon.
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Lions4ever wrote:Thing looks like a glorified high school/small college stadium. And a track around it? Good grief, that's a terrible concept. Pass on that thing and stay at aged, decrepit McMahon.
Its a multipurpose "field house" in the offseason. Seats fully retract.
There is apparently a massive two-deck grandstand on the side (20,000 seats) you can't see so everyone can look at the river. And the 10,000 retractable stands your looking at.
I'm sure the design will change 100 times before and if it is built.
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Here is what it will look like in the offseason ... view from other direction
Screenshot 2015-08-18 21.16.13.png
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aklawitter
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This won't be fun to drive to other than LRT.
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Toppy Vann
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Qman wrote:Here is what it will look like in the offseason ... view from other direction
Screenshot 2015-08-18 21.16.13.png
Will this be like Swanguard with the 400 metre track between fans and the sidelines? If yes, that's lousy.
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Toppy Vann wrote:
Qman wrote:Here is what it will look like in the offseason ... view from other direction
Screenshot 2015-08-18 21.16.13.png
Will this be like Swanguard with the 400 metre track between fans and the sidelines? If yes, that's lousy.
no thats the offseason setup. The stands roll out over the track during football season.
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David
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If I were a current Stampeder season ticket holder, this design would not be my first choice. Fine for October and November - perhaps even for their annual preseason 'deluge' in late June, but I can't see Calgarians gathering en masse in a covered stadium - translucent or otherwise - in July and August. The track is a definite (as they want to make it a year-round facility), and I've heard no tailgating - which is one of the big drawing cards for McMahon.

The rendering shows a rather short grandstand. This would be side that backs onto the Bow River. Apparently, there is a town bylaw that prevents buildings from casting a shadow over the Bow. However, the opposite side would be considerably taller (that would include the luxury suites etc.).

On a scale of "burn the blueprints!" to "let's to turn the sod now!," I'd give it a "go back to the drawing board." Especially for a nearly $1B complex.


DH :cool:
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Qman
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David wrote:If I were a current Stampeder season ticket holder, this design would not be my first choice. Fine for October and November - perhaps even for their annual preseason 'deluge' in late June, but I can't see Calgarians gathering en masse in a covered stadium - translucent or otherwise - in July and August. The track is a definite (as they want to make it a year-round facility), and I've heard no tailgating - which is one of the big drawing cards for McMahon.

The rendering shows a rather short grandstand. This would be side that backs onto the Bow River. Apparently, there is a town bylaw that prevents buildings from casting a shadow over the Bow. However, the opposite side would be considerably taller (that would include the luxury suites etc.).

On a scale of "burn the blueprints!" to "let's to turn the sod now!," I'd give it a "go back to the drawing board." Especially for a nearly $1B complex.


DH :cool:
its kinds like putting 30000 seats inside the Richmond Oval
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B.C.FAN
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David wrote:If I were a current Stampeder season ticket holder, this design would not be my first choice. Fine for October and November - perhaps even for their annual preseason 'deluge' in late June, but I can't see Calgarians gathering en masse in a covered stadium - translucent or otherwise - in July and August. The track is a definite (as they want to make it a year-round facility), and I've heard no tailgating - which is one of the big drawing cards for McMahon.

The rendering shows a rather short grandstand. This would be side that backs onto the Bow River. Apparently, there is a town bylaw that prevents buildings from casting a shadow over the Bow. However, the opposite side would be considerably taller (that would include the luxury suites etc.).

On a scale of "burn the blueprints!" to "let's to turn the sod now!," I'd give it a "go back to the drawing board." Especially for a nearly $1B complex.


DH :cool:
With Calgary's high elevation and unpredictable year-round weather, a covered stadium seems ideal, especially if they let in lots of natural light as this one seems to do. The new stadiums in Regina and Winnipeg would have been covered if the budget allowed it. I'm not sure of the site constraints but I'd rather see the structure turned 90 degrees to allow two tiers of stands on each side and a full view of the river for everyone from the north end zone.
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