New Downtown Calgary Arena

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by RicoLance21

Great news for Edmonton! Your miserable downtown will finally see the light!

Sadly, comments such as that make me wonder when you will.

[lubicon]

Originally Posted by RicoLance21

Great news for Edmonton! Your miserable downtown will finally see the light!

I am betting the shovels will be on the ground for construction of the new Calgary arena in 2015. Ready to move in by the 2017/18 season. Ba-da-bing-ba-da-boom!

just in time for the Flames next playoff appearance

[Cage]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

10-3 in favour for the Downtown Arena in Edmonton... over to you

WOOOOOOO

No prediction as to move in date for new Calgary Arena. I suspect that plans for the new arena will be presented immediately after the civic election. Included within the plans will be a bunch of me too clauses from the Edmonton's final deal. I think there will be two differences, (1) The Calgary deal will not have a cash outlay from the City, (2) The Calgary deal will have a way more property tax reduction request.

I don't think the Calgary Flames will present plans before civic eledction, otherwise this will just push the new arena to the top of the civic election discussion.

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

10-3 in favour for the Downtown Arena in Edmonton... over to you

WOOOOOOO

How soon will we hear that the new Edmonton arena is over-budget and behind schedule?

Followed by Katz and Council will continue fighting over who has to put up the extra $$ to get it finished.

[Pavlov]

Originally Posted by Cage

No prediction as to move in date for new Calgary Arena. I suspect that plans for the new arena will be presented immediately after the civic election. Included within the plans will be a bunch of me too clauses from the Edmonton's final deal. I think there will be two differences, (1) The Calgary deal will not have a cash outlay from the City, (2) The Calgary deal will have a way more property tax reduction request.

I don't think the Calgary Flames will present plans before civic eledction, otherwise this will just push the new arena to the top of the civic election discussion.

In terms of timing, that certainly makes sense.

[speedog]

So Edmonton has an arena deal in place although it appears to be a deal dependent on at least one unknown so far ($25 million that Edmonton is counting on getting from the province’s regional collaboration grant). A read of this article, link, (take it for what it is) seems to make this deal like a precarious house of cards with the Katz group carrying the smallest risk.

So in reality, what does this mean to the average Edmonton tax payer? How long to pay off the up-front money (loans) needed to make this all work? And what of the very real Northlands risk to the city.

No doubt, Calgary's new arena deal is on the foreseeable horizon but let's just hope that it's a bit more solid in it's base then what this Edmonton arena deal appears to be.

[monocle]

I'm getting out of here before you get scolded. We do not disparage our Capital!

[Luk_o]

Roger Millions from SportsNet did a small article on Calgary's new arena here from May 20th:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/m...dmontons-suit/

Nothing really new, still all speculation at this point - he does mention though that there are talks that concept plans could be revealed within the next two months (take that for what its worth). More and more hints from the article that the Flames want to get away from the Stampede grounds with the new development.

Really like the renderings for Edmontons new arena, here's hoping wherever it lands we get something as modern.

[RicoLance21]

Originally Posted by Luk_o

Roger Millions from SportsNet did a small article on Calgary's new arena here from May 20th:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/m...dmontons-suit/

Nothing really new, still all speculation at this point - he does mention though that there are talks that concept plans could be revealed within the next two months (take that for what its worth). More and more hints from the article that the Flames want to get away from the Stampede grounds with the new development.

Really like the renderings for Edmontons new arena, here's hoping wherever it lands we get something as modern.

Perhaps this is the way to build something as iconic as Edmonton's...to go far beyond "Stampitecture".

[Vercingetorix]

I'm not surprised at all by that. If they get away from the grounds, they get all the revenue, which I suspect is one of the main reasons they are building a new arena.

Originally Posted by Luk_o

Roger Millions from SportsNet did a small article on Calgary's new arena here from May 20th:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/m...dmontons-suit/

Nothing really new, still all speculation at this point - he does mention though that there are talks that concept plans could be revealed within the next two months (take that for what its worth). More and more hints from the article that the Flames want to get away from the Stampede grounds with the new development.

Really like the renderings for Edmontons new arena, here's hoping wherever it lands we get something as modern.

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by Vercingetorix

I'm not surprised at all by that. If they get away from the grounds, they get all the revenue, which I suspect is one of the main reasons they are building a new arena.

Also, city council will then have to make a call on taxes, but I doubt it will be a very big fight — if it remained on the grounds there would be no taxes anyways, so not a huge opprotunity cost. Not sure 100%, but I think currently the request for tax exemption would have to be sent to the provincial government.

[Innersoul1]

Interesting article for sure...nothing new, just a lot of journalism. But I am wondering, if the Flames were to leave Stampede Park do you think that the Stampede would keep the Saddledome? This would potentially mean two large arenas in the city that could host concerts. Would that be viable?

[Cage]

Originally Posted by Innersoul1

Interesting article for sure...nothing new, just a lot of journalism. But I am wondering, if the Flames were to leave Stampede Park do you think that the Stampede would keep the Saddledome? This would potentially mean two large arenas in the city that could host concerts. Would that be viable?

The Stampede does not own the Saddledome. The Saddledome is owned by City of Calgary through not-for-profit Saddledome Foundation. The Saddledome foundation Board consists of representatives from Calgary Flames, Stampede, and City of Calgary.

I suspect that if the Flames move to their own arena, the Saddledome will be handed over to Stampede association with the City retaining full ownership. IIRC the foundation only has about 8-12 employees and relies upon either the flames or stampede for management services.

[H.E.Pennypacker]

I think the Saddledome should be kept since it's been a pretty big landmark on the Stampede grounds and skyline for years now ... But it'd have to be retrofitted for some other use asides from an arena to make it practical, not sure what else they could use it for but the uniqueness of the structure could make for an interesting development to compliment the future Stampede Trail redevelopment

[Luk_o]

I would love to see the Saddledome be kept in operation after the new arena gets built. It would be awesome if the same type of situation in Vancouver with the Pacific Coliseum happened here, and the 'Dome became the home building for the Hitmen and other seasonal / Stampede functions.

[SubwayRev]

While I think it would be nice to have two arenas, we just do not have enough people to support two arenas of that size, just as Toronto, Montreal, Chicago, Boston, and LA don't.

Since the Flames own the Hitmen, (and the Roughnecks) there is no way they would have them play in somebody else's arena, where they'd have to pay, while their own shiny new building sat empty.

And the Stampede wouldn't want to keep a building that sits empty 355 nights each year.

[monocle]

Turn the Saddledom into a Western-themed Hotel/Integrated waterpark for an unbeatable staycation!

[Bassic Lab]

Originally Posted by SubwayRev

While I think it would be nice to have two arenas, we just do not have enough people to support two arenas of that size, just as Toronto, Montreal, Chicago, Boston, and LA don't.

Since the Flames own the Hitmen, (and the Roughnecks) there is no way they would have them play in somebody else's arena, where they'd have to pay, while their own shiny new building sat empty.

And the Stampede wouldn't want to keep a building that sits empty 355 nights each year.

All of those cities could, and often do, easily support two arenas. Hell, Los Angeles has the Staples Center, the Honda Center, and the Forum, which are all that size, along with a solid half dozen arenas in the 10 000-15 000 capacity range.

The biggest issue with retaining the Saddledome as an operating venue are its concert hosting flaws. If it weren't for poor acoustics and the problems with the roof supporting weight it would make a lot more sense.

[Doug_Cgy]

Originally Posted by Bassic Lab

All of those cities could, and often do, easily support two arenas. Hell, Los Angeles has the Staples Center, the Honda Center, and the Forum, which are all that size, along with a solid half dozen arenas in the 10 000-15 000 capacity range.

The biggest issue with retaining the Saddledome as an operating venue are its concert hosting flaws. If it weren't for poor acoustics and the problems with the roof supporting weight it would make a lot more sense.

Edmonton's also keeping Rexall Place

[SubwayRev]

Originally Posted by Bassic Lab

All of those cities could, and often do, easily support two arenas. Hell, Los Angeles has the Staples Center, the Honda Center, and the Forum, which are all that size, along with a solid half dozen arenas in the 10 000-15 000 capacity range.

But the Forum hasn't hosted an event in almost 15 years. I believe it is currently a church.

The difference in LA is that while the two arenas are in the same metro area, Anaheim and LA are different cities. The Honda Center serves Orange County and its 3,000,000 people, while the Staples Center serves LA County, and its 10,000,000 people. I just can't see Calgary being able to support two 20,000 person facilities with only 1,200,000 people.