Calgary city council approves arena deal (UPD: new deal upcoming?)

[Cellee]

If Calgary wants zero Federal dollars they can host whatever they want.

Canada is all set on Olympic hosting.

Build your own facilities, Calgary.

 

[Cellee]

For every dollar we spend we are getting 10 back ..... I also think a new arena will somehow transpire out of this ...

Zero actual truth in that.

 

[muddywaters]

I think Calgary could use some of our federal dollars right now ... this country has been using us as an ATM machine for years , we want to make a withdrawal and use a little bit of it to spend on ourselves right now .. I don’t see the problem ....

 

[CorbeauNoir]

I think Calgary could use some of our federal dollars right now ... this country has been using us as an ATM machine for years , we want to make a withdrawal and use a little bit of it to spend on ourselves right now .. I don’t see the problem ....

Thank goodness Calgarians are exempt from paying federal taxes and we're not just getting our own money thrown back at us.

If the feds actually want to help us out in a productive way they should use the legislative powers they have at their disposal to strongarm the infrastructure they have already forced us to buy into getting built. But why do that when they can just throw us this shiny two-week-long trinket a decade down the road and you'll paw at it like a distracted cat instead?

 

[Mightygoose]

Today is Plebiscite which will all but decide if this bid is moving forward.

What if Calgary says 'No' to the 2026 Olympics? - NEWS 1130

COMMENTARY: What if Calgary says yes to 2026 Olympic bid?

Polling hours are from 8 am to 8 pm local time (10 am to 10 pm EST). One result will be posted once available

Afterwards, it will go to council likely on November 19 for a final decision either way. A 'No' result mean that meeting will be very short.

 

[Llama19]

And...the New York Times has weighed in...

Does Calgary Really Want the Winter Olympics? Does Anyone?

To quote:

"“The International Olympic Committee does worry me and keep me up a bit at night,” [Calgary Mayor Naheed] Nenshi said. “But this is an outstanding deal for Calgary.”

Calgary hired Ernst & Young to crunch its numbers. I sat in a council meeting as its sober gentlemen took us skipping through the numbers, all of which — miracle! — added up in favor of the bid.

I nosed about afterward on the internet and noticed that Ernst & Young had served as a richly compensated “exclusive provider” to the Rio Olympics. Previous Olympic cities, Ernst & Young noted in a news release, had seen arenas turn into white elephants. Not Rio, no no. “We have established sustainable postgame use for facilities” through a regimen of good governance and finance, the release said.

Two years later, Rio de Janeiro is stuck with a rumbling herd of white elephants, Olympic pools filled with rat feces, and a burned and collapsed velodrome and wrecked arenas."

Source: www.nytimes.com/2018/11/12/sports/calgary-winter-olympics.html

 

[CorbeauNoir]

"Thanks for locking your municipal budget into this black hole, suckers - we'll let you know just how "great" a deal this is for you the day after!"

 

[Mightygoose]

Polls are closing now.

I expect this to be very close, results will be posted on the Calgary Votes 2018 site

Vote 2018 results

Will probably be another hour or two before the results are made available.

 

[Mightygoose]

Plebiscite defeated handly. 56.4% No.

Calgary votes against 2026 Olympic bid after unofficial results - Sportsnet.ca

It is an unofficial result but lopsided enough that it won't pass council and no last minute deal can be done. Should die officially in council on Monday.

 

[Mightygoose]

New Events Centre estimated 550-600 million

New events centre in Calgary would be ‘bigger than a hockey story’: city councillor

City manager says 300 million is available for mega projects, weather some or all towards the arena is TBA. Using funds from a CRL mentioned but not sure if that's includes or over and above.

Council will meet on January 28 on more detailed economic impact and financing options.

 

[DowntownBooster]

^^^We all knew it was only a matter of time before the City of Calgary would move forward on this.

 

[Cellee]

My finances are impacted by the over priced NHL

 

[cbcwpg]

NHL arena back on City's priority list - 660 City NEWS

 

[2023FriendshipTour]

It will get done. That part of town needs to revamped and there's lots of land around to do it... The economic benefit is there in the long run when you factor in the whole development around the arena. Even Edmonton was able to transform part of there downtown into something respectable with the arena development.

 

[Yukon Joe]

It will get done. That part of town needs to revamped and there's lots of land around to do it... The economic benefit is there in the long run when you factor in the whole development around the arena. Even Edmonton was able to transform part of there downtown into something respectable with the arena development.

Edmonton's downtown and Calgary's downtown are not really comparable. One is quite well developed - the other is not.

I'm not quite sure why the Victoria Park area needs hundreds of millions of government dollars in order to be redeveloped. That area seems like it's on its way to being developed privately.

 

[Melrose Munch]

It will get done. That part of town needs to revamped and there's lots of land around to do it... The economic benefit is there in the long run when you factor in the whole development around the arena. Even Edmonton was able to transform part of there downtown into something respectable with the arena development.

you said the other dead would get done too. nothing is guaranteed.

 

[Hockeyholic]

League could survive without Calgary. Solid, not great, hockey market.

 

[SeanConn]

This is honestly crap, Saddledome is great, it can be tweaked, building can be put off even another 10 years, and build something truly for the future. Demolishing Saddledome would be a severe and drastic change to the Calgary skyline, and it needs to be saved no matter what the Flames decide to do with their hockey arena.

 

[Yukon Joe]

This is honestly crap, Saddledome is great, it can be tweaked, building can be put off even another 10 years, and build something truly for the future. Demolishing Saddledome would be a severe and drastic change to the Calgary skyline, and it needs to be saved no matter what the Flames decide to do with their hockey arena.

Saddledome can not be tweaked. It's problems are structural. There are too few lower bowl seats (which sell for the most $). Luxury boxes are limited. There are none of the loge seats / restaurant seating options arenas like to utilize. Concourses are crowded. And the darn roof has terrible acoustics and makes for lousy site lines from the upper most seats.

Now it's not like the Saddledome is going to collapse into the earth. And it's not as if the Flames don't still make money. But that doesn't take away from the Dome's obvious flaws either.

 

[2023FriendshipTour]

Edmonton's downtown and Calgary's downtown are not really comparable. One is quite well developed - the other is not.

I'm not quite sure why the Victoria Park area needs hundreds of millions of government dollars in order to be redeveloped. That area seems like it's on its way to being developed privately.

There isn't too much around the dome. You're a good 15 + minute walk or more till you hit any major hot spots.. Other than the Casino/Cowboys.

 

[Yukon Joe]

There isn't too much around the dome. You're a good 15 + minute walk or more till you hit any major hot spots.. Other than the Casino/Cowboys.

That's because those are the Stampede grounds. If you want to redevelop that land you'd have to move the Stampede.

As I understand it the new proposal is to locate the new arena just to the north of the stampede grounds in Victoria Park, which is an area that is gentrifying as we speak.

 

[2023FriendshipTour]

That's because those are the Stampede grounds. If you want to redevelop that land you'd have to move the Stampede.

As I understand it the new proposal is to locate the new arena just to the north of the stampede grounds in Victoria Park, which is an area that is gentrifying as we speak.

Ahh I thought it was going into the stampede grounds. Guess not!

 

[Hoser]

Saddledome can not be tweaked. It's problems are structural. There are too few lower bowl seats (which sell for the most $). Luxury boxes are limited. There are none of the loge seats / restaurant seating options arenas like to utilize. Concourses are crowded. And the darn roof has terrible acoustics and makes for lousy site lines from the upper most seats.

Now it's not like the Saddledome is going to collapse into the earth. And it's not as if the Flames don't still make money. But that doesn't take away from the Dome's obvious flaws either.

Typical arguments from someone who buys into the narrative the Flames/NHL are selling.

"There are too few lower bowl seats (which sell for the most $)" is a strawman and factually incorrect: the most expensive seats in the Saddledome are the lower rows of the 200s. "Luxury boxes are limited": the Saddledome has 72 of them. As a point of comparison Little Caesars Arena has 62, and T-Mobile Arena has 46.

"There are none of the loge seats / restaurant seating options arenas like to utilize."

K.

"... the darn roof has terrible acoustics..."

Factually incorrect, and I'm tired of hearing this BS being trotted out.

"...and makes for lousy site lines from the upper most seats."

K.


(I will concede the concourse is small.)

 

[Hoser]

There isn't too much around the dome. You're a good 15 + minute walk or more till you hit any major hot spots.. Other than the Casino/Cowboys.

Which is precisely why this whole idea of "revitalizing" the area with a new arena is bunk. The Saddledome turned Victoria Park into a sea of parking lots: why would a new arena nearby 40 years later do anything different?

 

[cbcwpg]

There are events and shows that pass by Calgary because of the structural shortcomings in the Saddledome.

Several acts a year skip Calgary due to Saddledome's drawbacks