Hoser
Registered User
- Aug 7, 2005
- 1,846
- 403
Awful deal for Calgarians. Announced the same day as $60M in cuts to the City's operating budget this year. Funding for police services, fire department, public transit, public libraries, low-income housing, Heritage Park, Fort Calgary, the science centre, the convention centre and the zoo will be cut, two public pools and a (previously announced) golf course will be closed, and 115 people will be fired. Christ even the streetlight maintenance program is being cut from seven-day to 30-day service, i.e. if a streetlight burns out don't expect it to be fixed for at least a month. "World-class city" indeed...
But we're gonna build a half-billion-dollar sports palace for Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation, hooray! </sarcasm>
The idea that a new arena will "revitalize the area" is complete bunk: it'll be built in parking lots across the street from the Saddledome. If the Saddledome was not able to "revitalize the area" since 1983, why would a new building do so? It won't.
And if there's proof positive that the Saddledome isn't the dilapidated dump the Flames claim it is, it's that they insisted the Saddledome be demolished. Why does it have to be demolished? Because they won't make money if there's a big arena next door competing for acts. But then, if the Saddledome is really as outmoded as they claim it is for all these big concert tours and other events we're missing out on, why would they need to worry about it? The Saddledome site will likely be "revitalized" into parking lot.
Our council are a bunch of rubes. "Easy marks", as someone else put earlier. The proverbial "suckers born every minute" P.T. Barnum was talking about.