Let the discussion begin
We’d like nothing better than to see this world- class sportsplex and entertainment venue built. However, a number of issues need to be addressed before anyone should declare “full speed ahead.”
CalgaryNEXT is the stuff that dreams of a world- class city are made of, but a few questions remain to be answered before the Calgary Flames’ proposal for an $ 890- million sportsplex and events centre can become reality.
The plans outlined Tuesday are nothing if not ambitious. They encompass a new hockey arena and roofed football stadium — Stampeders fans, your days of freezing in the stands would be over. The stadium would be inside a fieldhouse that would also boast a track and a regulation FIFA soccer pitch. And the venue would host concerts, so the days when big- name acts took a miss on the Saddledome’s technical limitations and acoustics would be a thing of the past.
It sounds wonderful, and we’d like nothing better than to see this world- class sportsplex and entertainment venue built. However, a number of issues need to be addressed before anyone should declare “full speed ahead.”
The project calls for $ 240 million worth of funding to come from the city’s community revitalization levy. The levy essentially involves the redirection of property tax money to specific restoration projects, as was done in the East Village. In the case of the sportsplex, using the levy can be justified, for it would involve restoring the area in the West Village, which now includes a Greyhound station and a car dealership near the new Sunalta LRT station. Getting to games and concerts would be a cinch with the CTrain stopping so fortuitously nearby.
However, the project also calls for another $ 200 million of city money for the fieldhouse, origins as yet unknown. This, along with the levy, brings the taxpayers’ contribution up to $ 440 million. While the fieldhouse could be considered a smart investment of taxpayer money since local amateur sports would make use of it, if the city has another $ 200 million which it can produce from some unknown source, that money should be available for other projects, such as the urgently needed Green Line of the LRT. The final $ 200 million contribution would come from the Flames’ ownership group, the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp. The rest of the money will come from a ticket tax.
There is also the expensive proposition of remediating the land before anything can be built. A large part of the land is contaminated with creosote and the costs to clean it up have been pegged at from $ 50 million to $ 300 million. The city is preparing to obtain a consultant’s report on this issue. Also in need of addressing is the venue’s proximity to the Bow River and the issue of flood protection for the facility.
Much remains to be answered, especially the troublesome questions about public money. We look forward to hearing more details, so this project can finally be labelled a true “win” on the scoreboard.