GREAT ARENA DEBATE BEGINS
Flames’ mega- proposal a play for city’s ‘ hearts and minds’
A battle for the “hearts and minds” of Calgarians is brewing as the city considers the virtues of a proposed $ 890- million sports megacomplex in west downtown Calgary with attention focusing on how much money taxpayers should contribute to the project.
Opponents are assailing a pitch by the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp. — the umbrella group that owns the Calgary Flames, Stampeders, Hitmen and Roughnecks — over the prospect of spending hundreds of millions of public dollars on the facility.
CalgaryNEXT includes an NHL arena and CFL stadium, replacing the aging Scotiabank Saddledome and McMahon Stadium, and a field house. The proposal would see the owners contribute $ 200 million directly toward the project and the city provide $ 200 million for the public field house. The remaining $ 490 million would be raised through a so- called ticket tax ($ 250 million) on users, and a community revitalization levy ($ 240 million).
Lori Williams, associate professor of policy studies at Mount Royal University, said the Flames are making a “play for the hearts and minds” of Calgarians.
“If it’s construed in any way as subsidizing billionaires, as we’ve seen and heard in some of the response to this, that’s not going to fly,” Williams said.
“On the other hand, if there are benefits that can be enjoyed broadly by Calgarians, I think that’s something that would be a lot easier to sell.”
A group calling itself CalgaryNOPE launched a website, online petition and social media campaign hours after the proposal was unveiled Tuesday.
Concerns about traffic, transit, and a lack of parking are emerging as key issues for the proposed arena and stadium development the Calgary Flames organization wants to build near the Bow River.
Councillors and urban development experts are citing a reliance upon already clogged arteries to move vehicles, just 1,500 parking spaces on site, and facility access from only one LRT station as issues surrounding the Flames’ $ 890- million CalgaryNEXT proposal that was released on Tuesday.
“It would be significant costs for the transportation infrastructure. As well, there are no systems in West Village. All of those would need to be put in place. Who pays for that?” said Coun. Druh Farrell.
Farrell questioned how the proposed megaproject would affect Crowchild Trail, the traffic on other nearby arteries and the transit system.
“If you look at what’s there now, we have Bow Trail and it receives a huge volume of traffic and it would need to be expanded.
“Do we want a major road right adjacent to our rivers?” Farrell said.
Bev Sandalack, associate dean in the faculty of environmental design at the University of Calgary, wondered how the finished facility would affect traffic volumes on nearby roads.
“Bow Trail is an east- west thoroughfare and 14th Street is a more minor road going north south. To me, those would be massively overloaded,” she said.
But Ken King, president of Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp., said the proposed CalgaryNEXT project could be the catalyst to solve chronic traffic problems in the area.
“Everyone is pretty clearly in the know that Crowchild Trail has been a challenge for a long time and how does this ( project) affect that. ... I’m hoping ( CalgaryNEXT) will be the impetus to solve the ( Crowchild) problem and that will be a benefit of the project,” he said Wednesday.
“This could be a catalyst for a number of solutions to a number of chronic problems that we have in that area of the city.”
While King didn’t detail how many parking spots are proposed for the development, a graphic on the CalgaryNEXT website shows the project would have 1,500 “parking spaces and LRT connections.”
That’s less than half the number of stalls that exist at the Saddledome, where there are 4,000 public parking spots at Stampede Park, adjacent to the Saddledome.
King said CalgaryNEXT will have the “statutory requirements for parking” and noted acres of surface parking is not realistic for the site.
Instead of driving, visitors would be encouraged to walk, take Calgary Transit, or carpool to the proposed arena and covered stadium that has a combined capacity for 50,000 people.
The CalgaryNEXT complex is proposed for land near the threeyearold elevated Sunalta LRT station.
It’s unclear how the station or transit infrastructure would be improved to accommodate the thousands of people travelling to the facility.
“I don’t understand the transportation aspect. How are people getting in and out?” Sandalack said.
“It seems to be dependent on one LRT stop only. It seems like you’re really overloading one LRT stop.”
Coun. Ward Sutherland said he was intrigued by Tuesday’s announcement of the proposed sports development, but thinks the cost could end up being much higher than the nearly $ 900 million estimate.
“There’s no infrastructure estimate attached to it at all,” said Sutherland.
“What if it requires a bridge, or a pedestrian walkway, or a complete interchange, which can run $ 80 to $ 100 million? There’s a lot of unanswered questions, and costs, right now.”