Games would be less than $3.2B average: group
Committee says 2026 Olympics would require two major arenas
The group exploring a potential Calgary Olympics bid says two full-sized arenas are required to host the 2026 Games and “clustering” venues together could cut down on costs, at the same time city hall is exploring a new arena in Victoria Park, near the existing Saddledome.
The price tag of hosting past Winter Olympics is significant, with an average of $3.2 billion in funding needed, according to an analysis of recent Games by the Calgary Bid Exploration Committee. The group is still examining how much a potential 2026 Calgary Olympics would cost and determining whether the city should bid.
“This ($3.2 billion) is a benchmark we’re looking at,” committee chair Rick Hanson told reporters Monday during an interim update on the group’s work that included the release of a 134-page report.
“We don’t want to put a number on the table today because we’re still drilling down.”
One thing the committee has determined is that Calgary would need another arena to host the Olympics in nine years.
“The number of sports and the number of athletes has doubled since ‘88,” Hanson said. “You do require two full-sized arenas to host the Games. That’s just a fact.”
Hanson acknowledged the group is paying attention to the arena debate that was reignited at city hall last week when council voted to continue exploring an arena replacement in Victoria Park, while keeping the Flames’ $890-million CalgaryNEXT proposal on the table.
“We’re not going to pretend we’re blind to the debate that’s going on,” he said. “All we can identify is the fact we’re going to need two arenas. How that plays out, we’ll find out down the road like everybody else.”
Bid committee general manager Brian Hahn said Monday the $3.2-billion figure was calculated by tallying costs associated with the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy, the 2002 Salt Lake City Games and some numbers from the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.
“Some of the Sochi numbers are tossed out because ... quite frankly they’re outliers,” Hahn said.
The $3.2-billion figure includes $1.5 billion, on average, for both facilities and security — numbers the bid exploration group believes could be lower in Calgary.
Hanson said while there will need to be some adjustments and improvements to existing facilities from the 1988 Olympics, “it’s not going to be anywhere near $1.5 billion.”
Hanson, Calgary’s former police chief, also said security decisions, including taking advantage of technology such as monitoring camera systems, relying on a combination of security staff including volunteers and security guards, and clustering venues could impact security costs.
“When we looked at the security issues, we said, ‘What can you do that just makes good common sense when you’re setting up a security strategy?’” Hanson said. “And one of those things is clustering venues.”
Hahn said there are many benefits to putting several events and facilities in a single area. Potential venue clusters have been identified in a Calgary urban zone, including Stampede Park, the University of Calgary and Winsport/ Canada Olympic Park, and a mountain zone, including the Canmore Nordic Centre and Nakiska and/ or Lake Louise.
The exploration group also revealed Monday it’s considering Stampede Park for opening, closing and medal ceremonies, and suggested a modified or new ski jump would be needed.
“We’re never going to justify huge capital costs based on 16 days, nine years from now,” Hanson said.
The bid committee is scheduled to present a final report to city council in July, with a recommendation on whether Calgary should proceed with a bid.
“Fundamentally, council this summer will have to answer some really basic questions,” Mayor Naheed Nenshi said Monday.
“Is it worth it? Can Calgary do it? Is it the right time for Calgary? Do the numbers make sense? Do we have the right level of participation from the other orders of government? And, unless the answer to all of those questions is yes, then we won’t move forward.”