Bid boosters peg city’s share of Olympics cost at $500M

The cost of Calgary hosting the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games would be about $5.8 billion, according to new estimates compiled by the bid advocacy group Yes Calgary 2026.

The anticipated cost would be offset by estimated operating revenues of $2.5 billion, with about $3.3 billion to be covered by the federal, provincial and municipal governments, a downtown luncheon crowd hosted by the Calgary Booster Club was told.

Calgary’s portion of the bill would be about $500 million, if a cost-sharing agreement can be reached that leaves the city responsible for just 15 per cent of the overall cost of the Games.

Yes Calgary 2026 suggested a fair division of costs would see the province shoulder 30 to 35 per cent of the costs, with the remaining 50 to 55 per cent paid for by the federal government.

In exchange, the group envisions Calgary could receive a new field house, a replacement arena for the Corral, upgrades to existing facilities, an endowment fund to support the legacy of the Games and affordable housing for thousands of residents.

No mention was made of an arena to replace the aging Saddledome during the presentation.

The group said its figures are based on data gathered by the Calgary Bid Exploration Committee

These are our best guesses. This is what we hope to see. What we’re really trying to do is frame what is a goodfor-Calgary bid.

and the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.

“These are our best guesses,” said Yes Calgary 2026 spokeswoman Emma May. “This is what we hope to see. What we’re really trying to do is frame what is a good-for-Calgary bid. We think this is one Calgarians can have faith in and understand what the costs are.”

May said her group isn’t in favour of a bid that includes a lot of “extraneous” projects like an LRT to the airport or a rail line to Canmore, Banff and Lake Louise.

“Let’s have a really clear conversation about what we need to run an Olympics and what those costs look like (without) going and building in all of these external infrastructure costs which really need to be separate conversations apart from what a bid is about,” May said.