Flames’ aspirations were just too big for Stampede Park
For years the Calgary Stampede and Calgary Flames discussed building a new arena to replace the aging Saddledome.
In the end, the Flames’ vision for a new facility was too big for Stampede Park.
“I think it would be safe for me to say that we would have loved to have had the new arena remain on Stampede Park, but obviously the aspirations of the Flames, they’re much larger than a single arena facility,” Calgary Stampede CEO Warren Connell said Tuesday after Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp. announced plans for a megasports facility on the west side of downtown.
“You’ve seen from the magnitude of the CalgaryNEXT project that it’s simply a lot larger than could ever be accommodated at Stampede Park.”
Connell said while the eventual departure of the Flames, along with the junior hockey Hitmen and lacrosse Roughnecks, would mean a revenue loss for the Stampede, the amount would not be “significant.”
In unveiling the arena- stadium plans Tuesday, Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp. president and CEO Ken King suggested the Saddledome could be repurposed, possibly as an exhibition and trade space.
The Saddledome and the land it sits on is owned by the City of Calgary. Connell said it’s hard to speculate on the building’s future.
“From my perspective it would be the city that would lead any discussions or planning related to the Saddledome’s future. We obviously would hope to be included in that and I’m sure the city would,” he said.
“What I wouldn’t want to see is a system where Calgary has multiple buildings competing for the same business because they’re all built with public funds. So I’m not sure that serves any interests.”
Connell said the BMO Centre at Stampede Park is undersized to handle event space demands and needs to be expanded to attract international conferences.
He said the Stampede has known that whatever the Flames’s owners decided would not impact future development plans around projects like the youth campus and Enmax Park, which have been in the works for years.
Plans for Stampede Trail, a vision for a main street retail and entertainment district along Olympic Way S. E., were put on hold prior to any arena announcement.
Councillor Gian- Carlo Carra, whose ward takes in part of the Stampede’s back- of- house operations and surrounding neighbourhoods, said he has previously told the Flames’ ownership group the Stampede is “fundamental to the project of Calgary.”
“And the Flames as I understand them, and the arena as part of Stampede Park, is fundamental to that ... If you’re removing the Flames and it’s in any way going to harm the Stampede, then that’s not going to fly,” said Carra.
Councillor Ray Jones, who sits on the Saddledome Foundation, said the city owns the hockey arena and there have only been minor discussions about the future of the Dome when the Flames leave.
“We haven’t been pressured into it but we were told by Northlands ( in Edmonton) when they did ( their new arena) don’t wait too long. Decide what you’re going to do with the building so it doesn’t become an albatross around somebody’s neck,” said Jones.
“Ken ( King) did a presentation today on repurposing it, which is a possibility. The other possibility, of course, is closing it and knocking it down.”
King told reporters Tuesday there is simply not enough room at Stampede Park for the proposed development that would include a new arena, football stadium and field house. In addition to transportation challenges, the Stampede Park site doesn’t allow for a community revitalization levy that would be used to pay for the project.
As to who would pay for possible changes to the Saddledome once the Flames leave, King said it first needs to be decided if the building can be repurposed.
“We need to find out what it can be used for. I think there needs to be lots of work done to determine what you could do, and then we need to look at it and see who would pay for it,” King said.
“Ostensibly, if we’re smart, and it’s repurposed we should do something that could cause it to be sustainable, economically, itself.”
Richard White, a community strategist, said the Flames’ move would give the Stampede some clarity and allow its organizers to plan for future development at the park.
“Right now it’s been difficult for them. I think their biggest problem is that they’ll have to totally revamp and they’ll have a tough time developing their Stampede Trail. That was sort of the next big step,” said White. “Stampede Trail needs to have something like an arena to work. Something that’s a year- round operation.
“But having total control over Stampede Park again allows them to move forward and they don’t have to share it ... The Calgary Stampede’s vision of Stampede Trail ... will be difficult to achieve if CalgaryNEXT happens. Perhaps for the better as it will have to be much more Stampede focused.”
Michael Kehoe, an Albertabased retail specialist with Fairfield Commercial Real Estate Inc., said restaurants and other businesses around the Stampede district would be most affected if the Flames relocate.
“This will likely be the demise of the on- again, off- again Stampede Trail restaurant and entertainment district that was planned for Stampede Park,” he said. “The Saddledome and the Flames were to have been the anchor for that now- defunct project.”
David Low, executive director of the Victoria Park BRZ, said businesses near the Saddledome will definitely be affected by any move.
“But the reality is that for so many people for a long time the Saddledome was an in- out destination. The reality was there wasn’t a lot around here for people to engage with others before or after an event,” he said. “So yeah there will be some effect, but probably not as big as people would think.”