TUG-OF-WAR OVER CASH
Stampede, Flames, Green Line on collision course
The scramble for a finite pool of government money to fund a bevy of expensive Calgary infrastructure proposals is on, say some city councillors.
Bids to finance the $890 million Calgary Next sports complex, a $500 million Calgary Stampede convention centre expansion and a $4.6 billion, 40-km LRT Green Line could be on a collision course, said Coun. Andre Chabot.
“The timing might not be the greatest in terms of resources,” said Chabot, noting the dismal economic straits now plaguing the province.
But he said the Stampede’s master plan that includes bumping its BMO Centre into a larger, more lucrative tier-one facility would be an enduring economic boon for the city.
Many eyes, he said, are on the new federal government’s promise to spend $60 billion in stimulus cash over the next decade that would fund infrastructure.
“Who knows what the federal government’s parameters will look like for as far as that stimulus goes,” he said.
“There’s competing interests across the country and we certainly deserve some attention.”
Funding for that project isn’t yet secure, confirmed exhibition spokeswoman Jennifer Booth.
“Finances aren’t in place for BMO ... we will be meeting with all three levels of government,” she said.
The city is also hoping some of that federal stimulus will help grease the rails of its proposed LRT Green Line that will run from the far centre-north to the deep southeast.
At the same time, the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Group (CSEG), which owns the Calgary Stampeders and Flames, is looking to the city for hundreds of millions in cash advances and revitalization levies for its CalgaryNext project in the downtown West Village.
There’s no way CalgaryNext’s arena, stadium and field house should earn any nod for city funding while the Green Line goes begging, said Coun. Druh Farrell.
“Revenues at this point are very finite,” she said.
“There’s a competition for that funding and we have to ensure it meets the needs of Calgarians, who would insist on go to public transit ... absolutely it’s more of a priority.”
A report on CalgaryNext’s feasibility is to be unveiled next month, a document Farrell is predicting will take a dim view of CSEG’s hopes a Community Revitalization Levy (CRL) placed on the West Village area will raise $240 million for the project.
“The economy and the reluctance of the province to sign off on a CRL will doom that,” said Farrell.
The various projects’ proponents are also lobbying amid the prospect of an Alberta government vow to spend $34 billion on capital projects by 2021, including $33o million for public transit over the next three years.
Green Line proponents also hope to garner a share of carbon tax proceeds they say would be a natural fit with the policy’s environmental theme but have yet to hear back from the NDP government.
The city’s committed $1.5 billion to the LRT project and was promised $1.5 billion last summer by the Harper government, though no cheque’s been cut.
Three projects vying for some of the same pots of money could see them at loggerheads, said Coun. Shane Keating, who also sits on the Stampede board.
“You have to be a little cautious when you have three projects out in the open,” said Keating.
“If they were all to be built at the same time with the same funding, there’d be a problem.”
But he said the Stampede’s BMO expansion would be done in bitesized phases, with the first consuming a small chunk of the overall budget.
“We’re talking about one building that can be funded relatively easily,” he said.
“It’s not something they’d do all of today.”
The Stampede isn’t seeking funding from the city, added Keating, “but they are hoping for some of the stimulus funds — they’re shovel-ready.”
CSEG President Ken King didn’t return a call Friday.