No major upgrades in works for stadium
There was no word of a field house and nothing to suggest that substantial upgrades to McMahon Stadium are on the way — let alone an entirely new home for the Calgary Stampeders.
Wednesday morning’s announcement that Calgary will be hosting the 2019 Grey Cup was an exciting one, to be sure.
The CFL’s championship game and the festival that precedes it are one of the highlights on the annual Canadian sports calendar. The estimated $100-million impact that the event brings is a nice bonus, too.
For Calgary fans hoping to hear about improvements to their city ’s football infrastructure, though, there wasn’t much to report on Wednesday.
“Right now, we’re more or less looking at temporary suites in the end zone,” Stamps president/GM John Hufnagel said when he was asked about what the team’s plans were for the aging McMahon Stadium on Grey Cup game day. “Not putting up the temporary (seats) that they had in 2009.”
McMahon Stadium opened in 1961 and is one of the oldest in the CFL. A new indoor stadium was included in Calgary Sports and Entertainment’s Calgary NEXT proposal in 2015, but most sporting infrastructure talk in the years since has focused on a new arena for the Calgary Flames, Hitmen and Roughnecks.
A new football stadium was never going to be announced Wednesday, of course, but a little funding for upgrades to McMahon would have certainly been welcome.
That still might not be off the table.
While Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi wasn’t in attendance at Wednesday’s announcement — he did send a video showing his support — he spoke with city hall reporters later in the day.
“I have long suggested that McMahon Stadium, for me as a long, longtime football fan, I’ve been to most stadiums in the league — I haven’t been to the new ones in Saskatchewan or Winnipeg yet — I find there’s no better place to watch a game once you’re in your seat,” Nenshi said. “Getting to your seat could be a lot better, and I think that’s a good conversation to have, about how we can increase amenities outside of the bowl around that stadium.”
So far, the provincial government has committed to providing $1.5-million in funding for Calgary’s hosting duties, the same as it provided to Edmonton’s hosting efforts for this year’s Grey Cup.
Alberta Minister of Culture and Tourism Ricardo Miranda said the provincial government would work in collaboration with the Stampeders and the local organizing committee to determine where that funding goes.
“It’s going to be in collaboration with the organization to make sure we are using every dollar to attract people here, to advertise and promote the event itself,” Miranda said. “It’s going to be a great investment, as we’ve seen in previous years, with a very good return on investment, and we’re looking forward to the party that can be put on by the city.”
In terms of football infrastructure, though, the lack of an indoor practice facility might be as important a question to the viability of successfully hosting a Grey Cup as any improvements to McMahon Stadium.
Currently, the Stampeders are without an indoor facility to practice, and weather can be an issue in late November.
Hufnagel said the Stamps have no current plans to build an indoor facility, but said he was hopeful that some sort of progress might be made toward finding funding to build one over the next 20 months.