Quote:
Originally Posted by Thunderball
By that logic, why build a new central library? The Downtown one serves it purpose, same with Central Memorial and the dozens of other locations... books are going the way of the do-do anyway. Plus, other cities have much worse library systems. Why does Calgary need a fancy shiny new one?
Furthermore, why waste $100m on Cantos Music Centre? Surely the existing facilities attract enough musicians, since the arts and culture scene is growing without it. Most other cities don't have one. Why does Calgary need a fancy, shiny facility that will never repay its cost?
My point is, top venues attract top performers, top events and increase city/province perception. So lets say all $200 million buys is a new soccer tenant and 6 concerts a year. That's roughly 20 more events than before, and the economic spin-off therein. That's a greater exposure to sports and arts that Calgary did not have before. Plus, the existing 10 CFL games and 12 CIS games are now that much more lucrative, comfortable and marketable.
These things are important to a society. Sports carry the stigma of being owned my billionaires and played by millionaires, but the fact is these facilities are good for cities. For example, the Winnipeg facility will be used year round for recreational uses, as well as the Bombers, the Bisons and numerous other events its bound to attract.
If I'm out of touch, Regina and Winnipeg must be extremely out of touch. Much smaller centres are building vastly superior stadia to your "north american model" for CFL, CIS and potentially concerts and NASL usages. Even the upgrades that you admit are necessary will likely run in the tens of millions. Do enough of the upgrade wishlist, and you'll soon hit Winnipeg's Stadium pricetag. While not the best comparable, BC Place's renovation cost $563 million. I suspect a real McMahon facelift consisting of more than paint and modular buildings would be in the $100 million + range.
The issue isn't that the new McMahon won't have enough tenants... the issue is the current McMahon can't take on more due to its age and spartan nature. Even the Stampeders are crying foul about it.
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First of all, the comparison to a library is laughable. If you can't grasp the different impacts that a library and a stadium used for professional sports 15 times a year have on a city I'm not sure there's any point having a conversation with you. It's such an absurd strawman argument, and you know it.
The hi-lighted paragraph demonstrates why you think this would be a good idea, because you live in a fantasy land.
First, $200mil for a 40,000 seat domed stadium? Are you expecting to use volunteer labor in the construction or something? That figure is completely out to lunch. LiveStrong Park in KC cost $200mil and seat under 20,000 and is open air. The covered stadium proposed in Regina would cost $400mil, so unless you've got an explanation for that $200mil figure I'd say you're intentionally skewing the picture to suit your argument.
Second, you continue to base this around the addition of a fantasy MLS team when there is absolutely nothing to indicate that Calgary is a desirable market for the MLS. It seems as if you're drawing on a field of dreams style 'if you build it they will come' idea, unfortunately this isn't a movie and there aren't going to be any ghosts strolling out of corn fields. Even if the goal is to attract an MLS team, a $400mil+ 40,000 seat domed stadium is massive overkill.
Third, 6 concerts a year? Again, I'm not sure where you're coming up with these numbers but they seem to be created as a means to make your argument look stronger than it is. There have been a grand total of 6 concerts at Commonwealth since 2007. Unless U2, Bon Jovi, Kenny Chesney, and the handful of other acts that do stadium tours are all planning to tour every year, and include a city that is already off a lot of bands touring plans due to its location, that number is a complete fantasy. You would be lucky to add one additional concert to the city each year.
As for it making CFL games more marketable (I'm not even going to address the idea that this would make CIS football marketable, it's a small time sport with a fanbase consisting predominantly of friends and family) that's all well and good, but why exactly are taxpayer dollars being used to make a professional sports team more marketable? In a situation where a new building is an absolute must, such as with the Flames, I don't have an issue with some taxpayer funding, but that's not the case here.
Now let's get to the "these facilities are good for cities" argument. I don't disagree, but how exactly would this new facility make the lives of Calgarians better? McMahon already offers plenty of recreational use, does this facility somehow expand that? I suppose putting in a dome would do that, but if the payoff is recreational use you could achieve that same result at a minuscule fraction of the cost.
I honestly question whether or not you've ever been to another football stadium in North America. I've been to dozens, and the only ones that aren't pretty similar to McMahon are NFL stadiums. The CFL is not the NFL. The revenue streams aren't there, the demand isn't there, the need isn't there. Again, look at the stadiums utilized by some of the most profitable NCAA football programs in the country. They are strikingly similar to McMahon, with the only real differences being the size and the enhanced high end/press areas.
The bottom line is that McMahon can't really take on more, but it doesn't need to, not for that price tag. A single concert? A pipe dream MLS team? Padded seats for the parents of Dinos players? All for the low, low price of $500mil.