Quote:
Originally Posted by Aarongavey
The Air Canada Centre in Toronto was built by private money
The Bell Centre in Montreal was built by private money
The Rogers Arena in Vancouver was built by private money
Ottawa's rink was almost entirely built with private funds (something like 3 percent was paid by the taxpayer)
I am not sure where these public palaces are but as a general rule they are not in Canada.
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These 'public palaces' are in the National Hockey League.
But we should tell the whole story of these 100% privately funded Canadian facilities, because outside of the ACC, they are not outstanding success stories.
Bell Centre - Montreal
Molson funds construction of the $400 million Bell Centre, which opens in
1996. By 2001, Molson, seeking to “refocus on its core brewing business”, sells the team to American George Gillett.
GM Place - Vancouver
Arthur Griffiths spent approximately $180 million to build GM Place.
Having overextended himself funding the construction, he is forced to sell
a majority interest in the team to John McCaw
Scotiabank Place - Ottawa
Rob Bryden borrowed $184 million to fund construction of the Corel
Centre (now Scotiabank Place). His development company subsequently
declared bankruptcy and he lost control of the Senators to current owner,
Eugene Melnyk.
Rodgers Place - Edmonton
Under construction - about 80% publicly funded
Outside Canada - By my count, 8 of 23 NHL arenas were constructed with less 40% public funding, 11 with over 80% public funds.
(percentage indicates Public Funding as % of Total Construction Cost)
Anaheim Honda Center 1993 $120 million 100%
Boston TD Garden 1995 $144 million 89%
Buffalo HSBC Arena 1996 $122 million 44%
Carolina RBC Center 1989 $154 million 87%
Chicago United Center 1999 $175 million 17%
Colorado Pepsi Center 1999 $180 million 3%
Columbus Nationwide 2000 $175 million 0%
Dallas American Airlines Center 1994 $380 million 41%
Detroit Joe Louis Arena 1979 $57 million 100%
Florida Bank Atlantic Center 1998 $212 million 87%
Los Angeles Staples Center 1999 $700 million 18%
Minnesota Xcel energy Center 2000 $130 million 73%
Nashville Sommet Center 1996 $144 million 100%
New Jersey Prudential Center 2007 $468 million 67%
NY Islanders Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 1972 $28 million 100%
NY Rangers Madison Square Gardens 1968/1990 $200 million 0%
Philadelphia Wachovia Center 1996 $218 million 15%
Phoenix Jobing.com 2003 $225 million 80%
Pittsburgh Consol Energy Center 2010
(Est. $231 million $15 million per year of State gaming revenues for 30
years, plus $4.2 million per year from Penguins)
San Jose HP Pavillion 1993 $163 million 82%
St. Louis Scottrade Center 1994 $170 million 20%
Tampa Bay St. Pete Times Forum 1996 $139 million 89%
Washington Verizon Center 1997 $260 million 23%
Again, I am in no way an advocate for a huge % of public money to go to a new NHL arena in Calgary. I just don't think 0% is appropriate either.