Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyler
Do you have any insider knowledge or are you just talking out of your ass?
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About what part?
As I posted earlier, last year I asked Ken King how long it will be before the new building is open once it's announced, and he said it would still be a minimum of five years after the announcement. Based on that, if they make the announcement soon, 2020 is the likely earliest opening date.
About them prioritizing the arena ahead of the stadium, that's just a guess on my part.
On a project of that size, I expect them to do a phased opening so that it can start generating revenue ASAP. If I were running it, the arena and necessary supporting infrastructure for the arena would be priority #1 because they will be booking many more events in the arena than in the stadium. The second priority would be the restaurants and bars of the Entertainment District, again to start bringing in revenue. The third priority would be the stadium and the final priority would be the fieldhouse/practice facility.
Let's call the opening year of the arena year 20XX. If I were running the project, my targets would be: Summer of 20XX, open arena and onsite parking to host 4 or 5 concerts of varying size prior to start of the Flames' season. Summer/early fall of 20XX, phased opening of the restaurants and bars of the Entertainment District surrounding the arena. Fall/winter of 20XX or 20XX+1, open Flames practice rink for use by the Flames, Hitmen, and visiting teams. Summer of 20XX+1, open the stadium for the Stampeders' season and open the full fieldhouse facility to the public.
Depending on the availability and costs of labour when construction begins, it might make sense to build the arena completely before even starting work on the stadium, so that the construction crew can transfer from one project to the other rather than trying to staff two large crews working simultaneously (obviously, this depends on how much the two buildings are integrated into each other). If that happens, the stadium probably won't open until two years after the arena.
Again, I know nothing, that's just what I could see happening.