Also it's not a fact that the building needs to be replaced, it's a frame.
The Flames aren't losing money because the building. They're still very solvent. Fans still go in droves to the game. There is little in the way of need for a new building it's just a big want for some fans and the owners.
That's the starting point. If the owners want a new arena to grow their revenue then great, pay for it yourself.
The second annoying argument is the conflation of the land remediation with the arena. The land remediation will happen when it makes economic sense to do so. The city can sell the land net of the remediation costs and still come out much further ahead than building an arena on it that wont pay back any taxes. This is another frame. That all of a sudden, cleaning up that land is a huge public policy priority. Did anyone in the city care prior to 2 months ago that the area needs to be cleaned up before it is developed? No. Why so now?
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