Quote:
Originally Posted by hockey.modern
Like it was said earlier, the first process is cleaning the creosote, which the city is looking at right now and is likely to hire the firm by the end of the month.
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By the end of the month, they'll have hired the company that will investigate the site and make recommendations for the cleanup. Who knows how long it will take before an actual cleanup plan is approved.
I think that's the biggest question mark over this whole project. If everyone can agree to clean up the site ASAP and go after Domtar for payment after the fact (or while cleanup is taking place), things could get moving on the cleanup by the end of 2016.
If they wait until they get a ruling and payment agreement from Domtar, it could spend a few years in court before anything happens.
My guess is that in a big picture sense, the project will be built as proposed, although small details will change from what we've seen so far. By big picture, I mean that somewhere west of 14th St and north of the CPR tracks, a large multi-use sports complex will be constructed. It will include an NHL arena used by the Flames, Hitmen, and Roughnecks, as well as for concerts and other "arena" events. The arena (or Events Centre) will be attached to a multisport fieldhouse that will be available for public use and will serve as the home stadium for the Stampeders.
I predict that the creosote cleanup will start in 2017, with groundbreaking on the new sports complex in 2018. The Flames will play their first game in the new building in the fall of 2021. Construction will continue on the fieldhouse after the Events Centre is open, with the Stamps playing their first game in 2022 and the fieldhouse opening for public use also in 2022.