What's with all of the apologists for Ken King here? I don't think anyone is doubting that he's done good work in the past, but it's plain as day to see that he has been the front man for a complete C***-Up on this one. It's okay to admit it.
You don't need insider information to know everything has been botched. The whole CalgaryNext concept was a sales pitch, and the hallmark of a good sales pitch is that people are interested in what you're trying to sell at the price you're trying to sell it. Those are glaringly absent. The City, the people, and many of the fans have balked, scoffed, and been disgusted by the pricetag for the thing. The location has been roundly criticized, and renderings (leaving aside the question of how close to reality they would ever have been) have not drawn "oohs and aahs". The majority of fans in the CalgaryNext thread voted "No" to the project. It's failure, pure and simple.
And from Ken King himself, from the article in the OP:
“2017 should be the year that we drop the flag and actually get past the starting line and into the race and get some serious work done,”
There it is right there: zero progress has been made; not even past the starting line. Zero progress = failure.
On a more positive note, as someone who would like a new arena eventually, I look forward to seeing more productive talk about better ideas in 2017.
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