I have mixed feelings about plan B. I get that this site makes more sense because of the green line and that it's pretty much ready to go. I appreciate that there is a vision for the entire Stampede Park/East Village area that will result in that area being used more than a handful of days per year. I also get that the West Village isn't going to be developed in my lifetime. Fair enough.
My problem is that I just don't trust the Stampede board. I'm not entirely sure how the relationship between the Stampede and the Flames would work, but I'm scared that the Stampede people will want to exercise a huge amount of control over the project, which will slow progress to a crawl. I'm scared that they are going to try to dictate how the arena gets built, how it will look (more cowboys!), and basically try to take over.
I guess I'm just really worried that the two groups will argue over details for the next 5 years and the Flames will get so mad that they decide to build the new arena beside Cross Iron Mills. Please, someone tell me that this isn't the case and the land swap means the Flames will have control over that parcel of land.
|