Re: Backlund - I don't think any of us should expect a hockey player to be able to consider the nuance of this issue. To him, it's just a shiny new locker room and practice rink. Any of us would be excited at the prospect of the city building us a new workplace with gold plated toilets. Most players are too thick to comprehend escrow.
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Originally Posted by Flash Walken
I believe the csec is positioning council to defeat opposition politicians before attempting to go through with a plan.
Most if the council already wants this to happen. Other major power brokers want this to happen as well. There is a huge swell of momentum amongst private interests in Calgary to get this project going.
The next step is finding and funding a challenger for mayor that can bring this thing home.
Nenshi in office may be the most significant factor in the delay of the project announcement.
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I think your first three points are all accurate, but I'm not sure about your last sentence. I think it may be true, but not in the way that I sense you think. IMO Nenshi is only looking out for the best interests of the city and making sure the deal is done right.
I think the most significant factor in the delay is actually the Flames themselves. For an organization that is so loudly saying how URGENT/NECESSARY a new arena is, they sure don't seem to be doing a lot to proactively solve the 'problem'. The truth is, it is not at all urgent - they can/will wait as long as it takes to get the best deal for themselves.
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Originally Posted by SmoggyFlamesFan
If he doesn't find a way to make this arena deal work, I'd say his political leash becomes pretty short. Plenty of people I know that think the same way. I'd rather see that done than a "Peace Bridge" for instance.
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I don't want to derail the thread, but IMO the Peace Bridge does more for the identity of this city than the Flames. It may seem a crazy thing to people on a hockey forum, but we need to remember that this city is made up of a tiny proportion of die hard fans, a fairly small portion of casual fans, and a vast majority of people who are largely indifferent, but most of whom would take up the torch on a playoff run.
I'm not saying the feeling at the Peace Bridge is anywhere near the same as the Red Mile (it's simply impossible to compare with something that has happened once in the last 25 years), but there is an indescribable energy around the peace bridge 12/7/365. I don't want to go too far trying to describe the 'feels' about it, but everyone there is happy, because they are outdoors, social and/or active. Call it hippie-dippy #### all you want, but IMO the symbolic/intangible ROI on the bridge is actually pretty substantial.
I'll pistol-whip myself for using the term, but I think the Peace Bridge contributes more to making this city 'world-class' than an arena ever will. I'm not actually suggesting this, but an argument could be made to drop $175M on 7 more bridges to make Calgary similar to Paris in terms of a "city of bridges". I'm sure I'm not articulating the nuance of what I'm trying to say very well, so I look forward to retorts of "why not just build 499 more blue rings"?