[RM14]

http://calgaryherald.com/news/politi...y-want-the-ioc

But the city is still working on a master plan for the Rivers District, embracing much of Victoria Park.

It’s the very plan Mayor Naheed Nenshi was talking about when he said an arena was likely, thereby prompting Calgary Sports and Entertainment to walk out, because from their perspective there was no progress.

But the plan kept moving along. It will go out for public review in early April and be finalized by the fall.

Susan Veres, senior vice-president of Calgary Municipal Land Corp., says the plan will likely include provision for a facility on the same site that was up for negotiation, south of 12th Avenue S.E.

If the Flames and the city get a deal, she says, the arena could just “slide in” to the overall development plan.

The plan itself is certain to make the whole area more attractive and valuable to developers.

CMLC has ably handled the East Village through some very hard times. This outfit has the expertise to oversee, or manage, building of the whole Rivers area.

Behind all this there’s a hint, never officially acknowledged, that CMLC could strike a deal with private companies to build the rink, or even do it for the city. The facility could then be leased to the Flames.

We should see some noise in April when the city releases the plan for Vic park that includes an arena site. Interesting part of the article is the rumour of a private developer interested in building an arena already.