Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyler
Call it a conspiracy theory, but I have a sneaking suspicion the Flames and City are going to come to an agreement for a new arena deal just weeks before the plebiscite to swing the yes vote.
Too much infrastructure dollars on the table for the city NOT to leverage a bid here.
If Calgarians go to the polls knowing that Olympics = New Arena deal, I can't help but see an overwhelming Yes come out of the plebiscite.
If it does happen, the Flames have been very smart and will have outwaited a city that thought they had the upper hand.
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That seems very likely that's what gonna happen. CSEC has a lot to gain from this, and if they can play politics again, and get people to think 'Olympics = New Arena = Flames Stay', then a lot of people will swing their vote in favour simply because of that. It's really silly since this is turning something that's +500M to +2.5B(?) from the governments. Although if the city only ends up contributing around 500-700M for the Olympics, and everyone else covers the costs, then that's a pretty sweet deal for the city considering you get more than just the arena built with it, for the same costs as the arena.
Lots of the criticism is the cost overruns, and how much we're on the hook for it. (And if there is already costs accounted for here, let me know) It's a valid concern, but isn't the whole point of this 'recycled' Olympics is to avoid this from going over budget? Comparing this to what has happen in Sochi and Pyeongchang isn't fair, considering they were different in how the facilities were used before the games, and after. Calgary doesn't have to build everything new. That's the appeal here. Build a couple things we need new, and refurbished everything else that we currently use.