Quote:
Originally Posted by Travis Munroe
- a new 5000 person hockey rink?
High chance that this turns into a full NHL arena with little to no extra money from tax payers.... I can't see a scenario where CSSC says no to taking the money for the 5,000 person hockey rink and doesn't build the new arena that they want.
- renovation to the oval?
Don't know enough about what the future plans would be so I won't touch on it.
- renovation to McMahon?
Is going to be done one way or another at some point in the near future. With the games, we see provincial, federal and IOC money contribute. Without the games, local tax payers fund the renovation.
- a field house?
This is being built regardless of the games. Again, let the federal, provincial and IOC accounts help build it and save us from having to build it.
Whether one is a no or a yes vote, we cannot compare what has happened with unemployment rates, budgets, etc to any other games. When you host the games in a low unemployment environment, chances are people are not looking for work. Calgary has a boatload of people looking for work that would welcome a new job. Unfortunately, it seems people I talk to who are looking for work are more concerned about the slight tax increase vs the job they could have for several years (temporary).
We also can't compare games that go way over budget building 90% new + adding in state of the art weather stations, alternative energy programs, etc which are really not a part of the games. We have 80%+ of the structures in place. Am I blind the to fact we could go over budget? not at all but I am also not buying that we could go over budget to the level of what some people want to think it could be.
Isn't the SW portion of the ring road coming in hundreds of millions under budget due to the current economic times? Tokyo has a 2.4 unemployment rate while Calgary has a 8% unemployment rate. If the games can temporarily reduce the unemployment rate until we get pipelines built, does the reduced unemployment not significantly help our city from multiple different angles including financial?
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Excellent points, and please allow me to take the handoff on McMahon and the Oval. These are projects that should, and eventually will happen.
For those that haven't seen the plans and renderings for McMahon beyond the splashy images released last week.. I encourage you to find them online. (If I could embed a PDF file here, I would). Seeing these would immediately ease the concerns of 'putting lipstick on a pig'. McMahon will become a great stadium and much, much more accessible. For the Oval: upgraded ice plant, spectator areas (seating, access, concessions, facilities etc.) Perhaps most important, major deficiencies with accessibility will be addressed.
These projects are priorities. They will happen between now and 2026.
- Field house
- Upgraded McMahon, Oval, BMO Centre and endowments to keep them sustainable for another 30+ years.
- Affordable housing initiative.
- New arena. (Not a priority, but more about that below)
With a 'YES' vote, this costs the City of Calgary $390M
With a 'no' vote, the City is 100% responsible for all costs of:
- Field house: $320M
- Upgraded McMahon (Valued at $80-100M)
- Upgrades to current Olympic facilities and BMO Centre. (With no endowment). $$$
- Affordable housing. $$$
The City and Flames WILL come to an arena agreement in the next few months/years. It's easy to see how the City can roll the funds allocated to a new 5000 seat arena into their contribution to the new event centre. This actually eases the taxpayer burden on this project.
Putting aside all emotional attachments, a 'no' vote tomorrow makes me very concerned as a taxpayer.