Quote:
Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814
No, but a real threat is “the Saddledome suffers a major structural collapse while people are inside.”
Maybe not this year, maybe not next year (and it could be this year or next year, these things can be unpredictable) but it is a nearly 40 year old structure that was underwater up to the luxury suites. The one working freight elevator to the main concourse has a placard proudly certifying it passed inspection in 1983.
The city needs a new event centre. They can either build it themselves, or partner with the local hockey team who will shoulder a significant portion of the cost and provide 150+ nights of entertainment to the city each year, plus whatever other touring acts add Calgary to the stop list.
I suspect 20k people who don’t go to hockey games might enjoy it if Taylor Swift or Ariana Grande came to town.
To say nothing of the area surrounding the dome being decades overdue for redevelopment - they could have so much going on down there, instead it’s a wasteland.
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There are literally nets on the ceiling to catch falling pieces of concrete. It's not inconceivable that something happens one day that injures someone.
People can take it or leave it, but you're never getting a better opportunity to build something if this falls through. The deals keep getting worse and worse for the city every time one falls through because they have no leverage. The idea that some generous white knight billionaire will come in and build an arena using mostly their own money is a pipe dream. The city will eventually just have to condemn the Saddledome and not have anything, because without an anchor big league tenant paying rent for 35 years, the city won't be building anything.