Looking at that list of Venues I posted, and considering the revenue dollars coming into Olympic cities these days. I wonder whether Calgary could pull off another financially strong games. The venue building costs would be significantly less than some of the previous Olympics. Many of the main venues are already there, and the most expensive venues to build are already being talked about, Olympics or no Olympics. There would be very little in terms of building venues that would have no use after the games.
Certainly Calgary would have a better chance of being profitable than probably any other city in the world.
Don't kid yourself the new arena and football stadium (required for opening/closing ceremonies) will cost close to $1 billion.
I was 1 of 60,000 or so lucky ones to have watched Eddie the Eagle's 90m jump in person. It was fantastic. I was only 9, so maybe a little too young to remember all of the behind the scenes "comedy" in the lead up to the jumps.
For the most part, nearly all of the competitors looked very much the same from our vantage point. All except Eddie, very noticeably landing much shorter than anyone else.
I saw him as well (was 8 at the time). Was definitely awesome and I also saw Alberto 'la bomba' Tomba cruise down the giant slalom.
I saw him as well (was 8 at the time). Was definitely awesome and I also saw Alberto 'la bomba' Tomba cruise down the giant slalom.
My family and I were refugees in Austria at the time, and I remember watching the 88 Olympics and thinking what a neat place Calgary seemed to be. Tomba stuck out to me the most too in terms of athletes. Probably because he wore a lot of bright clothes (I was 7).
I had no idea we would end up in Calgary in a little under 2 years from that point. It kind of sucked, because not only did we narrowly miss out on the Olympics, I also missed out on the Flames winning the cup by a couple of months (the Canadian government, as nice as they were to take us in, sent us to Fort McMurray).
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We just don't have the ongoing international Tourism draw to make the econs work for Profitability
I wouldn't mind it even if it cost us something. I know it's hard for some of the bean counters in this city to comprehend, but not everything in life comes down to money or numbers.
The memories (and facilities) from 88 are still cherished by many Calgarians, and a new Olympics would result in the same thing for an entirely new generation. I would gladly pay my $200 (or whatever) tax share for my daughter and family to create some of those amazing memories.
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I was 1 of 60,000 or so lucky ones to have watched Eddie the Eagle's 90m jump in person. It was fantastic. I was only 9, so maybe a little too young to remember all of the behind the scenes "comedy" in the lead up to the jumps.
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Iw as there for that and to see the Jamacians nearly take their heads off when their sled flipped.
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
Oh great, there goes the rest of the Rocky Mountain research basins!
__________________ "In brightest day, in blackest night / No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil's might / Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"
Last edited by GreenLantern; 09-12-2013 at 12:15 PM.
Don't kid yourself the new arena and football stadium (required for opening/closing ceremonies) will cost close to $1 billion.
There's no reason to count the full cost of those facilities to the cost of Olympic venues. If the Calgary Flames are part of a push (and I can certainly see why they would be), I don't think they would expect that the entire cost of the arena and stadium would go to taxpayers.
Essentially, there are three cities in Canada that could even conceivably host the winter Olympics, Vancouver, Calgary, and Quebec City. However Quebec City is marginal, due to the ski hill situation. If we don't include Quebec City due to that, that leaves Canada with two cities. Vancouver held the last one, so next in line would be Calgary. 2022 might be a bit early, but bidding on 2022 might give us a leg up on 2026 or 2030.
Montreal and Ottawa may have a chance if they teamed up with Lake Placid for their skiing facilities. Can't see Montreal ever hosting another Olympics though.
Montreal and Ottawa may have a chance if they teamed up with Lake Placid for their skiing facilities. Can't see Montreal ever hosting another Olympics though.
Don't kid yourself the new arena and football stadium (required for opening/closing ceremonies) will cost close to $1 billion.
Yup, and that is why I noted that if Calgary is serious, we should be able to win a Games relatively soon. The question is, how serious is a bid vis-a-vis the desire for an arena district? But it would be a neat trick since it would significantly increase public support for such projects.
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As has been posted before, Calgary will be the next Canadian city to host the winter games. Only other possible candidate city is Vancouver which we all know just had the games. Quebec is out of the question as the FIA has rejected every proposal they've suggested to fix their ski hill problem. The games are coming here as long as the city is willing.
I personally think that another Calgary games is one of the best chances for another financially successful winter games as we do have a lot of the necessary infrastructure built and the vast majority of our venues would continue to see use after the games. Also, all of the major projects that would be required are already in the works anyways regardless of games, which you can guarantee is the reason why this is even being discussed (to get some federal funding). Things like a new arena, a new stadium (woo! can you imagine a football stadium that wouldn't look bush league in Tanzania?), a new convention center, new transit lines...etc. these are all coming eventually anyways. The games could only help these projects get off the ground and would also guarantee that they are of world class standards.
The only things I can think of that would be a major expense that wouldn't fall into either the "already existing/minor upgrades" or "we need to build one anyways" category would be an Olympic Village but with Calgary's consistent growth, you can pretty much guarantee that these residencies would be bought up after the games anyway. We might also need some upgrades to our roads but again, that's never a bad thing and I don't think we'd need to do much anyways. Hwy 1 to Lake Louise is already pretty sufficient and the Ring Road will be completed by then.
Actually the more I think about it, the more this seems like a no brianer?
As for our chances of actually winning, well 2022 would be a long shot but first bids usually are. 2026 seems like a good shot, especially if Munich wins 2022. The only thing that could screw us is if the US aren't awarded a summer games in the mean time and decide to bid for the winters. That could push us off for another entire continental rotation. Although who knows if the IOC are all that crazy about another US games. They don't seem to be.
Crazy thing is if Calgary is awarded anything later than the 2030 games, most of the athletes aren't even born yet... Hell even if they win one of the earlier ones, it'll be the little rugrats running around right now that will be competing. Also, most of you old folks will probably be in diapers by the time we get the games any ways
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A bought a print showing the Olympic plaza and where the medals were presented. Had it framed with some pins I got also. My reminder of the 88 Olympics
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