[News] CalgaryNEXT Announcement. New arena details emerge.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

No, you were on target because you were replying to heep223. My point is that not everybody made the same decision he did. Most Calgarians choose to spend their money on other things.

That's my point exactly. Someone said that the flames have a monopoly therefore market forces don't apply. I don't agree - they compete with all other forms of entertainment. The market will set ticket prices. My whole point was that the ticket tax is a burden on the Flames, not on the user or the government.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

An article on edmontons ticket tax.

Interesting that they added a maintenance levy.

http://calgaryherald.com/news/politi...w-does-it-work

[Hilman]

The $1.5 million per year the City receives is for major maintenance items, the Katz Group (EAC) will operate Rogers Place and pay all operating and maintenance expenses.

http://www.edmonton.ca/city_governme...agreement.aspx

[Bingo]

That Diane Colley-Urquhart interview on Sportsnet 960 was interesting ...

don't think it changes the debate for me, but it does put things in order and perspective and I can honestly see how the Flames are trying to plug into what the city is trying accomplish.

a) The city development group that is doing East Village approached the city a while back wanting to take on West Village - some suggested doing two at once was bad for East Village but if the city developer is on board I guess not.
b) The city bought the land in 2009 with the idea of cleaning it up and using it, had the LRC in mind back then.
c) Flooding caused creosote leaching into the river and surrounding areas meaning the need to do something is more urgent than first thought.

She certainly didn't rubber stamp the Flames proposal but she did make it seem less about spin and more about meshing with the city, at least to me (and I came out of that meeting somewhat more negative than most)

[TX_Flame]

Originally Posted by Addick

Candlestick Park | Demolished | San Francisco
Riverfront Stadium | Demolished | Cincinnati
Three Rivers Stadium | Demolished | Pittsburgh
Veterans Stadium | Demolished | Philadelphia
Stadio delle Alpi | Demolished | Turin
Kingdome | Demolished | Seattle
Astrodome | Closed | Houston
RFK Stadium | Single Tenant Remaining | Washington

These are almost all baseball/football combos, which is apples and oranges. A baseball diamond is very different from a football field, which made these combo stadiums nearly impossible to pull off in a way that works well for both sports. A soccer pitch, on the other hand, is quite similar in configuration to a football field, so it's not so hard to pull off. I live in Houston, TX and NRG Stadium (home of the Texans) is regularly used for international soccer matches.

A note of caution to MLS hopefuls, though. MLS frowns on multiple use facilities. They made Houston build a dedicated soccer only stadium (TDECU) for the Dynamo.

[TX_Flame]

Originally Posted by Handsome B. Wonderful

An amateur sports facility with no parking? Brilliant! Have fun hauling your gear in on the train folks.

Limited parking, not "no parking", as in enough for an amateur kids soccer tournament but not enough for 30 000 fans.

[Beatle17]

Originally Posted by Bingo

That Diane Colley-Urquhart interview on Sportsnet 960 was interesting ...


She certainly didn't rubber stamp the Flames proposal but she did make it seem less about spin and more about meshing with the city, at least to me (and I came out of that meeting somewhat more negative than most)

I listened also and it does clarify some things. I think the big issue with the project was everything presented was for general information only and people are upset that it wasn't in detail. And not being in detail lets the imaginations run wild and assume the worst (like using the presentation of the field house as what will actually be built). The Colley-Urquhart interview and the article posted about the CRL from Edmonton earlier in the thread should help some people understand the IDEA better from CSE.

Hopefully before everyone totally panics we all step back and realize that the plans shown on Tuesday and the financing displayed were for general information only.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by TX_Flame

These are almost all baseball/football combos, which is apples and oranges. A baseball diamond is very different from a football field, which made these combo stadiums nearly impossible to pull off in a way that works well for both sports. A soccer pitch, on the other hand, is quite similar in configuration to a football field, so it's not so hard to pull off. I live in Houston, TX and NRG Stadium (home of the Texans) is regularly used for international soccer matches.

A note of caution to MLS hopefuls, though. MLS frowns on multiple use facilities. They made Houston build a dedicated soccer only stadium (TDECU) for the Dynamo.

I'm no fan of multi-use stadiums, but youre right about soccer/football. Centurylink in Seattle is a great example of how 1 stadium can be used for both.

Skydome, not so much.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Originally Posted by Bingo

That Diane Colley-Urquhart interview on Sportsnet 960 was interesting ...

don't think it changes the debate for me, but it does put things in order and perspective and I can honestly see how the Flames are trying to plug into what the city is trying accomplish.

a) The city development group that is doing East Village approached the city a while back wanting to take on West Village - some suggested doing two at once was bad for East Village but if the city developer is on board I guess not.
b) The city bought the land in 2009 with the idea of cleaning it up and using it, had the LRC in mind back then.
c) Flooding caused creosote leaching into the river and surrounding areas meaning the need to do something is more urgent than first thought.

She certainly didn't rubber stamp the Flames proposal but she did make it seem less about spin and more about meshing with the city, at least to me (and I came out of that meeting somewhat more negative than most)

I think some pretty thoughtful comments from Coun. Carra in the herald too

“We have to run the numbers,” said Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra. “If the arena creates the kind of demand that we need in order to unlock the development potential of the West Village, that’s awesome.

“(If) the arena takes up so much of the CRL that there’s no money left to do things like cleaning up (contamination) … or so much room that there’s not enough future real estate potential to actually pay back the CRL, then it’s not going to work,” Carra said.

http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-...sports-complex

[TX_Flame]

Originally Posted by Addick

While it is not a perfect comparison, it is valuable as it highlights the difficulties of using a single venue for multiple sports. Although the level of difficulty will range depending on the differences between the sports proposed to share a venue, there will be struggles and compromises some of which will be too great to overcome.

Even among the various codes of football there are differences that make it a struggle for tenants to be happy with shared venues. While retractable stands may allow Association Football and American Football to share a venue, they may not be good enough to allow the aforementioned codes of football to share a ground with Aussie Rules Football. However, due to similar-sized playing fields Aussie Rules Football and Cricket could happily share a ground without the need for retractable stands.

At the end of the day, there are situations where it can work but we have more than enough examples of abject failures to know that we should proceed with caution.

Wow! We're going for CFL, MLS AND an Aussie rules team?

[zyzz]

What's with the hockey rink? Is there not a lower bowel and then a bunch of boxes above? Strange looking design

[corporatejay]

So after a couple of days of being furious, I've calmed down a bit. Admittedly I'm still upset with the lack of vision for the area presented by the flames, but I do have a lot of respect for the inner city councillors (Druh, Wooley, Carra) and Nenshi himself when it comes to this stuff. They don't strike me as people who will get bullied by this and will only do it if it makes sense for the city's overall future.

I really don't care what people like Chu say because they are debbie downers about everything.

[hummdeedoo]

I think the Flames group should have plans to build there own brewery on the site. Make there own high quality craft beer and sell it through a beer pipeline to all the pubs/restaurants in the West Village and of course at all games/events.

Revenue from this will pay for everything - plus a beer pipeline will attract tourists from all over the world especially Germany.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by hummdeedoo

I think the Flames group should have plans to build there own brewery on the site. Make there own high quality craft beer and sell it through a beer pipeline to all the pubs/restaurants in the West Village and of course at all games/events.

Revenue from this will pay for everything - plus a beer pipeline will attract tourists from all over the world especially Germany.

Quite possibly one of the top 10 ideas posted in this thread.

I would come just for that.

[TX_Flame]

Houston, TX in the house. I'm kind of surprised no one has mentioned the possibility of a hotel tax. It's how Houston is paying for 4 expensive new state of the art facilities (baseball, football, basketball/hockey - AAACK! MULTI SPORT FACILITY!!! - and soccer). It's been much more palatable for taxpayers since we're letting the tourists pay for the "tourist attractions". How about using that instead of a CRL? Plus it should work even better in Calgary since you have the advantage of being really close to one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the world.

[TX_Flame]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

They haven't won any there yet.

But mores seriously, given the present team's window, and the construction timeline I think it's fair to say the best shot at a cup may actually come before they are out of the Dome.

1989???

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by TX_Flame

1989???

Clinched the cup win on the road in Montreal, not home at the Dome.

[TX_Flame]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Clinched the cup win on the road in Montreal, not home at the Dome.

Ok, in that way, yes, but it was their home.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by hummdeedoo

I think the Flames group should have plans to build there own brewery on the site. Make there own high quality craft beer and sell it through a beer pipeline to all the pubs/restaurants in the West Village and of course at all games/events.

Revenue from this will pay for everything - plus a beer pipeline will attract tourists from all over the world especially Germany.

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Quite possibly one of the top 10 ideas posted in this thread.

I would come just for that.

Agreed. That actually would be a cool feature.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by hummdeedoo

I think the Flames group should have plans to build there own brewery on the site. Make there own high quality craft beer and sell it through a beer pipeline to all the pubs/restaurants in the West Village and of course at all games/events.

Revenue from this will pay for everything - plus a beer pipeline will attract tourists from all over the world especially Germany.

Not sure the idea of a brewery on creosote contaminated lands is such a great idea, even after heavy clean-up.

Other than that, I would totally support the Calgary Flames Heroin Micro Laughing Gas XL Beer Pipeline