[News] CalgaryNEXT Announcement. New arena details emerge.

[TX_Flame]

Dp

[TX_Flame]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

Gee, ya think?

Yeah, I got your drift. Just that there are some people on here who might need the green text (which I would really love to know how to do on Tapatalk).

[scotty2hotty]

I go to BC Place quite often (Whitecaps fan) and I'm of the opinion that the retractable roof was a complete waste of money. It's slightly impressive ... but really, for the money they paid, it's very underwhelming.

The place is massive and the opening is relatively small by comparison. Add to that the fact that a massive scoreboard takes up the entire centre of the opening and it's more like a sun-roof than an open air stadium. (The scoreboard is fantastic, btw)

Even when open, it still feels like an indoor stadium. I've often thought that just covering the whole thing with plexi-glass (or whatever, you get the point) would have had a much better 'open air' feel.

I can see the allure of trying a transparent roof. Especially in a place like Calgary. If the other option is to spend another $200M on a seldom-used set up similar to BC place ... then I'd be inclined to go with the closed scenario.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by TX_Flame

Oh, "Should we take care of it now or wait for the situation to get worse and even more expensive to fix?" Sounds like a real conundrum to me.

That might be a little overly simplistic though, no? There are a lot of competing priorities within the municipal budget, including infrastructure that needs to be updated or significantly improved. It is not realistic to do it all at once. So you have to prioritize and weigh the cost/benefits of waiting.

If another site works and allows you to defer these costs, you have to at least consider that.

[Swarez]

The fact that this was announced before there is any plans to actually clean up the site just tells me they want the city to be emotionally invested in this project. Problem is most I assume are OK with going to saddledome, as evidence how expensive it is and how many games sell out. People say they care but don't really mind the old barn.

Everyone here now seems to be worried about their jobs, income levels and expenses and probably not in the mood to add in more debt and increase our property taxes even more. I I work for an accounting firm and we may lay off 100 or so before year is done which is pretty significant for our operations here in Calgary.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

I've had a hard time keeping up with the thread, so sorry if already discussed, but can anyone post up an example of an indoor stadium that has ever been built that didn't suck?

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

A quick Wikipedia search provides plenty examples of covered stadiums of varying capacity. Whether they suck probably depends on who you ask, but I don't think they always suck (especially in this climate).

Sure, but assface asked if anyone could provide an example of any that don't suck and your response was basically "There probably is but I don't know of any".

[calgaryblood]

Is it possible they would first build the arena and then everything else after? Or would everything have to be built at the same time?

Selfish of me but I want this arena built ASAP. The others can wait.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Is it possible they would first build the arena and then everything else after? Or would everything have to be built at the same time?

Selfish of me but I want this arena built ASAP. The others can wait.

King said the current proposed arena/stadium/fieldhouse design is integrated and cannot be built in stages.

Anyways, until the creosote contamination is dealt with, they can't start construction in that area.

[TX_Flame]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

That might be a little overly simplistic though, no? There are a lot of competing priorities within the municipal budget, including infrastructure that needs to be updated or significantly improved. It is not realistic to do it all at once. So you have to prioritize and weigh the cost/benefits of waiting.

If another site works and allows you to defer these costs, you have to at least consider that.

And that other site would be...?

[albertGQ]

Any interesting questions this morning on the Fan? Kinger answered all the questions asked of him?

[pgsieve]

He is so quick and intelligent with his responses. It's actually impressive just listening to him because he is so calculated. Nothing major to report though. Most questions have been "What is a field house?" - "Who is paying for the clean-up?" "Why isn't there baseball?"

[Sainters7]

When KK said they polled STH's and 95% were down with an enclosed roof for the football field, he has to mean Flames STH's right? I simply can't buy 95% of Stamps STH's feeling that way...especially with that article regarding a potential month earlier start of the season (thus wrapping up in October) as soon as next year.


Posted from Calgarypuck.com App for Android

[HotHotHeat]

I really want Ken to stop suggesting that answers to all these questions are 'obvious'.

[Blarg]

"What are the advantages of the city owning the building?"
"Yes there are benefits to the city owning the building"
Great political double talk.

[IamNotKenKing]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

I really want Ken to stop suggesting that answers to all these questions are 'obvious'.

I really want people to stop complaining about minutiae, and actually listen to the proposal and what he has to say...

[HotHotHeat]

Originally Posted by IamNotKenKing

I really want people to stop complaining about minutiae, and actually listen to the proposal and what he has to say...

Hard to get an understanding of a proposal that has basically no information available.

[SeeGeeWhy]

Is there any possibility that this development could be linked to an Olympic bid?

[saillias]

Originally Posted by pgsieve

He is so quick and intelligent with his responses. It's actually impressive just listening to him because he is so calculated. Nothing major to report though. Most questions have been "What is a field house?" - "Who is paying for the clean-up?" "Why isn't there baseball?"

Agreed, the questions were utterly useless. Most of them have been answered in the original proposal.

[bax]

Originally Posted by saillias

Agreed, the questions were utterly useless. Most of them have been answered in the original proposal.

The worst one was "what will happen to the dealerships in the area?"

Like really? That's your greatest concern!?

[GullFoss]

After reading the entire thread, here are my conclusions:

1) The flames may or may not need a new arena in the near future, but probably need one within the next 20 years. That gives the team up to 12 years to start an arena project.
2) The $200m fieldhouse is primarily going to be an amateur facility, so it should be built in a place that encourages maximum amateur participation. If that location is different from the optimal location for the Flames new arena, the field house and hockey arena should be built separately rather than put them together to save a few dollars.
3) From the point of view of the city, it may be too early to develop the west village area while the east village development has a long way to go. If the flames want help from the city to develop the area, it should be done on the city's timeline rather than the flames.

Conclusions:
1) Fieldhouse should be in an area that is optimal for amateur sports. If Stampeders want to ride along, they should pay for all upgrades required to make it a dual facility. They should also be doing it on the city's timeline, since the city would be doing the Stampeders a favor by letting them tag along for incremental costs only.

2) If the flames want to build this arena in the west village, they should wait until the city is ready to develop the land. Could be upwards of a decade given that focus should be on East Village right now.

3) When the West Village is ready to be developed, the frame of funding changes in favor of the flames: for a $550m event and sporting facility, the flames and ticket holders are paying $450m. Very generous of the flames in my opinion. Environmental remediation, and infrastructure would be done as part of development rather than done for the flames. I think its pretty fair for the city to pay $100m - there are some public benefits for the arena and event center, and it would help kickstart development. And the city would have to build public transport infrastructure anyways at that time.