[News] UPD: Calgary City Council approves exploratory bid study for 2026 Olympics

[Boreal]

http://www.cbc.ca/1.4504422

So this new plan, well, maybe it's the start of a different conversation.

But as tantalizing as the new plan is to look at, it's worth peeking north across the tracks at the East Village. There, what the initial drawings offered looked a bit different from what we got. (Remember the Venetian canals we were going to have?)

So in Victoria Park, expect debate and a load of design changes.

Michael Brown sums it up this way:

"If we're looking at a painting, we're not doing the final touches. We're doing the big strokes."

[Ozy_Flame]

I wonder how mad this is going to make the Flames owners. Cute mad, spicy mad, or "I wish you were never born" mad.

[Boreal]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...ster-1.3340884

Hidden effect

But the effect is there even on foot.

Let's say you live north of the river and work downtown. Once you get back on your side of the river after work, you're likely to stay there. You probably don't think about it consciously, but you likely go out to eat, visit a coffee shop and make friends on your side of the river.

[Boreal]

The complexity of the process & the importance of the development of this location in the city is exactly why CSEC shouldnt be driving the bus on it. They are an entertainment corporation not a development corporation. They are a major stakeholder in the area plan, but not the only stakeholder.

They need to stick to their area of expertise, sports & entertainment for the same reason I don’t ask a plumber to fix my car. Maybe he/she can get it running, but the likelihood of it going wrong is much higher than it going right.

[Fire]

Originally Posted by nobles_point

The complexity of the process & the importance of the development of this location in the city is exactly why CSEC shouldnt be driving the bus on it. They are an entertainment corporation not a development corporation. They are a major stakeholder in the area plan, but not the only stakeholder.

They need to stick to their area of expertise, sports & entertainment for the same reason I don’t ask a plumber to fix my car. Maybe he/she can get it running, but the likelihood of it going wrong is much higher than it going right.

Fair enough. The Flames would probably be fine with that if they weren't being asked to pay for the vast majority of it.

[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by Fire

Fair enough. The Flames would probably be fine with that if they weren't being asked to pay for the vast majority of it.

1/3 is the vast majority?

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Fire

Fair enough. The Flames would probably be fine with that if they weren't being asked to pay for the vast majority of it.

The vast majority of the cost of the entire development?

[You Need a Thneed]

Ski Jumping should definately be at whistler. No sense in having two facilities in western Canada.

[Scornfire]

Originally Posted by Fire

Fair enough. The Flames would probably be fine with that if they weren't being asked to pay for the vast majority of it.

Agreed, how dare they be expected to pay for their own building which they want 100% of the profits from, what kind of commie hell are we living in?

[Passe La Puck]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

The vast majority of the cost of the entire development?

If you think about it the flames are pretty much funding the entire city, maybe even the world!

[stamps]

Originally Posted by Scornfire

Agreed, how dare they be expected to pay for their own building which they want 100% of the profits from, what kind of commie hell are we living in?

If not the Flames I'm sure the city will find somebody to pay 100 percent of the cost for a new arena in our city . I like how our mayor said he likes the way New York and Seattle have dealt with the same issue ... if cities like those two can get it done with private money why not Calgary ???

[Nacre]

Originally Posted by stamps

If not the Flames I'm sure the city will find somebody to pay 100 percent of the cost for a new arena in our city . I like how our mayor said he likes the way New York and Seattle have dealt with the same issue ... if cities like those two can get it done with private money why not Calgary ???

It is important to note that Seattle's arena is being built so as to make money on concerts and music festivals rather than either the NHL or the NBA. They are just icing on the cake if they come.

The UK has a ton of arenas and basically no interest in either hockey or basketball. It works because they have a great rotation of musical acts and comics that use the arenas.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by jayswin

People keep bringing this up as a perfect solution, but a 24 year rotation seems like an almost cruelly devised window between games where almost all your infrastructure from the last games will be almost okay but not quite and most likely in need of major upgrades/replacements.

I've been saying that cities should bid for a pair of Olympics, either consecutive, or 8 years apart, so that the venue cost for each games immediately drops in half.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

Ski Jumping should definately be at whistler. No sense in having two facilities in western Canada.

I don't even think Whistler is on the SJ world cup schedule so they're useless as well, maybe build the jumps in Banff or Lake Louise and have a big world cup party once a year.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

I don't even think Whistler is on the SJ world cup schedule so they're useless as well, maybe build the jumps in Banff or Lake Louise and have a big world cup party once a year.

There are no North American dates on the Ski Jumping World Cup circuit (and there hasn't been one since Whistler hosted an event in 2009 to ensure Olympic readiness). That doesn't mean the jumps are useless for the Olympics.

It is a pretty strong reason why we shouldn't be spending any more money than absolutely necessary to hold any ski jumping events at the Olympics.

[craigwd]

I've seen FIS build a man-made ski hill for Aerials in the middle of the Birds Nest Olympic Stadium in Beijing. And that was for a weekend World Cup.
I have no doubt a temporary ski jumping area can be constructed in the Canmore or Kananaskis zone at a reasonable price, then be dismantled with little impact to the natural area.

PS: If you're interested the Poland World cup is on right now.

[corporatejay]

The amount of sweat we are wasting on ski jumping is ridiculous. I would tell the IOC they can have them back in South Korea, we are not building that infrastructure, completely useless for a sport that doesn't even get televised.

Aerial is a different story.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

I don't even think Whistler is on the SJ world cup schedule so they're useless as well, maybe build the jumps in Banff or Lake Louise and have a big world cup party once a year.

I think the only involvement the National Park may have in a potential 2026 Olympics is the hosting of the downhill at Lake Louise. I would be shocked if anything else is in the park.

[dirk diggler]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Andrew Brown @browncbc
The IOC views the Saddledome as acceptable for Olympic hockey and figure skating, according to director of Calgary Olympic bid Kyle Ripley.

maybe the flames should get Bettman to talk to them because that has been such a good idea in the past

[Joborule]

How much is the costs for building a ski jump? Is it really that costly, or pretty small in the grand scheme of things? Because if there isn't really that much costs savings, I don't believe it's that big of a deal to build one locally. I just really not fond of the idea of having a single event so far away from the host location. Pointless to deal with security costs in that regard.