Out of curiosity, I took the footprints of a couple of building (the Jobing.com Arena is the smaller one, and the UConn Football stadium in Hartford is the larger one) and put them over top some of the spaces that may be available.
I picked two buildings that were built in the last decade that are likely close to the same size as what the new buildings in Calgary will be.
Ken King has said many times that the new arena will be in the downtown area. There aren't that many possible locations that would be available for re-development that are large enough, especially if they want to build both an arena and stadium in the same general area.
1. East Victoria Park
This is the area north of Stampede Park, from 4th St to 6th St and from 12th Ave to the tracks. I believe this has been the Flames' preferred location for a new arena for a number of years. The area north of 11th Ave is currently just a big open lot, and would be big enough for just an arena and some bars and restaurants. The blocks between 11th and 12th have some houses and businesses on them, but they would likely be available for re-development. There was a planned condo tower for the corner of 4th St and 12th Ave, but it was cancelled a few years ago.
This location would need some significant transportation infrastructure work to be able to move people in and out of the area efficiently. It would likely help spur development in the East Village because City Hall would be the closest C-Train station to the complex (slightly closer than Victoria Park), so there would be large numbers of people walking through the East Village before and after every event.
2. Fire Park
This is the old Firestone tire plant on the corner of Memorial and Barlow, north of the Max Bell. This is a massive piece of property that has remained underdeveloped for decades. When they were planning the Olympic venues, this was considered as a possible location for the new arena and a new stadium for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.
There would probably need to be some road work done to the area to help move people into and out of the site, but it likely would be minimal. It's very close to the Deerfoot and there's already a C-Train station there.
The property is so large that there's room for both the stadium and arena, with plenty to spare for parking and a large entertainment/dining area.
3. West Village -- Greyhound Depot and GSL Chev-City
This is the area directly west of 14th St and bound by the two halves of Bow Trail. The city owns most, if not all, of this land already and has long-term plans to redevelop it as the West Village.
It would be very difficult to put a football stadium into this space with a North-South field orientation. The stadium really only fits if the field were run East-West. The North-South orientation is preferred because it doesn't force one team to play into the sun during the game. Ivor Wynn Stadium in Hamilton is currently the only E-W oriented stadium in the CFL (McMahon is angled slightly to the NW and Taylor Field is angled even more to the NW), but even it is rumored to be getting re-aligned during its reconstruction next year. The stadium in Ottawa also has an E-W orientation, which won't be changed when it re-opens in the future.
3. West Village -- Greyhound, GSL, Renfrew Chrysler
This is the same West Village area, but expanded to include the space currently occupied by Renfrew Chrysler. This would allow for the football stadium to go on the Renfrew space with a field orientation similar to McMahon's.
This would be a drastic change to the City's West Village plans (
http://www.calgary.ca/PDA/LUPP/Docum...illage-arp.pdf), but might make more sense in the long-term. The land in this area is badly contaminated because there was a wood treatment plant there for decades, then the car dealerships moved in. Cleaning it up to the point where it's safe for people to live might be impossible, and even if it isn't, it will be extremely expensive.
From a transportation point of view, it's well located. The new Sunalta C-Train station is right there, and Crowchild and 14th St are both nearby.
