Calgary Flames fans enter the Saddledome for pre-season NHL hockey action in Calgary on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
The chair of a new Calgary city council committee with the goal of reviving a deal to build a new arena says she and her colleagues hope a previously approved plan can be resurrected.
The city and the owners of the Calgary Flames hockey team reached an agreement in 2019 to build a new arena, but Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp., or CSEC, walked away late last year, citing increasing costs. The city has since been searching for ways to save the project, which is also the centrepiece for a large redevelopment plan for an area southeast of the downtown core where the existing arena, the Scotiabank Saddledome, is located.
Councillor Sonya Sharp, the chair of the new council committee, which met for the first time on Monday, described the arena project as a “catalyst” that will be necessary as part of the city’s economic recovery. She said using existing permits and approvals would make it easier to revive.
“It is an investment in Calgary’s downtown, and it is part of the success of the arts and cultural district,” Ms. Sharp said in an interview. “It adds vibrancy and high density mixed-use to the community.”
The original agreement between the city and CSEC put the cost of the arena and events centre at about $550-million, but the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on supply chains and the construction industry caused those projected costs to balloon to $634-million.
Construction was set to begin in January of this year, but CSEC walked away weeks earlier, citing concerns about increasing budget overruns related to road and sidewalk infrastructure, as well as climate-related costs. Mayor Jyoti Gondek and other councillors contended that CSEC already knew about those added costs.
Why can’t the Calgary Flames and the city seal an arena deal?
Ms. Sharp said bringing CSEC back on board, with the same proposed project, would allow the city to start construction more quickly since the design and permits had already been approved by the city’s planning commission and city council. She noted that the proposed arena has already cost the city and CSEC a combined total of close to $25-million.
“Nobody benefits from delays,” she said. “The quicker we move and get this work started the better this project will be in the sense of timing being built, and considering inflation and other circumstances happening in the world right now.”
CSEC and the City of Calgary had agreed to split the initial $550-million price tag, with the city also providing the land, covering flood mitigation expenses, and paying 90 per cent of the cost to tear down the Saddledome. By July, 2021, the revised budget hit $608.5-million and CSEC agreed to take on a greater share of the costs and cover future price escalations. The amended deal also allowed CSEC to bring in its own developer to replace city-owned Calgary Municipal Land Corp.
The arena plan has been controversial since it was proposed and Ms. Gondek, who was a city councillor when the original deal was signed, did not support the amended deal last year.
After the immediate shock of the deal falling through set in, city council moved quickly in early January to put a new plan in place to get the project restarted.
City administration was directed by council to engage a third party that would be responsible for contacting CSEC to gauge the company’s interest in resuming negotiations. The third party, which hasn’t been identified, is also expected to explore other potential funding partners.
CSEC did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.
The arena is the also centrepiece of the city’s planned culture and entertainment district, which is part of a larger vision for an area called the Rivers District.