Perhaps the opening salvo in the hopes of a new stadium for Calgary. Ken King in studio with Boomer & Rhett Sportsnet Staff September 23, 2014, The President and CEO of the Calgary Flames joins the morning show in studio for a full hour; King talks players, offseason changes in and around the team, the continuing climb towards a new arena and much more. "It (Calgary ownership group) will soon include an extraordinarily ambitious building project that extends far beyond an arena. The first drawings I have in my office are from 2007...Edmonton is in the ground (new arena), this is not a "me too" thing. When we come forward and it will be soon, I believe the following will happen: the financial structure for it,...lots of equity from the ownership group, lots of creative approaches, the location is..., wouldn't it be cool if there was a serious fieldhouse... the best before date for McMahon Stadium might be closing in, and clearly the Scotiabank Saddledome needs to be replaced so if you could imagine what could take place. We're seeing some local groups, talking to them about the project, we want to garner general support, we want to have the answers to all the questions people will ask before they ask them and that's really the work we're doing now. I think there are some cities that have multiple facilities together, I'm not sure if any of them will be as dramatic as this in terms of the collective efficiency of what we're trying to do, if we can do it. Architects have been working on this for a long time but if we can pull it off I think it will be one of the most transformational projects in this city for the next 50 years."
Well, this could be it. Rumours of a Calgary entertainment complex (including a new stadium) look to be revealed soon. Hope this isn't a false alarm for a stadium announcement and that it is only a new arena (if that wasn't enough) Flames to debut arena plans soon, won't 'steal money' from city: King Jason Markusoff, Calgary Herald March 5, 2015 By month’s end, Calgarians should know where the Calgary Flames want to build their next arena and how they hope to pay for it — a proposal CEO Ken King has been devising since at least 2007. Mayor Naheed Nenshi’s office has confirmed King will give him a sneak preview within the next two weeks, before he finally unveils to the public the team’s vision for a new downtown complex to replace the Saddledome. Depending on what sort of government financial assistance Flames owners are seeking, this announcement stands to thrust Calgary into years of public debate, if Edmonton’s arena saga is any guide. “I think people will love what they see and they’ll like the funding mechanism, so they’ll like the whole package, I really believe that,” King told KISS 95.9 radio station Thursday. He also said he’ll release plans in a “couple of weeks.” The team owners’ frontman declined an interview to clarify what sort of shape his funding plan will take. He did, however, rule out one potential method. “Before any of your listeners have conniptions, when you see our project, people are just going to love it. And we’re not going to sneak in here and steal money from the city,” King told the radio hosts. City councillors have pre-emptively narrowed his options further. The 15 members are almost uniformly opposed to redirecting scarce infrastructure dollars at a professional sports facility, though other options may be on the table. “The best option perhaps is just going to be making land available, but no dollars. Because there are no dollars,” said Coun. Ward Sutherland, vice-chair of council’s priorities and finance committee. Even free land is a tough sell for several council members. Nenshi is wary of a land giveaway, especially in high-value areas like West Village, the city-owned lands around the Greyhound station where it’s widely perceived the Flames want to develop. “I’ve always said that I’m open to having a conversation on anything, but wherever there is public contribution there has to be very significant public benefit,” Nenshi said in a brief interview Thursday. “I’m not interested in public money subsidizing solely private profit.” He refused to elaborate on what he deems public benefit. King has said he’ll pitch an “extremely ambitious” project and has hinted it will offer more than an arena, to give it wider appeal. The rumour mill has brimmed with ideas such as an amateur sports field house and a new Stampeders football stadium. According to documents the Herald reported on in November, King and the mayor’s office have previously discussed locating the complex in West Village, the expanse of car dealerships and the Greyhound station west of downtown. It’s earmarked for eventual redevelopment on par with East Village, though the land is easily big enough to fit a hockey barn, within walking distance of the Sunalta LRT. The Flames have been seriously planning a replacement for the Saddledome since at least 2007, and in earlier days looked at staying within Stampede Park. Back then, King had predicted his team would be skating in a new home by 2014. But as Oilers owner Daryl Katz navigated through a years-long civic funding struggle and began construction on Rogers Place in the meantime, the Flames organization has been mired in site selection wrangling and study. The Saddledome, completed in 1983, will be the oldest arena in the National Hockey League once new venues are completed in Detroit and Edmonton, and the New York Islanders move to new digs in Brooklyn. Flames brass bemoan that its lower bowl is too small, and it lacks the luxury box space that newer venues boast. The saddle-shaped roof has also become a huge headache for large concert organizers. Touring acts like Maroon 5, Paul McCartney and Taylor Swift have booked Edmonton’s Rexall Place and skipped Calgary. In fact, that’s the issue that prompted King to take to the airwaves Thursday, on a pop music station that’s running a ticket giveaway Friday for tickets to see Madonna in Edmonton. On funding, King cannot count on the provincial or federal governments for assistance if Calgary stymies him, as they didn’t contribute to the arena in Edmonton. City councillors there agreed to cough up nearly three-quarters of the costs for the Oilers’ $480-million downtown complex, though not through direct grants. Most of it will come from a city-levied ticket tax, parking revenue and a community revitalization levy which is paid for through property taxes on future downtown Edmonton developments and reassessed buildings. The Flames haven’t found as willing a partner in the mayor’s office as Oilers owner Daryl Katz had with Stephen Mandel, the capital’s former mayor. In 2011, Nenshi rejected King’s request to strike an independent committee to study the need of a new arena. “The mayor said, ‘Well, show me a presentation,’ and as he is aware we’ve had a lot of conversations with him,” King said Thursday. “I think in fairness to him, he’s the first person that should see the fully fleshed plan.” Nenshi’s office, which boasts about publishing his meeting list every few months, would not disclose the schedule date for his sit-down with Flames officials.
A new hockey arena? A new stadium? Speculation flies after city snaps up GSL land on the westside of downtown. Calgary Herald.com February 12, 2015 The area, bounded by the Bow River to the north and Crowchild Trail to the west, has huge development potential. Mario Toneguzzi has the details. The City of Calgary now officially owns the GSL land on the western outskirts of downtown leading to speculation on what it plans to do with its real estate holdings of more than 12 hectares in the area along Bow Trail. A new home for the Calgary Flames and perhaps even the Calgary Stampeders? Or a development called West Village similar to the mixed-use project coming out of the ground in East Village now. Jillian Henderson, spokeswoman for the City of Calgary, confirmed the city has purchased the more than four-hectare GSL land, at 1720 Bow Trail S.W., from General Supplies Co. Ltd. for about $36.9 million. “The reason that this parcel was purchased was actually more of an opportunity acquisition,” said Henderson. “There’s the whole west downtown redevelopment piece that went to council and so we just saw that as an opportunity acquisition and it may be used for municipal use down the road or it may not, but that’s really why the land was purchased.” Among other parcels of land in the area, the city also owns the Greyhound site, which is nearly two hectares. Ken King, president and chief executive of the Calgary Flames, said he could not make any comments about the site or future plans by the organization. Richard White, an urban strategist with Ground3 Inc. Landscape Architects, said the potential for development in that area is huge. “It’s on the west side. It’s got great exposure to the river. It’s got great exposure to the pathway and eventually to Edworthy Park,” said White. “It’s closer to both universities (Mount Royal University and the University of Calgary), which are just 10 minutes away . . . . But it also comes with a lot of complications. The spaghetti network of roads . . . The infrastructure of roads and how important they are as commuter routes make it difficult to create a true village there. “We all know the Flames have talked about how whether that’s a place for an arena and a football stadium, which is what I’m hearing. They would actually do both,” said White. “Potentially it’s an area for maybe a new convention centre. If you were really thinking big, do you move the Convention Centre and create what’s called a SHED — which is a Sports, Hospitality, Entertainment District?” White said the area could also make a “wonderful” residential district. “They’re sitting there on the river, on an LRT station. Any piece of land that’s close to downtown has great potential.” Tom Dixon, manager of real estate, transportation and logistics with Calgary Economic Development, said every piece of development is in the context of the larger plan for the city and the existing structures. “When you look at West Village, it’s in many ways a potential development that parallels in many respects East Village with Calgary’s intensive office core right in the middle,” he said. “The success in East Village with Calgary Municipal Land Corporation and the residential, mixed-used development that’s aggressively underway there suggests to me that that model can potentially be matched on the West Village lands. “We’ve already seen in the downtown how effectively the core has expanded onto 10th Avenue. That’s a new corridor with office and mixed-use development. You can see them under construction. “I think what that means is the geographic barriers that have traditionally defined the downtown seem to be changing. Nobody’s going to reroute the river but maybe the West Village could be another part of reshaping the downtown core.”
Calgary Stampeders may ride Flames coattails to new stadium Scott Mitchell, Calgary Sun Thursday, March 12, 2015 As of today, the Calgary Stampeders are the furthest thing from the envy of the Canadian Football League when it comes to stadiums. While each and every franchise has either built a brand new venue or poured significant resources into renovations that reach far beyond cosmetic improvements over the past few years, football fans in Calgary have been left out in the cold, with the defending Grey Cup champions still calling a creaky, uncomfortable, 55-year-old McMahon Stadium home. But there's hope on the horizon. When Calgary Flames president and CEO Ken King teased new arena plans last week, saying an announcement regarding plans for a new downtown building were "a couple of weeks" from being unveiled, the stadium aspect was lost in the shuffle in this hockey-mad city. Make no mistake, however, the Stampeders are tagging along, and when the plans shrouded in mystery are finally announced, the football club will play a major role. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats (estimated cost of $146 million) and Winnipeg Blue Bombers (estimated cost of $209 million) have shiny new venues, while the Edmonton Eskimos, B.C. Lions, Ottawa RedBlacks and Montreal Alouettes have all poured huge dollars into refurbishing their respective stadiums. The Saskatchewan Roughriders also have a new stadium on the way, which is currently slated to open in 2017 at an estimated cost of $278 million. That leaves the Toronto Argonauts -- who wants to be mentioned in the same stadium conversation as that franchise right now? -- and the Stampeders as the only two organizations with iffy stadium situations, albeit for two much different reasons. From a strictly football point of view, McMahon is perfectly capable of holding games well into the future, with new $1.35-million Field Turf laid down last spring. But first downs and touchdowns are just part of the entertainment in this day and age, and McMahon lags in just about every aspect other than the view from your seat. From a fan experience and comfort standpoint, despite dollars allocated to improve the in-game show last season with a new scoreboard and much-needed upgrades to amenities such as washrooms, concessions and cellphone reception, the University of Calgary-owned building pales in comparison to the raised bar around the league. Former CFL commissioner Mark Cohon was pretty clear Calgary was next on the stadium to-do list when he visited McMahon in September 2013. "This is still a great place, in terms of the environment, but as you see other venues and other stadiums being built, there's probably a little bit of jealousy that's going on with fans here," Cohon said. "I don't have a timeline for what the ownership group wants to do here, but obviously, whether it's a retro-fit of this or a new stadium in part of their future plans, it is something we'd love to see." King didn't offer much in the way of details last week in speaking with Calgary Sun columnist Michael Platt, other than the appetizer "people will love it." Rumours have swirled over the new arena/stadium development anchoring a west-end makeover, while some prefer to believe it's bound for the the east end of downtown near the existing Saddledome. Mayor Naheed Nenshi and city council are expected to get a look-see at the Flames' plans in the near future, but there are still more questions than answers, at this point, with funding models -- as always -- the key to everything. Either way, football fans in this city now have something to look forward to. If the arena is the main course, the stadium portion of the announcement is an extremely tasty side dish."
This from Green Party at riderfans.com Spoke with someone who has seen the plans and both stadiums are going to be extremely impressive. I believe it will be a 2018 opening for the Stamps (so I am not sure if it will be 17-18 season for the Flames or 18-19 - I think it was 17-18). Flames new home will be a new standard for the NHL and will be able to accommodate some of the larger music acts that usually pass Calgary by . Stampeders will have a greatly increased capacity and will be comfortable at all times of year. Calgary will be a regular Grey Cup stop in the future. This will be an extremely exciting announcement! And there is also this from Scott Mitchell of the Calgary Sun
Flames' arena pitch includes new football stadium, amateur sports facility Jason Markusoff, Calgary Herald April 2, 2015 The Calgary Flames’ vision for its new arena project is a blockbuster that would take up several blocks’ worth of prime land west of downtown — bringing together a new hockey arena plus a football stadium and an amateur sports fieldhouse, the Herald has learned. It’s a megaproject that could easily cost more than half a billion dollars, and features a component more likely to draw in civic funding support than if it were merely new stand-alone homes for the Flames and Stampeders. By bundling in a fieldhouse designed for track meets, indoor soccer and other amateur sports, Flames CEO Ken King is proposing to build something on the top of the city’s own project wish list, and potentially gives the proposal the sort of public benefit that Mayor Naheed Nenshi has said is essential if city hall is to become a project partner. The indoor multi-sport complex could make the Flames project more “palatable” to the city, said Jason Zaran, incoming chairman of the Calgary Multisport Fieldhouse Society. “A multi-sport facility is needed in this town, and I think if they can be the ones to bring it to the table and get it done, it looks good on them as well,” Zaran said. His group has been working with the city’s recreation department on a $202-million, publicly-funded development at Foothills Athletic Park, just north of McMahon Stadium. In February, city staff ranked it at the top of the city’s unfunded infrastructure projects. King has offered the fieldhouse society a tantalizing Plan B — constructing the facility as part of the stadium for the Canadian Football League team, which the Flames own. According to one source familiar with the plans, the football complex and fieldhouse would be part of the same convertible building. King shared his plans with Nenshi in mid-March, then the mayor relayed it to council in a closed-door session Monday evening, multiple sources have confirmed. But there’s still no formal proposal submitted to council, and it’s unclear when King will finally reveal the ambitious concept to the public, though he did say a month ago the release was a “couple of weeks” away. This three-in-one idea spawns numerous questions pertaining to Stampede Park’s Scotiabank Saddledome, the University of Calgary’s McMahon lands, and, of course, the City of Calgary, whose West Village lands the Flames are said to covet. Combining an arena with a stadium/fieldhouse takes up a much larger swath of the property around the Greyhound Station. The city has been acquiring those lands for several years, and recently purchased the four-hectare GSL car dealership site for $36.9 million. But it’s never been for sports facilities. The land would become part of the West Village blueprint for a future community of condo highrises and office buildings, akin to what’s under development in East Village. Several councillors have said they’d be open to giving the Flames free land for a new arena, though the Herald could not confirm whether that’s what Ken King is asking for. Nenshi and council unanimously oppose direct taxpayer subsidies for professional sports buildings, and King tried to head off talk of a massive funding request in a radio station interview last month. “Before any of your listeners have conniptions, when you see our project, people are just going to love it. And we’re not going to sneak in here and steal money from the city,” he told KISS 95.9. In a voicemail Wednesday, King said he’s not yet prepared to discuss the proposal, which he’s been working on since at least 2007. “I’m still in the quiet zone,” he said. The Flames organization now owns the Stampeders, Flames, Calgary Hitmen (minor-league hockey) and Calgary Roughnecks (lacrosse) — but they’re playing in some of their respective leagues’ oldest facilities, the 1960 McMahon Stadium and the 1983 Saddledome. In Edmonton, the Oilers’ $480-million new arena will be complete by fall 2016. That city’s tax-backed loan, ticket tax and parking revenue will cover much of its cost. Nenshi has been skeptical about the need for a new arena or for any city cost-sharing. In 2011, the mayor’s office refused to help set up an independent committee to study the project. The mayor’s tone appears to have shifted slightly last month, after his meeting with King. When asked about the arena at a Rotary Club speech, Nenshi reiterated that it must have some public benefit if it’s to garner public funding, and he praised the Flames’ six owners as “deeply committed” to Calgary and thoughtful about their process. “Whatever solution we end up with is a solution we’ll get with great respect for one another and figuring out together what’s best for the community,” Nenshi said.
Tks to McMurph at skyscraperpage for headsup Calgary's Ken King was on CBC Radio's The Eyeopener on April 22, 2015 | He stated (starting at 4:43) that the arena/stadium/fieldhouse plan will be revealed after the provincial election (May 5, 2015). (Unstated, that might include after any Flames playoff run) It was also clear that it is going into the West Village, with multiple references to the convenience of the "overbuilt" Sunalta station.