Flames shooting for new arena despite oil price crash
The timing couldn’t be worse.
But the multimillionaires who own the Calgary Flames are moving forward with plans for a new arena to replace the iconic Saddledome.
It’s doubtful they will ask for funding from the federal government. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has made it clear there is no money for hockey arenas even if they do house popular NHL teams.
But it appears the Flames will want some sort of subsidization either from provincial or civic coffers or both.
Given the panic that Premier Jim Prentice has created over the plunge in oil prices and the subsequent decision to cut government spending on health care, education and infrastructure funding for Calgary and Edmonton this would seem like wishful thinking at best or completely delusional.
The plans for a new arena haven’t been made public yet but last week Ken King, the president and CEO of the Calgary Flames announced that they would be presented to Mayor Naheed Nenshi within a couple of weeks.
“I think people will love what they see, and they will like the funding mechanism so they will really like the whole package,” King, the former publisher of both the Calgary Herald and the Calgary Sun, told a Calgary radio station.
Unfortunately for the Flames organization, the article about the plans for the arena ran on the front page of the Calgary Herald right under a large photo of three little boys holding signs asking why they should be blamed for the Alberta’s government’s funding shortfall.
This was in response to a remark made by Prentice on a radio talk show during which he said “Albertans need only look in the mirror” if they want to know who is responsible for the province’s fiscal crisis. That provoked thousands of people to take to social media to vent their outrage.
It’s definitely not a good time for multimillionaires to even suggest that the province subsidize their pet project. Especially when a new cancer treatment centre for Calgary has been put on hold by the Prentice government.
Mayor Nenshi has already thrown cold water on any suggestion that the city might cough up some funds or donate land. All 15 city councillors have also balked at the idea of spending money on an arena when the rapidly growing city needs more roads and public transit.
The Saddledome opened in 1983 with federal, provincial and local governments footing the entire $97-million bill. It was part of an effort to convince the International Olympic Committee that Calgary had world class facilities for figure skating and hockey and should be awarded the 1988 Winter Games.
After the games, the city established a non-profit foundation to manage it with the Flames as the main tenant.
The arena is in the middle of the Stampede grounds and is only 32 years old (Calgary’s football stadium is 55 years-old) but apparently it’s not quite good enough for the NHL.
But given what happened in Edmonton when billionaire Daryl Katz, the owner of the Edmonton Oilers announced his proposal for a new $450-million hockey palace, a new Calgary arena could be up to 10 years away.
In Edmonton it took six years for the city and Katz to come to an agreement. They wanted $100 million from the provincial government for the project and lobbied fiercely for it.
At one point, as Alison Redford’s election campaign was running out of money, Katz companies and associates donated $430,000.
In the end, Edmonton taxpayers are paying for the bulk of the new Edmonton hockey rink which will cost $600 million when surrounding infrastructure costs are added in. Katz agreed to contribute $130 million in rent and cash. The mayor at the time was Stephen Mandel who is now a minister in the Prentice cabinet.
The new arena is slated to host its first professional hockey game in the fall of 2016.
Calgarians love their Flames even though the team hasn’t exactly been on fire ever since it made it to the Stanley Cup final in 2004.
But do they love them enough to ante up money for a new arena?
Looks like we are about to find out.