In August of this year, plans were unveiled for a new downtown stadium-arena, dubbed CalgaryNEXT. The structure would not only house a new football stadium, but also a new hockey arena and a multipurpose fieldhouse. CalgaryNEXT would be replacing McMahon Stadium and the Scotiabank Saddledome in addition to fulfilling the demand for a fieldhouse. After the plans were unveiled by the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp., the question was begged of whether or not a project of this size is even feasible right now for Calgary.
The project does come with its share of obstacles, namely budget. The projected cost of building CalgaryNEXT is around 890 million dollars, a fund that wouldn’t be easy to come by in normal circumstances, much less during tough times for the economy. The plan proposes breaking down the cost into 4 different sources: the company proposing the idea, the city, a community revitalization levy and ticket tax. The company would be covering 200 million of the projected cost, while they are asking for 200 million from the city. A community revitalization levy is essentially a loan which is paid back through rising property taxes in the area as a result of the project and it would be covering 240 million. The ticket tax would be used to cover the remaining 250 million (which would initially come from a loan most likely from a private company) through extra tax on tickets for future events in the venue.
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In addition to questioning the feasibility of producing the 890 million, it is important to consider the cost of first reclaiming the area where the stadium-arena would be built. Currently the ground is contaminated with creosote and the cost of cleaning up this pollution lies between 50 and 300 million. As of now, there is a six month environmental study being carried out on the land to determine exactly how much reclamation will cost. Politicians are approaching the project apprehensively due to the number of obstacles facing the project in addition to reminding us that there are other projects that require more immediate attention. That being said, they are considering the project as a serious option. City Council will release a report regarding the proposal by April 30, 2016.
In the meantime, what do you think? Do the benefits of building CalgaryNEXT outweigh the challenges that are in its way?
