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."
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