New Downtown Calgary Arena

[WhipperSnapper]

Ownership is overrated on an asset that depreciates by tens of millions on opening day. Management is where it's at.

[suburbia]

I know it is conceptual, but thought I'd comment a pinch about it anyway, as some things will likely be retained from this concept:

- looks like they are proposing a clear and/or transluscent roof for the arena portion, which is very, very cool.
- looks like the stands are skewed more to one side, and that side can have seats that come out over that portion of the running track.
- as speculated previously, the north-south corridor envisioned between the arena and stadium is the train station, and it does indeed look like speculated that some concourse and some high end boxes will both be shared between the two primary facilities.
- the drawings from above seem to show a portion of the building extending west well past the edge of the stadium. Is there more to this, IE are there more meeting / conference rooms, or something else, or am I just dreaming? [maybe it is just stacked parking?? - hopefully field has underground also]
- the stadium doesn't seem massive, but perhaps the seating is more stacked than I'm thinking.


Image via Twitter.com public account of Dale Calkins

Now for the inner city NIMBY responses ...

[Spring2008]

Originally Posted by CorporateWhore

Maybe it's just me, but I'm pretty underwhelmed by that presentation.

Not just you, when are they going to hire an architect?

I do really like the glass roof though and retractable seats for the track space. MLS anyone? The indoor stadium will really allow us to attract a lot of different big events here. Great opportunity.

[Fuzz]

So, question here... There is an arena, and... is it a stadium, field house or both at once? Or is this not meant to replace McMahon?

[MalcolmTucker]

Both at once, meant to replace McMahon.

[suburbia]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

So, question here... There is an arena, and... is it a stadium, field house or both at once? Or is this not meant to replace McMahon?

Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker

Both at once, meant to replace McMahon.

Yeah - I thought that was pretty clear from the on-set. The idea is basically rooted in a stadium like McMahon not being used at the appropriate intensity for such infrastructure, and so allowing for other purposes maybe 80% of the time or whatever. I do appreciate and like that concept.

I'm wondering if any logistics were discussed? Things like road capacities and implications, transit capacities and implications, parking? If there is a major event at both venues, which is possible even if the games do not coincide, that could be maybe 60,000 people at once, and wondering about the implications of that.

[DoubleK]

I wonder how much design work has actually gone into this thing. Surely the price tag is based on some measure of engineering/design.

[MasterG]

This is exactly the kind of city-building, visionary leadership group we should invest a $500 million of public money with:

"King said it was “dumb luck” that Sunalta LRT was built near the proposed West Village site but “it works perfectly.”" - Calgary Herald

Dumb luck? Sunalta has been a proposed station since the 1980s, not to mention actually in the blueprints of the WLRT since about 2005, and built in 2012.

Someone who talks about how visionary their project will be and how well positioned it is certainly could pretend to do a modicum of research on what strengths their proposal has and what opportunities this project can take advantage of, Sunalta Station being the main one.

Overall I give the proposal a C-; mainly for too much public money involved as well as complete ignorance of Bow Trail's role in destroying any proposed vitality the area is supposed to have once built.

[UofC.engineer]

Originally Posted by MasterG

This is exactly the kind of city-building, visionary leadership group we should invest a $500 million of public money with:

"King said it was “dumb luck” that Sunalta LRT was built near the proposed West Village site but “it works perfectly.”" - Calgary Herald

Dumb luck? Sunalta has been a proposed station since the 1980s, not to mention actually in the blueprints of the WLRT since about 2005, and built in 2012.

Someone who talks about how visionary their project will be and how well positioned it is certainly could pretend to do a modicum of research on what strengths their proposal has and what opportunities this project can take advantage of, Sunalta Station being the main one.

Overall I give the proposal a C-; mainly for too much public money involved as well as complete ignorance of Bow Trail's role in destroying any proposed vitality the area is supposed to have once built.

I agree with everyone's sentiments on the future of Bow Trail. But before we jump the 🞵🞵🞵 we need to remember that this is just a conceptual plan. Let's wait and see what the updated ASP produces. I believe CMLC will be overseeing the development of West Village.

[artvandelay]

Originally Posted by MasterG

This is exactly the kind of city-building, visionary leadership group we should invest a $500 million of public money with:

"King said it was “dumb luck” that Sunalta LRT was built near the proposed West Village site but “it works perfectly.”" - Calgary Herald

Dumb luck? Sunalta has been a proposed station since the 1980s, not to mention actually in the blueprints of the WLRT since about 2005, and built in 2012.

Someone who talks about how visionary their project will be and how well positioned it is certainly could pretend to do a modicum of research on what strengths their proposal has and what opportunities this project can take advantage of, Sunalta Station being the main one.

I'm not sure what your point is here. The plans to build a joint football/hockey complex only came about after the Flames purchased the Stampeders in 2012. The West LRT was designed prior to this. It's obviously lucky that an elevated station capable of handling high volumes was built adjacent to a site capable of accommodating a complex of this size when there was no plan in place for this previously.

Originally Posted by MasterG

Overall I give the proposal a C-; mainly for too much public money involved as well as complete ignorance of Bow Trail's role in destroying any proposed vitality the area is supposed to have once built.

This is also puzzling to me considering that what they've proposed to do with the street grid is similar to what's in the West Village ARP. What would you suggest doing with Bow trail?

Tunneling the the northern section of the road would be ideal to allow for a riverfront promenade with active retail alongside the stadium, but that is likely cost prohibitive. Attractive streetscaping with ample sidewalk room can also go a long way towards improving the pedestrian experience there.

[Fuzz]

If they do go with underground parking under the stadium, I'd think it would make sense to bury Bow trail at the same time, and it could have same grade access to the parking area. Keep it totally hidden. Any precedent for parking under a stadium?

[Migs]

Originally Posted by suburbia

I know it is conceptual, but thought I'd comment a pinch about it anyway, as some things will likely be retained from this concept:

- looks like they are proposing a clear and/or transluscent roof for the arena portion, which is very, very cool.
- looks like the stands are skewed more to one side, and that side can have seats that come out over that portion of the running track.
- as speculated previously, the north-south corridor envisioned between the arena and stadium is the train station, and it does indeed look like speculated that some concourse and some high end boxes will both be shared between the two primary facilities.
- the drawings from above seem to show a portion of the building extending west well past the edge of the stadium. Is there more to this, IE are there more meeting / conference rooms, or something else, or am I just dreaming? [maybe it is just stacked parking?? - hopefully field has underground also]
- the stadium doesn't seem massive, but perhaps the seating is more stacked than I'm thinking.


Image via Twitter.com public account of Dale Calkins

Now for the inner city NIMBY responses ...

With this image it looks like there would be an incredibly small capacity for the stadium, only seating on one side it looks. So no more Grey Cups for Calgary?

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by Migs

With this image it looks like there would be an incredibly small capacity for the stadium, only seating on one side it looks. So no more Grey Cups for Calgary?

30,000 normal, 50,000 for special events.

[H.E.Pennypacker]

http://calgarynext.com/

The website is up

I will say there is a ton of potential here to make this something awesome and transform the core of the City

[Migs]

Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker

30,000 normal, 50,000 for special events.

Would love to see how they cram that amount in there. Hope it's possible.

[CalgaryArchitecture]

calgarynext.com



Overview Numbers:


Inside Arena


Overview:


Inside Stadium:


Retractable Seating for CFL:


Fieldhouse Scenario:


Public LRT:

[CalgaryAlex]

Only 750 residences? High potential for Bow Trail to stay the exact same? Blah.

The fieldhouse and arena plans are fine with me, but they've just plopped this thing into the site of the Greyhound station without making real changes to the area around it.

The city puts in a huge chunk of change just to get stuck with the current Bow/Crow/14th alignment and no upgrade to the river front? Yuck. Hopefully the CMLC gets involved and gives the West Village a real transformation.

[Electrical Storm]

Ken King isn't much of a public speaker is he... :/

"And here's the money shot" [When discussing project financials]

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by Migs

With this image it looks like there would be an incredibly small capacity for the stadium, only seating on one side it looks. So no more Grey Cups for Calgary?

I think that might be showing the bleachers as red on the south end and white on the north end

Anyway, agreed that they should move Bow Tr from the river side.

Even if it meant having to elevate one direction over the other at some point (although I don't think it does)

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by Electrical Storm

Ken King isn't much of a public speaker is he... :/

"And here's the money shot" [When discussing project financials]