New Downtown Calgary Arena

[Surrealplaces]

Originally Posted by The Urbanist

I ran into one of major stakeholders of the Stampede grounds and he confirmed that the new arena+stadium will be located near the grounds. He wouldn't tell me where exactly, but I almost jumped up and hugged him.

That would be great. My first own first choice would be somewhere near the Stampede grounds.

[Chadillaccc]

Mine as well. That block along the tracks would be PERFECT. A great way to connect Inglewood and Ramsay into the inner city. Hopefully this is the case, as it may push forward the development of the Orchard Towers, and possibly the Club Sport and Stampede Hotel. Another effect of this may lead to having the future SE LRT burried under 12th and the Elbow River, with a station near the stadium, and coming above ground on 9th Ave in Inglewood.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by bt04ku

I've always attributed the secrecy and delays because the Flames owners want to upstage the Oilers for the arena; see what they come up with, then build a better one. Given that the arena will be the 'jewel' and drive the success of the business, any talk of a McMahon replacement would get put on the backburner.

With all due respect to our Edmontonian friends on SSP and elsewhere... I really don't think the Flames are worried about competing with what they're doing up there. And there just isn't the same competition between the 2 cities in recent years, for a variety of reasons.

And just because I always love Olympic speculation even though I just don't believe it, that would definitely change the whole dynamic of funding and long term planning significantly. 2026 would be the time to go for it, even if it is only 16 years after Vancouver. Asia and Europe get the next two (or Asia-Asia I guess if Almaty can pull it off, but I think it's Oslo's to lose) which opens the door for another North American bid. Quebec City seems dead in the water given the problems with a ski hill so it really depends on what the US plans on doing, whether it be to make a bid for the Winter games or make a push for the 2024/2028 Summer games.

My bet's on the US going for the summer games next. They're far more prestigious for an alpha country. So presuming Americas winter games.. I think Calgary has one hell of a good chance. It's been talked about quietly for a while now, and a few new facilities is all we really need. 1988 still rings strongly in the memories of a lot of people around the sports world.

[VIce]

Originally Posted by freeweed

With all due respect to our Edmontonian friends on SSP and elsewhere... I really don't think the Flames are worried about competing with what they're doing up there. And there just isn't the same competition between the 2 cities in recent years, for a variety of reasons.




My bet's on the US going for the summer games next. They're far more prestigious for an alpha country. So presuming Americas winter games.. I think Calgary has one hell of a good chance. It's been talked about quietly for a while now, and a few new facilities is all we really need. 1988 still rings strongly in the memories of a lot of people around the sports world.

So what's really needed? Major upgrades to ski jumping and long-track facilities, possibly a new bobsled run. But other than that? A new stadium/arena complex gives you an opening/closing ceremonies venue and a primary ice surface; the Saddledome gives one of the most fully-featured secondary ice surfaces at an Olympics. Then its just temporary facilities for media and fans everywhere else. COP could certainly accommodate freestyle and snowboarding, even though neither were in the '88 program.

[Chadillaccc]

We would also need a new Olympic Village constructed.

It would be my hope that the village would be constructed on the remaining surface lots along the tracks, including an extremely long park decking over the tracks. Perhaps combined with a High Speed Rail/C-train Transit hub station.

[Full Mountain]

Originally Posted by VIce

So what's really needed? Major upgrades to ski jumping and long-track facilities, possibly a new bobsled run. But other than that? A new stadium/arena complex gives you an opening/closing ceremonies venue and a primary ice surface; the Saddledome gives one of the most fully-featured secondary ice surfaces at an Olympics. Then its just temporary facilities for media and fans everywhere else. COP could certainly accommodate freestyle and snowboarding, even though neither were in the '88 program.

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

We would also need a new Olympic Village constructed.

It would be my hope that the village would be constructed on the remaining surface lots along the tracks, including an extremely long park decking over the tracks. Perhaps combined with a High Speed Rail/C-train Transit hub station.

You would need a ($$$$) train from Calgary to the mountain venues, just about guaranteed that any bid without it would fail.

[Chadillaccc]

Totally We could do an HSR from Edmonton to Calgary (with stops at both airports and Red Deer) and Calgary to Banff (with a stop in Canmore) or even to Lake Louise... as one complete contiguous line.


It would be nice to connect the capital to the mountains like that.

[McMurph]

Originally Posted by Full Mountain

You would need a ($$$$) train from Calgary to the mountain venues, just about guaranteed that any bid without it would fail.

While I'd love to have a proper passenger train to the mountains, I find it hard to believe that it would be a requirement for a successful bid. Vancouver didn't have a particularly effective rail connection and their road to Whistler is far worse than our road to the Rockies. Buses might not be sexy but they can move a hell of a lot of people, especially on our roads. And HSR westwards ain't going happen. Ever.

As for the arena / stadium, I like the idea of victoria park over the west end. I was down that way today and was trying to imagine how it would work. Could both fit in the railtown lands between 4th street and the river, or would the stadium have to go by the tracks and the arena sit on an adjoining parcel to the south? Can anyone sketch up the potential footprints?

[bt04ku]

Originally Posted by freeweed

With all due respect to our Edmontonian friends on SSP and elsewhere... I really don't think the Flames are worried about competing with what they're doing up there. And there just isn't the same competition between the 2 cities in recent years, for a variety of reasons.

Maybe not the cities, but these are pro sports organizations competing against each other who want to be as best off the ice as on the ice. I have to think it's played a part. Some big egos with a lot of money.

[bt04ku]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

Totally We could do an HSR from Edmonton to Calgary (with stops at both airports and Red Deer) and Calgary to Banff (with a stop in Canmore) or even to Lake Louise... as one complete contiguous line.


It would be nice to connect the capital to the mountains like that.

The Calgary-Edmonton connection could be part of their Commonwealth Games bid, Calgary-Lake Louise would be our Olympic Bid.

Combine all that with a 2026 FIFA World Cup bid and we've got ourselves a federal spending spree like you've never seen before.

[Bigtime]

Count me in as another vote for putting the new arena on a portion of the Remington Railtown lands in East Beltline. Remington seems to take his sweet time building anything on his property (see Meredith block and its glacial progress) so this would be a great way to take a chunk of that land off his hands and get things built on it. At the same time East Village is building up, East Beltline keeps chugging along and Stampede can get a piece of the action with their 4th street project (Stampede Trail) finally moving ahead just south of the site.

[Riise]

Originally Posted by bt04ku

Oh this is fantastic news. Everything about a Vic Park arena is better than the West Village. Better for transit users...

Wouldn't an arena in the West Village basically be on the doorsteps of Sunalata Station?

Originally Posted by freeweed

I'm personally putting even odds on us doing an Olympics bid in the very near future. For a games possibly sooner than most people think. And I bet we'd win. There's a lot of pro-Canada in the Olympic realm right now, it's the perfect time to strike.

Does this include the politics/corruption that unfortunately clouds international sports? Canada deffo has great momentum with regards to the Olympics but these bodies are so self-serving/hireable.

Originally Posted by freeweed

With all due respect to our Edmontonian friends on SSP and elsewhere... I really don't think the Flames are worried about competing with what they're doing up there.

While they probably wouldn't mind one-upping them, I think the focus will be on winning over customers.

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

We would also need a new Olympic Village constructed.

It would be my hope that the village would be constructed on the remaining surface lots along the tracks, including an extremely long park decking over the tracks. Perhaps combined with a High Speed Rail/C-train Transit hub station.

What about Westbrook? It could really generate some action on a site that is both well-connected and easy to secure.

[MalcolmTucker]

What about the block for the mall, what is it First? Would provide a nice flow of people even if the engineering would push the cost up.

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by Riise

What about Westbrook? It could really generate some action on a site that is both well-connected and easy to secure.

I don't understand... why would we put the village kilometers away from any of the sport venues with only one transit connection to the major areas of the city, when we have several kilometers worth of developable land on both sides of the tracks, in the centre of downtown, right next to either of the proposed stadium sites.

[Riise]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

I don't understand... why would we put the village kilometers away from any of the sport venues with only one transit connection to the major areas of the city, when we have several kilometers worth of developable land on both sides of the tracks, in the centre of downtown, right next to either of the proposed stadium sites.

In terms of proximity to venues, Westbrook will not be directly next to a venue but there would be numerous venues spread across the region so I don't see not being next to one venue as that big of a disadvantage. Additionally, the area surrounding Westbrook does not suffer from nearly as much congestion as the area around Railtown. It would most likely be much easier to move coach loads of athletes in and out of a village in Westbrook than Railtown during peak-periods.

While some athletes will take transit, I think the future residents are the ones that will most benefit from the site being a TOD. Consequently, only being served by the Blue Line isn't much of an issue.

In terms of development, we're starting to fill out Central Calgary at a decent pace. While I personally see the benefits of concentrating development in one area, an Athletes' Village does provide an excellent opportunity to ignite development in area that is struggling to attract regeneration. A good portion of Westbrook could be developed in one go and benefit from being a comprehensive state led and built development; it could be a great project to solicit additional buy-in into the TOD concept.

[MalcolmTucker]

Depending on the number of hotels that are finished likely have to do a media village as well. Not sure if BMO is big enough to act as the media centre. I would think so but who knows.

[Spring2008]

Originally Posted by Riise

In terms of development, we're starting to fill out Central Calgary at a decent pace. While I personally see the benefits of concentrating development in one area, an Athletes' Village does provide an excellent opportunity to ignite development in area that is struggling to attract regeneration. A good portion of Westbrook could be developed in one go and benefit from being a comprehensive state led and built development; it could be a great project to solicit additional buy-in into the TOD concept.

Same could be said about the West Village (Sunalta)area which is closer to the core.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by VIce

So what's really needed? Major upgrades to ski jumping and long-track facilities, possibly a new bobsled run. But other than that? A new stadium/arena complex gives you an opening/closing ceremonies venue and a primary ice surface; the Saddledome gives one of the most fully-featured secondary ice surfaces at an Olympics. Then its just temporary facilities for media and fans everywhere else. COP could certainly accommodate freestyle and snowboarding, even though neither were in the '88 program.

Basically you've covered it. New stadium/arena are the big ticket items, and both are months if not weeks away from announcements. 5-8 years before completion, depending on a whole host of factors. Lines up pretty nicely with an aggressive Oly bid.

Louise and Nakiska give us plenty of space for any and all alpine events, regardless of what new things get added to the dance card. Especially because half of this is pioneered/competed at Louise already.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by Full Mountain

You would need a ($$$$) train from Calgary to the mountain venues, just about guaranteed that any bid without it would fail.

Vancouver has a train between the city and Whistler?

[Full Mountain]

Originally Posted by McMurph

While I'd love to have a proper passenger train to the mountains, I find it hard to believe that it would be a requirement for a successful bid. Vancouver didn't have a particularly effective rail connection and their road to Whistler is far worse than our road to the Rockies. Buses might not be sexy but they can move a hell of a lot of people, especially on our roads. And HSR westwards ain't going happen. Ever.

As for the arena / stadium, I like the idea of victoria park over the west end. I was down that way today and was trying to imagine how it would work. Could both fit in the railtown lands between 4th street and the river, or would the stadium have to go by the tracks and the arena sit on an adjoining parcel to the south? Can anyone sketch up the potential footprints?

You have to remember the Olympics are a game of one-up-manship, Sochi had a train all future bids will now need trains that are faster and better. People aren't going to sit on a bus for 1-2hrs to get to the mountains (sure it was great in '88, attention spans are far shorter now). People aren't going to want to commit to a full day in the mountains, get it down to a 30 min train trip people can go see a alpine event in the morning and a speed skating or hockey event in the afternoon and 1.5hr bus ride doesn't allow that in the same way.

Originally Posted by freeweed

Vancouver has a train between the city and Whistler?

No but Sochi did, see above re: one-up-manship