BMO Centre Expansion | 25m | 5s | CMLC

[Duck Lightning]

You have to convince the Stampede that a new outdoor stadium that will sit empty most of the year (which they already have on the grounds) is somehow a good investment, because they'll own that land after the Saddledome is gone. I think your best chance is when the Stampede decides to rebuild the grandstand again because it's almost 50 years old at this point.

 

[Urb]

I'll keep pushing for this: Make the Saddledome location a new football stadium (~20K capacity) to replace McMahon Stadium. Go all in on making this area a true entertainment centre for the city.

I've always thought the Stampede Grandstand area could double as a football stadium, by adding additional seating. The team would have to be on the road for a month around Stampede, but it would go a long way towards activating an underutilized entertainment facility.

 

[CalgaryTiger]

I've always thought the Stampede Grandstand area could double as a football stadium, by adding additional seating. The team would have to be on the road for a month around Stampede, but it would go a long way towards activating an underutilized entertainment facility.

I've looked into and even done the measurements. It would mean a slightly smaller "Grand" stand (length-wise) and a more open infield stand but otherwise it is very possible. Here's my estimate for a CFL field (65x150 yards)

 

[CBBarnett]

You have to convince the Stampede that a new outdoor stadium that will sit empty most of the year (which they already have on the grounds) is somehow a good investment, because they'll own that land after the Saddledome is gone. I think your best chance is when the Stampede decides to rebuild the grandstand again because it's almost 50 years old at this point.

To this point, space allocation in the Stampede Grounds is a political problem, not a space planning one. I would love to see a stadium / grandstand combo of some design. Even if not, the grounds could easily physically fit a CFL-sized stadium somewhere else - but are unlikely to do so because the physical size of the stadium is not the core issue. CSEC and The Stampede having competing objectives and no incentives to work together thanks to government subsidy is the issue.

A cynics view - if history is any indication, any stadium pitch for the entertainment district will result in further physical expansion of the district, not intensification of the current site so that both CSEC and Stampede don't have to compromise. Partially this is driven because neither pays for the land or the facilities, they have little incentive to boost utilization of their assets - they didn't pay for them so have no incentive to share them to save costs. Which is why we have a mostly empty McMahon, almost always empty Stampede grandstands, and a few dozen hectares of empty surface parking around each most of the year.

 

[darwink]

This was studied as part of the 2026 Olympic Bid studies.

 

[doughflow]

This was studied as part of the 2026 Olympic Bid studies.

They were just going to use it for opening and closing ceremonies though right? They weren't going to rebuild it or make anything more than cosmetic changes (I thought)

 

[CalgaryTiger]

any stadium pitch for the entertainment district will result in further physical expansion of the district, not intensification of the current site so that both CSEC and Stampede don't have to compromise.

McMahon is a city facility as far as I know. Like the Saddledome and the Event's Centre, CSEC is a tenant. You can ask yourself, what say do they have? CSEC would tell you a lot since the facility's success depends on their teams' success. For CSEC you don't have to look that hard to see a number of synergies with bringing both major teams into the C+E. I would argue, you could use the techniques of Judo and use CSEC's strength and size to take on the Calgary Stampede in what I would call a double-team. I actually don't think you really need to use up that much of the grounds space to give everyone what they want:

New stadium where the grandstand is that has open ends to accommodate the chucks during Stampede.
CSEC office space at the Events Centre, that's happening anyways, just include the Stampeder's staff.
Stampeder's practice field in place of the Saddledome, this also gives the Stampede a flat piece of land they can still use during the 10-day event.

I actually don't think Stampeder's would have to be on the road for a month. Perhaps play at home the Friday of weekend before the start of Stampede, then on the road for two weeks and back at home the Sunday after. That gives you a decent buffer, and sure not everything will be completely wide-open but it could work.

 

[doughflow]

McMahon is a city facility as far as I know. Like the Saddledome and the Event's Centre, CSEC is a tenant. You can ask yourself, what say do they have? CSEC would tell you a lot since the facility's success depends on their teams' success. For CSEC you don't have to look that hard to see a number of synergies with bringing both major teams into the C+E. I would argue, you could use the techniques of Judo and use CSEC's strength and size to take on the Calgary Stampede in what I would call a double-team. I actually don't think you really need to use up that much of the grounds space to give everyone what they want:

New stadium where the grandstand is that has open ends to accommodate the chucks during Stampede.
CSEC office space at the Events Centre, that's happening anyways, just include the Stampeder's staff.
Stampeder's practice field in place of the Saddledome, this also gives the Stampede a flat piece of land they can still use during the 10-day event.

I actually don't think Stampeder's would have to be on the road for a month. Perhaps play at home the Friday of weekend before the start of Stampede, then on the road for two weeks and back at home the Sunday after. That gives you a decent buffer, and sure not everything will be completely wide-open but it could work.

 

[doughflow]

If we could just get rid of the Chucks, the smartest thing would be to blow up the GMC stadium and build a new 30-35k stadium that can handle CFL, Cavalry, outdoor concerts and rodeo.

 

[CalgaryTiger]

If we could just get rid of the Chucks, the smartest thing would be to blow up the GMC stadium and build a new 30-35k stadium that can handle CFL, Cavalry, outdoor concerts and rodeo.

I'm anything but a Cowboy, but I like the chucks, I think it can be made to work and the constraints of having them force a unique design of the stadium.

 

[darwink]

They were just going to use it for opening and closing ceremonies though right? They weren't going to rebuild it or make anything more than cosmetic changes (I thought)

There were many different options, including a third tier on the existing grandstand, and rebuilding the inflated grandstand.

McMahon is a city facility as far as I know

It is not. It was given to the university in the 80s as part of a land swap to build the LRT and widen Crowchild.

 

[DiscoStu]

Yep, every time I'm up there, I see the grandstand and think there's gotta be some way to make a multi-purpose McMahon replacement work here that still works with Stampede. It's too perfect of a location. Maybe the Chuckwagon experience or format has to change somewhat, but I'd imagine there be quite a lot of revenue potential during the rest of the year for the Stampede Board.

It's a pretty huge chunk of land atleast, so there's room to get creative.

 

[CalgaryTiger]

Maybe I'm wrong but the issue seems to be that there's no champion for a McMahon and/or Grandstand replacement. It is one thing for us to talk about but the city, CSEC, and the Stampede don't really seem to be making any noise about it. There's little things here and there in the Foothills Athletic Park thing about modernizing McMahon but it seems half hearted.

It seems so obvious that there are a lot of synergies but it will take someone with a influential voice to push something like this forward into the collective conscience.

Maybe in the next mayoral race?

I will also say that there's no way The Southern's let Cavalry leave their little thing they got going on at Spruce Meadows. There are plans for a proper soccer stadium there in the future. Judging by the fact they're playing their CONCACAF Champions Cup game in Victoria in February rather McMahon speaks volumes about The Southern's and CSEC working together. I give the Surge a lot of credit for working with CSEC to get a Surge game at the dome this spring, Cavalry could learn a lot from the Surge.

 

[darwink]

in February

I think that is self explanatory...

 

[CalgaryTiger]

I think that is self explanatory...

You say that but the national team played a game in Edmonton in November with feet of snow on the ground. Also soccer is played outside in February all over Europe. Especially since they're playing Orlando City, you know they would have an advantage over a team that plays in Central Florida. Plus it is Calgary in February, it could be above 0, granted it could also be 40 below... Ha but people would go, I would be one.