Calgary Event Centre | 36.85m | 11s | CSEC | HOK

[MichaelS]

I recall when the Saddledome was first built, they said the green and blue seat colors were chosen because they are calming colors. Not sure where gray would fit in, but green and blue are known to be calming. Prisons have temporary holding cells painted green and blue where they put prisoners to calm down after outbursts, etc...

Ocean's 11 provided much of my architectural training.......

 

[The Familia]

Any insight when renderings may be released? Hopefully in the next couple months!

 

[1875]

im also waiting on some other development news, thought they at least owe us a hotel announcement.

 

[October]

The timeline on renders has begun to elude me, I keep hearing they could be released tomorrow or they could be released months from now, it could legitimately be any day now but my gut tells me its still 2+ months away. I have also not seen any conceptual designs yet, i've just heard tidbits about what they are planning on doing with the district and the Event Centre as well as possible piece of exterior material. The building designers, the city and CSEC are really trying to make sure they nail the building and future proof it for the next 25+ years. But what I do know is that capacity will float around 18-19 thousand and a hotel will likely be adjacent to the building, I'm expecting a JW Marriott or some kind of higher end building to house the teams when they visit. As per the colour I know that some high ups within CSEC want grey seats but other are trying to convince them to go with red, the same red as the Flames Retro Jerseys; but that said seats will more than likely be a dark grey or black.


As per the hotel I've heard they are pushing for a tower similar in capacity to the Sheraton in Eau Claire, with a more slender design and retail and restaurant bays along the entire length of the base. They are pushing for it to be along Olympic Way between 12th and 13th Avenues SE with the main tower on the corner of Olympic and 12th, then said bays along street level the entire length of the block.

 

[Duck Lightning]

So I'd have to guess the hotel will be similar in height to Evolution or Arriva. I wonder if the plans for a high end hotel NW of BMO have been scrapped now in favour of this one or are they still looking for a hotel developer for that site?

 

[October]

I believe that's a plan B, CSEC really wants the hotel to be right next to the rink so they are pushing for that, if not it will be on that corner.

 

[Disraeli]

Perhaps both sites will see a hotel. I've heard spokespeople for CMLC mention that a hotel in that location is a big part of Stampede's redevelopment so it might not be an either or.

 

[Urb]

They are still targeting a Fall 2021 construction start, so my guess is they'll release the design this spring.

 

[Meikkhaell]

Fantastic updates!

I never got the green and blue seating in the Saddledome. It made the entire inside feel very disjointed. Red would be cool, like they've got in Little Caesar's Arena. But anything from grey to black would be fine by me. Rogers Place has all black seats, and they look nice. I also think it would be cool to have a gradient of some sort. Start light grey at the bottom and work your way up to black as you make your way up. Or maybe start black and slowly go red. Not that the colour of the seats matters much at all, as you guys said, they will be full most days anyways.

I'm just excited about the new updates, cause there hasn't been much in a while. Between this and the NHL season starting next week, I'm pretty pumped!

 

[The Familia]

I’m getting really excited about the whole entertainment district! I want to see how the BMO centre, new arena, new hotel, 17th Ave extension, Olympic trail retail, and the youth campus with new opera hall all come together. This will be fantastic and should really tie into the East Village and all the amenities there.

 

[Cyric]

Your comment on the Opera Hall reminded me of the 2019 AGM meeting minutes that I saw a few months back when i went looking for info on it. The 2020 meeting minutes aren't online that I can see anywhere. The following is from 2019:

Calgary Opera continues to work toward securing a new, future home for Calgary Opera. Due to several circumstances, including uncertainty around timing of government support, the Board and Management of Calgary Opera made the decision to postpone applying for a building permit for a minimum of two more years. This moves our anticipated building opening date of the Calgary Opera Community Arts Centre at the Stampede to Fall of 2024.

I can't imagine the current situation has improved the financial outlook so I suspect that without a significant donor or government contribution that fall 2024 is unlikely to happen.

 

[Duck Lightning]

Little Caesars Arena has black seats now. They removed the original red ones within 2 years of opening cause the empty spots in the crowd were too noticeable.

 

[Chinook Arch]

Does anyone remember the old arena the Minnesota Stars used? It used to have multi-colored seats, green and yellow, and gray iirc.

 

[October]

The Met! The seats were NorthStars Colours

IIrc the Saddledome seats are Blue and Green because of Canadian Airlines. They were the first sponsor of the arena and they wanted blue/green seats since their corporate colours were blue/green

 

[PCPM]

Canadian Airlines did have the first naming rights but didn’t secure them until 1995, twelve years after construction. Their corporate colours were blue, red, white and grey.