Stampede Hotel | 57.5m | 14s | Truman | NORR

The Familia said:
From what I gathered, the UofC wants to build a new stadium on campus for all the Dino athletics (that rendering was posted in another thread). The little stadium is also closer to happening than we think and could be a few months away from being announced. At that point the UofC wants nothing to do with McMahon so the lands can be sold off for development. That leaves the Stamps to head to the Grandstand. I also have no clue how they can make a football stadium work, but perhaps they rip everything down and build something new. No idea.
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Are there any heritage protections of McMahon? A new University District on McMahon grounds with a new Fieldhouse would be interesting.
 
trtcttc said:
Are there any heritage protections of McMahon? A new University District on McMahon grounds with a new Fieldhouse would be interesting.
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I don't think so, a land swap with the city for McMahon and the City land along 24th Ave would make sense to facilitate and less awkward design for the fieldhouse than has been advertised. Or maybe the fieldhouse can go somewhere else in the City (bus barn, west village?) and the whole area from Banff Trail train station to University Drive can be reimagined. The mishmash of uses from sports to car dealership to discount hotel to office building is just odd.
 
CalgaryTiger said:
I don't think so, a land swap with the city for McMahon and the City land along 24th Ave would make sense to facilitate and less awkward design for the fieldhouse than has been advertised. Or maybe the fieldhouse can go somewhere else in the City (bus barn, west village?) and the whole area from Banff Trail train station to University Drive can be reimagined. The mishmash of uses from sports to car dealership to discount hotel to office building is just odd.
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To be honest I totally forgot there was a car dealership there. The East side of Crowchild won't be part of it as it's mostly private land, and with Crowchild in between, the value of integrating it is quite low. I don't think there's another site for the fieldhouse that doesn't require significant work. West village needs remediation, bus barn requires a multi-million relocation. McMahon has the benefit of being transit oriented and already a number of sport uses nearby that a fieldhouse and residential neighborhood would not be out of place. There could be a "Main Street" between where McMahon and Foothills Athletic Park currently meet and it can serve residential + people using the fieldhouse.
 
Didn't know about the bus barn move. But I'd prefer if that site is turned into residential or other uses than a stadium. Stadium would inevitably need a bunch of land for parking, and having land adjacent to a future "Grand Central" as parking just seems like a missed opportunity. Not a big football guy myself, but as others have mentioned tailgating is a big part of the experience, that I doubt you could have minimal parking near the stadium.
 
Am I the only one who thinks the current grandstand is totally fine? It's got a climate controlled concourse, a lot of the seats are covered and it has its back to the prevailing wind, and it has upper decks which puts a lot of those seats closer to the action.

Maybe the sight lines aren't perfectly optimized for a big field? I don't really know what that even means, but you can just do that on the opposite grandstand. I think it would be a cool frankenstein project.
 
As a former Stampeder season-ticket holder, I will say the idea that everyone tailgates are not exact accurate. It is the hardcore season-ticket base, obviously as they're financially invested enough to do the work to tailgate. A move to Stampede Park would not eliminate this.

lemongrab said:
Am I the only one who thinks the current grandstand is totally fine?
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I agree with you, it might need a little work but what is there now is completely functional. The grandstand and the infield seats, with the one exception being the suites on the southside of the infield, that building can easily be removed if it is the only thing in the way. Somewhere on here with the old Olympics proposal there are detailed numbers on doing this, but you could make it functional for tens of millions versus hundreds of millions to do anything else. Functional works for me, we shouldn't be blowing our brains out for this.
 
trtcttc said:
Didn't know about the bus barn move. But I'd prefer if that site is turned into residential or other uses than a stadium. Stadium would inevitably need a bunch of land for parking, and having land adjacent to a future "Grand Central" as parking just seems like a missed opportunity. Not a big football guy myself, but as others have mentioned tailgating is a big part of the experience, that I doubt you could have minimal parking near the stadium.
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I agree, there is a ton of residential / other mixed use potential for that prime bus barn location. I think the combined Saddledome / Saddledome staff parking plot would be the best location option for a new sports stadium, and leave the grandstand as is. You would get both sporting venues side by side and can utilize the stampede ground main parking lot for tailgating and event parking.
 
CallmeCatbread said:
I am frankly terrified of what is going to come out of that process because I have very little faith that the people in charge have the ambition necessary. I don't know them, but that's just my feeling based on the way things typically go in the city.

There is immense potential for stampede Park to be a really special place year round, but to really unlock that potential would require a great deal of ambition and creativity because it is currently a wasteland and needs a lot more than just a minor rework. Imagine Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen or Millenium Park in Chicago. That's the kind of scale and ambition we should be talking about. Activating the Park for as many days of the year as possible should be the number one goal, and that is a monumental task that goes far beyond basic public realm improvements.

It requires a total rethink of what the grounds are for and how they are used, which also means a rethink in how the stampede is operated and organized. If they are not willing to seriously engage with that stampede question then I don't see how stampede "park" can ever be anything more than a giant empty pit. The current format for stampede necessitates a giant asphalt crater for 320 days of the year which at this point is just unacceptable.

As with most things, I think if the stampede were serious they would hold a design competition. Alas, those basically never happen here, which means we as citizens have to nut up and accept whatever those in charge decide to do.
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CallmeCatbread said:
Because parking should be removed from the stampede grounds
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So, what you essentially want is all the benefits of an arena, convention center, hotels, Stampede Trail development, a massive 14 day exhibition/rodeo, ag arena....but then none of the supporting infrastructure for those things? If you want eliminated the parking lots around Big 4 and the grandstand...what you are essentially saying is you no longer want the Stampede and/or anywhere to park for virtually any event held nearby? Make it make sense.

The changes we've seen already in the Rivers area (hotels, LRT, 17th ave, BMO, Stampede Trail, Scotia Place, Ag Centre, future Big 4 development and Saddledome site (as per Stampede)...are immense, literally an entirely new area from 10 years ago. If the hill you are dying on is that they are keeping the 2 parking lots...that's a wildly out of touch expectation for arguably the biggest external economic impact area in the city.
 
lemongrab said:
Am I the only one who thinks the current grandstand is totally fine? It's got a climate controlled concourse, a lot of the seats are covered and it has its back to the prevailing wind, and it has upper decks which puts a lot of those seats closer to the action.

Maybe the sight lines aren't perfectly optimized for a big field? I don't really know what that even means, but you can just do that on the opposite grandstand. I think it would be a cool frankenstein project.
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Agreed. Very functional for a 2 week event. Could use some lipstick....but to replace it for something that would likely add no capacity....vs perhaps a larger infield building which would truly add revenue and capacity....that I could see. They interviewed the Stampede president mid July, when they announced the new infield suite grandstand. No chance that happens if they were building a football field through it. He also only mentioned the Big 4, Saddledome site, and north Ag building as planning topics.

https://premiumseating.calgarystampede.com/infield-north-expansion

livewirecalgary.com

Work to transform Calgary Stampede infield and park begins - LiveWire Calgary

With the 2025 Calgary Stampede having come to an end, big changes are being planned for Stampede Park, and that began with the demolition of the north infield building immediately after the close. That building, which has been used for the production and broadcasting of the rodeo and chuckwagon...
livewirecalgary.com livewirecalgary.com
 
Uh... this is perfect for football.

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Also from the article:

“It doesn’t matter if it’s football or F1, premium space is in demand, and we have corporate partners that really want to provide that space, either to their employees or to their clients, and we don’t have enough premium space.”

The new suites would have the potential to attract other sporting events to GMC Stadium outside of the 10 days of the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.

Nothing I read in the article makes me think they're against a Stampeder's move to the Grandstand. Populous wouldn't be doing their job if they don't reach out to CSEC. Outside of Stampeder games a sports field in the City Centre has potential to host Canadian National Team Soccer, Rugby, not to mention Concerts.
 
I'm still not 100% convinced the grandstand is the best scenario for the Stampeders. Maybe it works as a temporary location while McMahon is rebuilt, but I just don't see it being a permanent home.
 
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