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Urban Development and Proposals Discussion

CalgaryTiger said:
One thing that needs to be considered is building a stadium with good bones that can be easily upgraded. Commonwealth in Edmonton is huge but because of its size the cost to renovate it is the cost of a new stadium. In that sense it is a blessing CalgaryNEXT didn't happen. Updating a fieldhouse, running track, etc, etc would've cost a lot over its lifetime.
Click to expand...
BMO Field for Toronto FC in Toronto is actually a reasonably good example of having upgradability in mind and it's the way to go for a new McMahon.

Get a quality location for the stadium so that it's a good option for whatever sport / event needs it. Plan the stadium as 2 or 4 separate stands, where they are inter-related but not dependent on each other. That way you can phase, redevelop and scale each of the 4 sides to meet the needs of today without limiting the possibilities for tomorrow or "overbuilding" for a one-off event that will never make sense to dump a bunch of money into it.

Priorities for me:
  1. Transit-adjacent and in the city centre so you can walk between restaurants and bars and the event.
  2. Soccer/football/concert optimized. It should be multi-use but not everything use. Pick these 3.
  3. Scalable and modest capacity - keep the footprint tight, we can always expand later.
Whether that's 10,000 seats or 30,000, I don't really care. The bigger problem isn't stadiums, it's getting alignment between all the little empire builders here.

The Southern Family seem keen on building their little cluster out in the boonies at Spruce Meadows, the soccer club is theirs. CSEC is keen on building their little tax-payer funded stampede arena, they own the Stamps and haven't really shown much interest in investing anything material. Meanwhile, the Stampede is keen on keeping their grounds empty of more structures so it can be paid parking most of the year and the 10 day area event. The result of all this is the fans suffer for each - structures are dilapidated or not as nice as they could be because they don't each get used much and the taxpayers have to backstop upgrades because individually these little empires can't and/or won't do it alone.

If we can get the Calvary and Stampeders into the same structure, in a good location, then we have a good place to start.
 
Chinese_T said:
A friend sent me some details on that Quadreal site Michael mentioned, near Currie Barracks.

The original proposal from 2018 was 891 units. They now want to double that to around 1800 units. Rutland Park Community Association is opposed.

View attachment 595318

This is the original outline plan from 2018, expect to see it doubled.

View attachment 595319
Click to expand...
Let’s hope these people are ignored and it goes full steam ahead.
 
CalgaryTiger said:
Forget about the CFL, it has been constantly dying for decades but those predictions never come to pass. Smaller, sure. The US expansion era was by far the worst era but I feel like it is remembered so fondly. Its succeeding in big markets like Montreal, Toronto, and BC. That matters. We don't need something capable of hosting the World Cup final, if the Grey Cup really does bring 50 Million in economic benefit the one in 2026 is pretty much a down payment on a new stadium. Especially considering you'd be guaranteed a Grey Cup early in the new stadium's life.

One thing that needs to be considered is building a stadium with good bones that can be easily upgraded. Commonwealth in Edmonton is huge but because of its size the cost to renovate it is the cost of a new stadium. In that sense it is a blessing CalgaryNEXT didn't happen. Updating a fieldhouse, running track, etc, etc would've cost a lot over its lifetime.
Click to expand...
It didn’t phrase my post very well. I don’t think the CFL is going to fold anytime soon, the point I meant to get across was that $400-500 million is a lot of money for a stadium whose main anchor tenant averages 20,000 people a game for eight games a season.
The uncertainty is what kind of average attendance the Stampeders will see in the future. A better product on the field will bring higher attendance but we might be talking 24-25k range.

IMO the goal should be to build a stadium around the 20-25000 seat range for around $250 million. Something that can be expandable say up to 30k for larger games like a Grey cup, etc.
And as per CBBarnett’s post, if we can build something in a more central transit oriented location even better.
 

Some Locations for a new Stadium​

Victoria Park Garage location:​

  • Close to future Green Line Station
  • Within new entertainment district
  • Right Downtown

Screenshot (266).png

Calgary Zoo Parking location:​

  • Transit access from Zoo Ctrain station
  • Unknown land availability
  • Close to downtown

Screenshot (267).png

Firestone location:​

  • A bit far from downtown
  • Surrounded by light industrial
  • Transit access from the Max Bell Ctrain station

Screenshot (268).png

SAIT / AUArts parking location:​

  • Unknown land availability
  • Steep grade presents a challenge
  • Transit access from the SAIT / AUArts / Jubilee Ctrain station
Screenshot (269).png

GMC Stadium location:​

  • Within Stampede Grounds
  • 50 year old stadium
  • Track may limit life of turf
Screenshot (271).png

West Village location:​

  • Remediation likely required
  • Road realignment likely required
  • Transit access from Sunalta Ctrain station
Screenshot (272).png
 
Last edited:
Duck Lightning said:

West Village location:​

  • Remediation likely required
  • Road realignment likely required
  • Transit access from Sunalta Ctrain station
Click to expand...
I'm all for the West Village. The Entertainment District location is great as well, but the ol' Greyhound station is such wasted real estate. Easy access by transit or car, great view of DT & the Bow River... It just makes sense to stick a big stadium there. What else are we gonna do with the space?
 
Dubbs86 said:
I'm all for the West Village. The Entertainment District location is great as well, but the ol' Greyhound station is such wasted real estate. Easy access by transit or car, great view of DT & the Bow River... It just makes sense to stick a big stadium there. What else are we gonna do with the space?
Click to expand...
Wasn't that the proposal for CalgaryNext? The contamination cleanup would cost up to $300M. Otherwise it's a fantastic location, transit accessible and without some of the existing issues that plagued the East Village. I wonder why they can't combine the CalgaryNext proposal with the Fieldhouse proposal that is just north of McMahon Stadium. The city already set aside money for it, if CSEC injects some money into it to get a fieldhouse + convertible stadium (which was their CalgaryNext proposal) on that site, which will solve the underutilization problem of a standalone stadium.

livewirecalgary.com

New tech might open up West Village remediation, Premier Smith says - LiveWire Calgary

Premier Danielle Smith said she’d like to see if there are new technologies available to remediate a contaminated downtown Calgary area that has been linked to recent arena talks. Smith made the comments during a media availability on Thursday afternoon in Calgary. Earlier this week, Event...
livewirecalgary.com livewirecalgary.com
 
Mountain Man said:
One problem with the grandstand idea is it would eliminate most of the infield, that is useful space during Stampede.
Click to expand...
How would it do that?

Firestone is the best view for sure but being light industrial doesn't have many trickle down affects like C+E or the Grandstand would. It could give that section of the city a sports facility?
 
i don't think so were getting new stadium anytime soon. Only possibility was when we were trying to get Olympic. or some philanthropist pop up in city and get NBA team or MLS team haha.
 
CalgaryTiger said:
How would it do that?

Firestone is the best view for sure but being light industrial doesn't have many trickle down affects like C+E or the Grandstand would. It could give that section of the city a sports facility?
Click to expand...
You would have to add proper stands where the infield stands are. Google tells me the grandstand is 17000 seats, you will need at least double that for a football stadium. That would chew up about 1/3 of the infield by my guess.

I like the firepark idea, traffic there would be brutal after a game, but the train is right there to help. Only concern is Radisson Heights is right there, would limit concerts and events.
 
Also how does leaving the University area affect usage. Isn't the current stadium used by university teams. I would think a new stadium for only the CFL would be a no starter.
 
trtcttc said:
Wasn't that the proposal for CalgaryNext? The contamination cleanup would cost up to $300M. Otherwise it's a fantastic location, transit accessible and without some of the existing issues that plagued the East Village. I wonder why they can't combine the CalgaryNext proposal with the Fieldhouse proposal that is just north of McMahon Stadium. The city already set aside money for it, if CSEC injects some money into it to get a fieldhouse + convertible stadium (which was their CalgaryNext proposal) on that site, which will solve the underutilization problem of a standalone stadium.

livewirecalgary.com

New tech might open up West Village remediation, Premier Smith says - LiveWire Calgary

Premier Danielle Smith said she’d like to see if there are new technologies available to remediate a contaminated downtown Calgary area that has been linked to recent arena talks. Smith made the comments during a media availability on Thursday afternoon in Calgary. Earlier this week, Event...
livewirecalgary.com livewirecalgary.com
Click to expand...
i saw the GMC Wolf dealer is on moving sale recently, i am not sure if that related to this project
 
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