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One week after NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman lambasted the Scotiabank Saddledome, the $1.8 billion CalgaryNEXT proposal has apparently been benched, according to Mayor Naheed Nenshi. The hybrid arena-stadium-field house complex nominated for city-owned, creosote-contaminated land in the West Village is "dead," the Mayor said bluntly on Monday after a scrum with reporters.
"The thing about a new arena project — and I'll use those terms because CalgaryNEXT, the West Village project, is dead — but the thing about a new arena project is that our first criterion has always been public money for public benefits," said Nenshi in response to a question pondering whether money in the federal government's Canada Infrastructure Bank could be used for the new sports complex. "So, it really is up to the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation to figure out what the public benefit is."
CEO of Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation Ken King hit the pause button on the project late last year while talks with the City on an alternate location in Victoria Park moved forward. The Mayor's remarks apparently caught King off guard. "It's my understanding that council would be the final determinant of the future of CalgaryNEXT, rather than any unilateral decision," said King, who reiterated that the Plan B option is undergoing scrutiny after the ownership group was asked to engage in an exclusive discussion period, which doesn't preclude future talks about the CalgaryNEXT proposal. Plan B would include a new arena and events centre on the Stampede Grounds in Victoria Park, a fieldhouse near the University of Calgary and renovations to McMahon Stadium.
Whether the project advances to realization or not, it has become abundantly clear that the site will need environmental remediation to deal with the toxic creosote left over from a former wood preserving plant. The approval of CalgaryNEXT would expedite the cleaning; it's not clear what the status of environmental work would be if the project was abandoned.
We'll continue to track the trials and tribulations of the project as discussions continue. Which site do you prefer? Let us know by leaving a comment at the bottom of this page.
