CALGARY – After Edmonton city council voted to approve a funding framework for a downtown arena, hockey fans to the south are wondering if they’ll soon see the same.
Edmonton city council has agreed to sign on to a cost-shared deal with team owner Daryl Katz for a new $450 million facility. $225 million is expected to come from Katz and city tax dollars while approximately $125 million would come from users through a ticket tax.
The Katz Group has implemented a deadline of October 31st for a decision to be made on the project; if the arena goes ahead, the Group plans to sign a location agreement that will see the Edmonton Oilers play at the facility for the next 35 years.
Not everyone is cheering the decision, especially many sitting in Calgary’s council chambers.
“What went through my mind was the pressure is going to be on us to do it next,” says Councillor Brian Pincott. “I don’t hear a lot of support around city council for us investing our money, our taxpayer dollars into this.”
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Over the past three years, Calgary Flames President Ken King has said little publicly about the possibility of a new Calgary arena other than “there are plans in the works.”
Wednesday evening he did issue the following written statement:
“The news coming out of Edmonton regarding their new building is wonderful. A state of the art new facility will be a great boon to their community and create a viable future for their team. When you see the excitement coming from Winnipeg with the revival of the Jets you get an appreciation for the true value of NHL franchises to their communities. We are working very hard to come forward with our own facility plans that will add an important dimension to our city and provide our team with the stability and innovation required to succeed as a major league team in an important Canadian hockey market.”
However, council members say they’ve heard of no such plans.
“We haven’t seen anything from the Saddledome foundation, we haven’t seen anything from the Calgary Flames, we haven’t seen anything so we can’t react to anything, which is a good thing,” says Pincott.
In a recent Ipsos-Reid survey conducted for Global News, an overwhelming 85 per cent of Calgarians were against using taxpayer money to help fund a new arena.
Rexall Place, the current home of the Oilers, was built in 1974, and is the second oldest arena in the NHL.
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