Arts Commons renos, event centre, hockey arena focus of discussions for Calgary councillors Monday

City councillors will be talking about several major civic projects on Monday, including the BMO centre, Arts Commons renovations and a new event centre and arena in Victoria Park.

Colleen Dickson, chief financial officer and interim co-CEO of Arts Commons, says they are working with all three levels of government to get funding to renovate and expand Arts Commons in downtown Calgary.

She said the project can be “shovel ready” in about a year and any funding coming to the Arts Commons project would not compete with other projects in Calgary, like the new event centre and hockey arena.

WATCH BELOW: Global News Morning Calgary’s Doug Vaessen talks about the future of Victoria Park and whether a new arena is part of those plans.

1:57 The Rivers District and the future of the Saddledome

Coun. Ward Sutherland disagrees. He says the city can’t handle the BMO Centre and the Arts Commons projects at the same time, as it would present a financial hardship in terms of carrying costs.

New event centre, arena talks continue to move forward

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Meanwhile, discussions for the new event centre and arena are still going forward, says Coun. Jeff Davison.

“This is the critical moment in Calgary’s history,” Davison said. “The question is have we talked to the Calgary Flames and the answer is yes….we’ve had high-level talks and we continue to have those discussions with them…talks have been very productive.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "This is the critical moment in Calgary's history," Davison said. "The question is have we talked to the Calgary Flames and the answer is yes….we've had high-level talks and we continue to have those discussions with them…talks have been very productive."

Davison said they are “finalizing that visionary work” with the Flames, and the next step will involve releasing his committee’s economic impact study.

LISTEN: Councillor Jeff Davison joins Calgary Today to discuss the latest developments arena/event centre talks

He said his committee will ask the council to earmark some more dollars for the project so they can keep the project on track.

“What will be looking at is what the funding source is and how [the] council can set that up so we can get into the next phase,” he said, “which would really be what we can do to go from there.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "What will be looking at is what the funding source is and how [the] council can set that up so we can get into the next phase," he said, "which would really be what we can do to go from there."

Davison said the strategic committee will be presenting the study on Monday.

— With files from Global News’ Doug Vaessen