Members of the revised event centre committee emerged from a meeting on Monday with interesting news: the location of the new centre, if and when built, will not necessarily be in Stampede Park..Committee chair Coun. Sonya Sharp told reporters following the meeting ongoing negotiations for the arena are looking at “all viable options” within Calgary’s downtown..Sharp wouldn’t comment further on specifics, but didn’t shoot down the idea the West Village site, previously under consideration, could again be part of the conversation..“When you go back to the conversation we had in the fall, we talked about this being a fresh start, so this is a fresh start,” Sharp said. “We’re looking at building an event centre within the city, within downtown and all possible options will be presented.”.The previous, $650-million deal between the city and Calgary Sport and Entertainment Corp. (CSEC) fell apart when newly elected mayor Jyoti Gondek told CSEC their share of the costs would increase to cover additional infrastructure, including solar panels..Flames ownership balked at the increases and dropped out of negotiations on a deal that would have seen revenue flowing into city coffers, through ticket taxes and revenue sharing from some events in the centre..That deal was to put the events centre on Stampede Park, owned by the city, with the new building designed to be the marquee piece of plans to redevelop the area..Monday’s meeting came four months after the city and CSEC restarted formal discussions, with CAA-ICON, a United States consulting firm, representing the city at the negotiating table..Details about what was discussed in the meeting were not released, but Sharp said talks were “progressing well.”.There’s no firm timeline, Sharp said, adding the city is looking to be “as aggressive as we can” in putting a deal together..“We do know that because time is of the essence, we’re also working with cost escalations. We know with projects, the sooner they happen the better when it comes to time and money,” she said..Last fall, Premier Danielle Smith appointed Calgary MLA Ric McIver to be the provincial government’s liaison on arena talks, saying she wanted to identify ways her UCP could help the parties strike a new deal..Sharp said CAA-ICON representatives met with Smith’s office, adding those conversations are expected to continue. .In 2015, the late Ken King, president of CSEC, presented plans for the ‘CalgaryNext’, arena project in the West Village, also owned by the city..West Village is the area from 14 St. SW, running west between Bow Trail on the south and 6 Ave. on the north. Currently, the old Greyhound bus depot and three car dealerships are located in West Village..CalgaryNext was an ambitious plan including a new hockey arena, covered football stadium, replacing the aging Saddledome and McMahon stadium and adding a multi-sport field house, tagged by CSEC to cost $890-million..CSEC acknowledged there were significant challenges to its plan to remake the west side of downtown, not the least of which was cleaning up creosote-contaminated land near the Bow River..“CalgaryNEXT is a bold new vision for Calgary. The question is simple, ‘Is this good for Calgary and is this good for Calgarians?’” said King when the plan was unveiled..“If we can come to an affirmative answer, what we will do is get to the starting line of a very difficult, very arduous process, to bring this home and to bring it to fruition.”.Much debate swirled around the plan and its cost, which CSEC proposed be covered by four sources: a $240-million community revitalization levy (CRL), a $250-million ticket tax, $200 million from the city to fund the field house (long a priority on the city’s recreation list), and a $200-million contribution from the Flames’ ownership group..Logic plays a major role in the West Village undergoing such a transition, especially now, given the huge drop in tax revenues in the downtown core. .Transportation is another plus for the area. Currently, the line-up of vehicles exiting Stampede Park after Saddledome events can be up to an hour or more, with only two exits from the park, leading traffic onto narrow streets beset with traffic lights..With Bow Trail east bound on the south and 6t Ave. on the north leading to Bow Trail westbound, traffic would flow smoothly out of West Village. There is also a major LRT station immediately south of the area..Even with the sport facilities, there's plenty of land for low-rise and high-rise apartment buildings that would add tax revenues to the city’s purse and could be occupied by the people working the many jobs the areas would create..The money could be found and, with the CRL, Calgary taxpayers wouldn’t be stuck with the bill..A lot of other details need to be worked out but, as former city councillor Diane Colley-Urquhart said at the time, “We don’t build great cities by saying, ‘we have no money.’”
