Calgary agrees in principle to $1.2B Event Centre deal

The City of Calgary has finally reached an agreement on the Event Centre deal.

The agreement, in principle, includes the city, the Calgary Sport and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC), the Calgary Stampede, and the province of Alberta.

“A little over a hundred years and 1.3 million people later, we have a new Big Four – four partners committed to building a community hub that will serve us for generations to come,” said the chair of the Event Centre committee, Sonya Sharp.

It is part of a “significant” phase in the Culture and Entertainment District development in the Rivers District, which will feature public amenities and a new community rink, which will be anchored with the Event Centre.

The development will include a new 4-lane underpass under the CP train tracks with wide sidewalks at 6 Street SE and improvements to 5 Street and 15, 17 and 25 avenues.

Around $1.2 billion will be funded towards the project, with the city forking over $537 million, making 44 per cent of the total cost.

The Event Centre itself will cost around $800 million.

The siteplan for development of The Rivers District, which includes the new Event Centre. (Courtesy of The City of Calgary)

The province and CSEC combine to make up the remaining 56 per cent, with the former committing around $330 million on public transit and road improvements, site utilities, site reclamation and other supportive infrastructure.

CSEC is going to contribute $40 million upfront and $17 million per year, which will increase one per cent over 35 years to offset Event Centre costs, parking, the enclosed plaza, and 25 per cent of the community rink.

It will provide $356 million in “present value” and $750 million over the 35-year term.

CSEC is also contributing $1.5 million per year to community sports, which is $25 million in present value or $35 million over the 35-year term.

“We are excited to be part of the announcement of a new event centre and community rink that will both be home for the Calgary Flames, Calgary Hitmen, Calgary Roughnecks and Calgary Wranglers. And this announcement will help us put Calgary and the Province back on the map for all major North American concerts,” said CSEC President and CEO John Bean.

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek says this is going to bring a lot of new developments to the area.

“The greatest feature of what we are doing is that this type of investment invites other investments,” She told reporters.

“I have no doubt that there will be interest from hotels, there’ll be interest from residential and commercial developers. That’s what allows this district to build out, and that is the key to the Rivers District.”

Coun. Sharp says this is a cash deal and that there is “no added taxes to taxpayers.”

Council agreed Tuesday afternoon in a “unanimous” decision.

Provincial investment

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, seen wearing a Calgary Flames jersey underneath her jacket, made a plea to Calgarians to vote for the United Conservative Party to ensure the deal goes through.

“After the election, the province’s contribution to this arena deal must be approved by the provincial cabinet and the Treasury Board before the end of summer,” she said.

“That’s why on May 29, I’m hoping Calgarians give our UCP government a clear mandate to proceed with this arena deal.”

The plea comes as the writ is expected to drop for the May 29 election.

However, Sharp, when asked about the upcoming election and the impact it may have on the deal, she said the winning party should not matter.

“I think that we all very much realize that the money is coming from the Government of Alberta, regardless of the party,” she said.

“We’re talking about a government, and we, as a committee, and as a city, and as a council, would expect that the next party, if they’re in place, would honour that.”

Watch: City of Calgary looking at ‘all possible options’ for event centre location

When asked whether the UCP is truly needed for the deal to go through, Smith admitted it should happen “regardless.”

“When you look at how we’re intending to fund it, it would be over three years, $100 million a year. This is the kind of thing that the province invests in all the time and is the kind of thing that the city has been asking for is how we can assist in helping to revitalize downtown Calgary,” she said.

“This is a really vital district for the city, it’s vital for us to support the Flames. It’s vital for us to make sure we continue to have the Battle of Alberta.

“I would just hope that we would have the same spirit of unanimity that the council had. I think everybody on council put their partisan interests aside and put the city first, and I would hope that we would see the same thing happen at the provincial level as well.”

In a statement, Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley says the party is “deeply committed” to revitalizing Calgary’s downtown.

“We also know the Calgary Flames inspire tremendous community spirit,” her statement reads. “Still, we note that the cost of the latest proposed arena deal has doubled in size in 18 months, and while the original version laid out a 50-50 private-public partnership, taxpayers are now responsible for more than 70 per cent of the cost.”

“The commitment has increased. We believe all voters would expect their elected representatives to do due diligence on the economics and fiscal value of a capital project this size,” she continued.

“With that in mind, we will be reviewing the deal in greater detail, will be consulting directly with Albertans about its contents and will have more to say in the coming days.”

Edmonton arena concerns

Meanwhile, Smith says the funding was a part of the discussion when putting together Alberta’s 2023 budget.

“We showed that we were investing about $3.1 billion in capital in Edmonton and $2.9 billion in Calgary. And part of that was that we were hoping that we’d be able to find a way to bridge the gap between the team and the city,” she said.

“There’s been lots of proposals about how we can assist in revitalizing Calgary, especially the downtown area. And we felt that this would be the absolute best way to do it because it is investing in public infrastructure.”

She was asked about Roger’s Place in Edmonton and the lack of provincial funding for the development of that arena.

“We understand that when the Edmonton arena came together, it was a different group of players, different place, different time, and different agreements. And I don’t know if they announced for a provincial partner at that time, they were able to come to an agreement on their own,” Smith said.

She says there are numerous issues with the development, and for the Oiler’s phase two expansion to go ahead, which is a further development of the district surrounding Roger’s Place, the province can step in and “assist.”

“We want both of our cities to have vibrant downtowns. And so we stand open and ready to help if there are specific infrastructure asks in Edmonton,” she said.

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The new agreement, in principle, comes after the city and CSEC had ongoing talks about the arena for the past few years.

Talks formally started up again in October 2022, with Sharp at the time calling it a “fresh start.”

The previous deal between the city and CSEC fell through in Dec. 2021, but was reignited in late May after the city appointed a third-party group to negotiate with CSEC.