Council will look at a proposal for a new sports arena to be built in the parking lots just north of Stampede Park.
The report will outline the Victoria Park option which would see an NHL-level arena built on the two-block site.
“They have identified the location, it’s on the south side of 12th Avenue in between Olympic Way and 5th Street southeast, it’s a big, vacant parking lot right now,” said Evan Woolley, Ward 8 Councillor. “They are going to present to us details of how big are arenas, how would it face that site, what would the leftover remnant parcels be, what could be done on those parcels and really have a larger overview of the infrastructure investments that are being made in Victoria Park.”
The plan is coming to the forefront after the CalgaryNEXT proposal stalled. That plan would have seen an arena, fieldhouse and event centre on land in the western part of downtown next to the Bow River. The plan ran into trouble due to the cost and the need to clean up contaminated soil before construction could begin. The question of who would foot the bill was a sticking point, leading Mayor Naheed Nenshi to say last month that the CalgaryNEXT plan was dead.
The ‘Plan B’ project would place a new arena and event centre in Victoria Park, a fieldhouse near the University of Calgary and some renovations to McMahon Stadium.
No details have been released so far about what the buildings would look like, but council had requested a comparative analysis of a Victoria Park option last June including what the impacts would be on the surrounding area.
“We’re looking at the green line alignment through Victoria Park, there's cycle track work being done, park space work that needs to be looked at and so there is a lot of opportunity for us to build a culture and entertainment where people can live, work and have a life,” said Woolley.
Council gets a look at the plan on Monday.
