Big, bold and on budget: An inside look at the BMO Centre expansion
A major transformation is well underway on the Calgary Stampede grounds, with the 565,000 sq. ft. BMO Centre expansion project just a year away from completion.
Journalists got a tour of the interior of the massive building on Thursday, showing off the site's progress amid a mass of activity.
"The team didn't sit around during the pandemic and just wait and ponder and see what was going to happen," said Kate Thompson, the president and CEO of the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation.
"They drove, and because they drove we're here today and able to say it's on time and on budget."
The budget is $500 million and the expected opening date is next June -- in time for the 2024 Stampede.
More than 600 workers are on-site each day, six days a week. At this stage, they're putting up about 30,000 square feet of drywall every day.
While the exterior is a swooping mix of materials, the inside is home to spanning ballrooms and exhibit halls. The are 38 new meeting rooms and two ballrooms that will total 70,000 square feet.
Inquiries are already being made about hosting weddings and events on the 11,000 square foot outdoor covered patios, officials say.
"You know, there's a tremendous amount of excitement about the BMO Center, and as our sales team goes around the globe, people are in awe of the building," said Joel Cowley, the CEO of the Calgary Stampede.
There are 34 conventions booked for when the expansion opens, Cowley says, with one booking as far out as 2032.
"And that's really what generates economic impact, is when individuals from outside of this market come here and spend money on hotels and restaurants. That's the true economic impact," Cowley said.
The convention centre expansion is just one part of an overhaul in the area: the 17th Avenue extension is underway and the CTrain station is being rebuilt. The promise of a new event centre is also set to add another draw to the Victoria Park area.
The only scheduled construction pause from now until completion will be the ten days of the 2023 Stampede.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Concerns about Plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Construction begins on LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa
Shovels have hit the ground for constuction on Canada's LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa.
B.C. man awarded $5,000 in damages in first-of-it-kind intimate image case
In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.