Calgary Sport and Entertainment President Ken King provided an update on the road ahead for CalgaryNEXT, the proposal for a new stadium in the city to replace the Saddledome and McMahon Stadium.
King addressed the issue at a luncheon at the Coast Plaza Hotel on Wednesday afternoon where he said the team continues to work on its proposal.
"The evaluation of our proposal is taking place currently," said King. "We've been meeting with them weekly, sometimes on a daily basis, to share more background information."
Wednesday was the first time King had publicly addressed the proposal since Gary Bettman, the NHL commissioner, met with the CalgaryNEXT group and city officials earlier this year.
Bettman said that there was ‘no doubt’ that Calgary needed a new arena, and that the Saddledome soon be the oldest facility in the league.
The Saddledome was built in 1983 to house the Flames, which had previously played games at the Stampede Corral.
Detroit's Joe Louis Arena, was built back in 1979, but it is planned to be replaced with a new, $650M facility, which is expected to be open by the 2017-18 season.
Mayor Nenshi, back in January, called the project ‘half baked’ and firm plans are still a long way away.
He says that there are no details to share right now on the issue because they are still waiting for assessments to be completed.
"That will come to council probably some time next month."
CalgaryNEXT consists of a new field house, NHL arena, and football stadium, all at a cost of $890M, built in the West Village.
The city is conducting an economic and land assessment on the proposed site, with that study scheduled to be completed by the end of April.
