The impending closure of Calgary’s exploration of a bid to host the 2026 Olympic Games has not disheartened those who continue to push for the construction of a fieldhouse.

Given Tuesday’s plebiscite results, Calgary council is expected to vote to cancel the bid process in the coming days. A new fieldhouse was slated to be a cornerstone of a proposal but supporters of the project say that, while the Olympic hosting dream has died, the need for the building is very much alive.

Discussions regarding a fieldhouse in Calgary have occurred over several decades, well before Calgary began exploring a potential 2026 Olympic bid, and initial proposals for the structure were submitted in 1967.

The Olympic Bid Corporation proposal included a $300 million fieldhouse attached to a new mid-sized arena as part of the ‘Foothills Cluster’ that would have hosted the figure skating, short-track speed skating  and wheelchair curling events.

Officials with the Calgary Multisport Fieldhouse Society say a plebiscite vote in favour of hosting the Olympics would have paved the way for funding the project through contributions from provincial government, federal government and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The no vote brings focus for the project back to its original concept that did not include consideration for the hosting of winter sports.

Jason Zaran, the chair of the Calgary Multisport Fieldhouse Society, envisions a facility, at a cost of roughly $250 million, with space for multiple sports that are traditionally played outdoors in warm weather.

“This facility that we’re lobbying for would not have that ice making capability,” explained Zaran. “It would still have the full indoor field which would be capable of housing full field soccer, which is needed in Calgary, and all of the other summer sports that involve balls ,and even Frisbees when you talk about ultimate Frisbee, but on a full field where you have turf under a roof.”

Zaran adds that the fieldhouse concept would also include a 400 metre track.

The society hopes the publicity the project received during the exploration of an Olympic bid will translate into public and council support for a new fieldhouse.

With files from CTV’s Shaun Frenette