'Without that anchor facility a lot of things change': Former Calgary councillor continues to champion event centre

A former Calgary councillor who played a key role in the event centre agreement says he remains hopeful there will be a path forward for the project that would house the Calgary Flames.

Jeff Davison, the former Ward 6 councillor who was unsuccessful in his bid to become mayor, says he's disheartened by the collapse of the deal he helped broker between the City of Calgary and Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC); the organization that owns the Flames, CFL's Stampeders, NLL's Roughnecks and WHL's Hitmen.

"I think we seem to have lost touch with the benefits that this facility would provide the City of Calgary," said Davison during a Wednesday morning interview on CTV Morning Live. "I remain hopeful that there's a path forward, I just don't think we know what that looks like just yet."

Davison says the larger scope of the project's vision extended far beyond the walls of the event centre and was much more than a hockey story.

"This was about enacting a vision for Victoria Park and thinking about 'Why are we spending $220 million on a Green Line (LRT) station? $75 million on opening up 17^th Avenue?' It was really about enabling a district and having that long-term vision for growth in downtown which lends to economic and downtown recovery

"Without that anchor facility a lot of things change, including it compromises the funding now for the Arts Commons transformation."

On Dec. 22, 2021, CSEC president and CEO John Bean confirmed that the deal had reached an impasse citing several factors including cost increases as well as right-of-way and climate costs he claimed were introduced by the city.

At the time, Mayor Jyoti Gondek said CSEC was well aware of the city's climate mitigation and right-of-way expectations that had been outlined in the proceeding months.

Davison says both the Flames and the city agree that Calgary needs a new event centre, but the real question is when it will come to fruition.

"You have to understand that the Flames owners are world class negotiators and world class business folks. They don't get involved with projects just to bail out at the last second. They spent a lot of time and a lot of money on this and so has the city."

The former councillor says he believes the deal's collapse is less about money — despite the fact the price tag for the project has jumped from $550 million to $622 million to $634 million — and more about trust.

"Two deals have been signed. The challenge is the yardstick keeps moving on the cost. And so we have to think about — rather than focusing on the cost of the building and the overruns that we're already experiencing — it's really at this point of building trust with partners to enable both parties to work together to achieve a common goal. "

On Wednesday, Mayor Gondek confirmed that the deal that was finalized in July 2021 was officially over but council would be discussing its commitment to an event centre during its Jan. 11 session and that "anything is possible."

"We are absolutely interested in continuing he legacy of hockey in this city," said Gondek following Calgary's COVID-19 response update on Wednesday. "It's time to sit down and understand how new operating models could potentially work in everyone's best interest including the public that the city council serves. There is tremendous opportunity to get this project right with a proper event centre."

Gondek added that it's also the time to "look very holistically at the (entertainment and cultural) district itself rather than trying to build a district around a single project."