Flames, City of Calgary agree to deal for new arena

Calgary’s city council voted unanimously in favour of a plan to build a new arena for the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.

The plan ,which also includes an event center, parking structures and a community rink, is set to cost about $1.2 billion. According to various reports, most of the costs will be paid by either the City of Calgary or the provincial government.

As you can see in the tweet above, CSEC (the company that owns the Flames) is slated to cover just about $356 million of the approximate $1.2B in costs. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman apparently stated that a new arena could be in the mix to host All-Star Games and the draft once it is up and running.

On that note, there’s not yet a timeline for when construction may begin for a new Flames arena, nor when it might be completed.

The Saddledome has served as the Flames’ home since 1983. Built with the 1988 Winter Olympics in mind, the Saddledome last hosted an NHL All-Star Game in 1985.

In the past, other plans for a new arena have fallen through. The building’s earned criticism over the years, to the point that Flames defenceman MacKenzie Weegar called for a new arena while addressing the media after Calgary’s disappointing 2022-23 season.

Current players Andrew Mangiapane, Michael Stone and Nikita Zadorov were there on Tuesday for the press conference, along with interim GM Don Maloney and Hall of Famer Lanny McDonald.

This rendering adds some perspective about the $1.2B plan, which again goes beyond building a new arena for the Flames.

In September, a report by CBC News detailed how chunks of concrete have broken loose from the Saddledome roof's ring beam in recent years, while other crumbling pieces have been removed to prevent them from worsening and falling. However, officials reassured the public that the issues are mostly cosmetic and pose no threat to public safety.