Here's what to know as Calgary's $800M event centre moves forward

City of Calgary

It’s been a long time coming, but one of the final steps of Calgary’s long journey to getting a new event centre has been made public.

On Thursday morning, the City of Calgary released the final agreements for the event centre block and new community infrastructure improvements in Calgary’s Culture and Entertainment District.

“Calgarians who review these agreements will see a lot of familiar information,” Michael Thompson, the general manager of infrastructure services, said in a statement.

“Much of the information contained in these agreements was released in October 2023 with the announcement of final agreements.”

You might also like:

The $926.4 million for the event centre block will be split three ways between the City of Calgary, the provincial government, and the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC).

Breaking that down, here’s how much each element of the area will cost:

Event Centre $800 million
Community Rink $52.8 million
Parkade $35.4 million
Outdoor community event plazas $28.7 million
Indoor community plaza $9.5 million

The site of the event centre block is almost 40% larger than the previous deal, something the City said was a much more restrained space that only provided a building and one outdoor plaza.

City of Calgary

According to them, the larger size allows for a better space that can include more community-focused elements. Those include:

10-acre site
Event centre
Indoor community plaza
Outdoor community event plazas
Attached parkade
Downtown’s only community rink (which will be available for community sports and events during evenings and weekends)
Future redevelopment site

Here’s how much each funding partner is contributing and their role in the project:

The City of Calgary

$515.3 million or 56%.

The City will own The Event Centre Community Block and its facilities.

This development supports the overall vision to complete Calgary’s Culture and Entertainment District, which includes a modern entertainment facility.

“It complements the long-standing agricultural, convention and sports venues while supporting the emerging cultural, arts and education facilities, and future residential, hotel, entertainment and retail redevelopments,” the City said on its website.

“It will be designed as a gathering place for all Calgarians and visitors.”

The provincial government

$55.1 million or 6%.

The Province is providing funding for infrastructure improvements, including the 6th Street SE underpass, half the cost of the community rink, and public spaces.

In addition, the money they provide will go toward upgrades to streets, sidewalks, and area access.

City of Calgary

CSEC

$356 million or 38%.

The company will operate and maintain the Event Centre over a 35-year term. That includes an annual lease payment made to the City to use the facilities.

As part of the agreement, the Calgary Flames will also remain in Calgary for at least 35 more years and will provide additional annual funding to community sports over that time.

Revenue returns to the City

The agreements also outline three streams of funding that the City will receive from CSEC over the 35-year term:

$748.3 million (a present value of $356 million)
$40 million upfront
$17 million annual lease payment, escalating 1% per year
Future land sales
Four properties identified for redevelopment
Future sale of Victoria Park Bus Maintenance Facility
$52.5 million
$1.5 million annual payment to community sports funding

“All revenues streams, which include ticket surcharge and naming rights, within the Calgary Event Centre Block, are consolidated into one committed and predictable lease payment to The City – $17 million per year for 35 years,” the City said on its website.

“The lease payment escalates by 1% per year over 35 years.”

Design and timeline

In January, enabling works and site preparation began — including things like traffic management and street reconfiguration for the surrounding areas that’ll be impacted by construction.

At the same time, the design phase of the event centre, community rink, and surrounding public plazas is underway.

“The project team continues to work on finalizing a construction schedule that will highlight when major milestones might occur, such as development permit, design reveal, and ground-breaking,” the City said.

“While the schedule is still being finalized and subject to change, we expect to share the design and break ground in 2024.”

As of now, it’s expected that the permits and design will be announced sometime in the spring or summer of 2024, with construction targeted for the summer or fall of the same year.

You might also like: