'It's not just the sticker cost to buy the building. It's also making sure it's something that won't cost Calgarians money in the long term'
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Early estimates peg the cost of Calgary’s proposed multi-sport fieldhouse project at $380 million.
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The preliminary number comes as a city council committee prepares to meet Monday, when they’ll decide whether to approve a final amenity mix for the Foothills Athletic Park project and move into a design phase.
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Though it’s an eye-popping price tag, Coun. Jasmine Mian said a concrete number won’t come until after designs are finalized. She stressed the city-operated facility would be revenue-neutral, with city hall administrators estimating annual economic benefits from the project totalling anywhere from $20 million to $63.6 million.
“I know a lot of folks tend to think about that top-line capital cost, and certainly we are at the city,” said Mian, the chair of the committee tasked with spearheading the fieldhouse development.
“(We’re) confident about our ability to operate a facility like this in a revenue-neutral way, so that it doesn’t have mill rate or tax implications. It’s not just the sticker cost to buy the building. It’s also making sure it’s something that won’t cost Calgarians money in the long term.”
City looking into fieldhouse flexibility for multi-sport use
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The city has earmarked $109 million for the fieldhouse project, with talks ongoing with the provincial and federal governments about securing the additional funds which would be needed to build the facility.
The cost estimate is up from 2019, when the city said they expected the long-awaited project would cost $300 million.
The final proposed amenity mix for the site is similar to what was put forward earlier in the spring, with the project’s core consisting of a track and field area, gymnasia and an indoor artificial turf.
Mian said the city is considering how to make each element of the project flexible for use with multiple sports. The hydraulic track, for example, could be altered to facilitate wrestling or gymnastics events.
“We’re making sure that it is multi-use and multi-sport, but not so flexible that it doesn’t meet anyone’s needs. So I think we’ve struck the right balance,” Mian said.
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Fieldhouse needed for Calgarians: councillor
The fieldhouse project is independent from Calgary’s role in Alberta’s 2030 Commonwealth Games bid, Mian said, though if built the fieldhouse would play host to some events in the case of a successful bid.
“But it’s something that we need irrespective of whether we get the Games or not,” Mian said. “In the event that it doesn’t go ahead, we still need to deliver this for Calgarians.”
Council’s multisport fieldhouse committee meets Monday afternoon to decide whether to move the project forward.
If the facility is approved and funds are secured, construction could break ground in 2026.
Twitter: @jasonfherring
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2023-06-25 18:50:31Z
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