Edmonton Oilers & Level Playing Field On Arena Funding
By Kurt Leavins
The Edmonton Oilers would absolutely benefit from the proposed $900m arena project, recently proposed for the City of Calgary. In fact, the effort probably deserves your support, even thought it is (*kicks at dirt & spits*)…Calgary. But your tax dollars? Hmmm. That may be something else altogether.
The project includes a 20,000 seat arena, a 30,000 seat football stadium, and a field house, all tucked nicely & neatly along the banks of the Bow River, west of Calgary’s downtown. The fact that The Saddledome is fast becoming antiquated makes people like me feel their age, no doubt. It seems just like yesterday that they built that barn. Ah well. Fact is, by NHL standards, it is. And countless concerts go right past Cow-town each year, because that nifty-shaped roof can’t handle a lot of the big name concerts on tour these days. Meanwhile, in Edmonton, even the creaky Rexall Place shuffles effortlessly back-and-forth between Taylor Swift and Taylor Hall.
The new facility would certainly help the economy of that city, and anything that is good for Alberta is good for the Edmonton Oilers. In particular, as both franchises are showing real signs of resurgence ON the ice, having two, sparkling new facilities 2 1/2 hours apart would more than re-kindle the Battle of Alberta. It would also help the financial health of these two franchises, in small markets by today’s NHL measuring stick. That’s vital, to stay competitive with the LA’s, Chicago’s and New York’s of the league.
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To be clear: There are a tremendous number of hurdles for the Flames to leap over, before a single shovel can start to dig. There are all kinds of problems with the site itself, none of which can not be overcome with money, but then…money is really the biggest obstacle they face, isn’t it?
Anyone who watched the great arena debate here in Edmonton knows that a lot of nickles were rubbed together before the state-of-the-art Rogers Place got the go-ahead, from both city politicians and the Katz Group. And we ALSO know that one party did NOT contribute, in any direct or significant way: The Province.
That is why Premier Notley’s comment that she would “keep an open mind and look at what proposals come forward, and go from there” attracted such attention. What?? Calgary will get government dollars for THEIR rink, when WE didn’t?? Grab your pitch-forks, and lets rumble, boys!!!
Well, on one hand, yes…the government aught to keep in mind that a level playing field when it comes to funding such projects in our respective is important. Even if economic times WERE better now (they aren’t), such an inequity would be pretty unforgivable to a lot of voters. It’s dangerous territory for the Premier.
But there are also ways to treat both projects fairly, even with the roof already going on our rink, from development incentives and tax breaks, etc. To be fair, it WAS a different government that said no to Edmonton. And all this Premier has committed to is keeping an open mind. Last I checked, that doesn’t cost anything.
Further, what many (READ: Most) reports did NOT focus on was the long list of issues with the Calgary project, that Ms. Notley quite rightly listed off. She didn’t exactly prance down Stephen Avenue flinging $100 bills to anyone who happened to be standing there, as some would have you believe.
My free advice: Stand down, Edmonton Oilers fans. The Calgary project would spread a world of good across Alberta. And to date, no one has spent any amount on anything. Lets…keep an open mind? Yeah, that’s it.