CALGARY, ALTA. – The Calgary Flames are approaching the end of an era, with the NHL club set to leave the Saddledome after 43 years and move into a new home that is expected to significantly reshape its relationship with the city and its fans.
The Flames will open their final season at the Saddledome on Oct. 1 before relocating across the street to Scotia Place next year.
The new venue, also known as the Calgary Event Centre, is currently under construction at 519 12 Ave SE in Calgary. The project has a reported value of $800 million in construction data, while the overall investment in Scotia Place stands at $1.2 billion.
Robert Hayes, president and chief executive officer of Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC), said the transition from the Saddledome to the new facility will carry considerable emotional weight.
“It’s emotional for people,” Hayes said. “It’s emotional in that we’re going to leave this building…and moving into a really cool new place. I think there will be new emotions as you go into a new building.”
Construction of Scotia Place continues, with the project’s 7,760-tonne steel frame completed in early September.
CSEC is the second-largest investor in the $1.2-billion development, behind the City of Calgary, and will remain the facility’s prime tenant. The company will operate three hockey teams and one lacrosse team from the new complex.
Scotia Place will include an 18,400-seat hockey arena that can be expanded to accommodate 20,000 people for concerts. The development will also feature a 1,000-seat community arena, indoor and outdoor community plazas and a parkade.
Funding for the project comes from three levels of contribution: the city has committed $537 million, CSEC is contributing $356 million, and the province is providing $330 million.
Under the agreement, CSEC will operate Scotia Place and collect all revenue generated by the facility. In return, the company will pay the city $17 million annually, with that payment increasing by one per cent each year, over a 35-year lease.
CSEC will begin the transition away from the Saddledome during the Flames’ final winter season in the building, with the organization planning to recognize the arena’s history and pay tribute to its legacy during games.
Calgary has already secured co-host status for the 2028 World Cup of Hockey alongside Edmonton and Prague. Hayes, however, believes Scotia Place has the potential to become much more than a hockey venue.
“In the new building we’re going to be, from a North American perspective, No. 1 in what you can do in the building, what you can set up in the building,” he said. “It’s going to have a huge community impact.”
According to Hayes, the new facility will be able to accommodate concerts and productions that require technology the Saddledome cannot support as effectively. Figure skating, basketball, volleyball, soccer and indoor track and field are also expected to form part of the venue’s non-hockey programming.
Hayes also pointed to Calgary’s growing diversity as an opportunity to broaden the building’s audience beyond traditional sports fans.
“When we get into the immigration that’s happened in our city, because we’ve become incredibly diversified over the 24 years that I’ve lived here, what can we do to really tap into those different pockets that aren’t necessarily sports related, or sports related with what we have, lacrosse and the hockey? Maybe we do indoor soccer or something like that?” he said.
“Different types of sports and activities from that perspective, but what you can activate from a non-sport point of view, again, your imagination is the only thing that’s holding you back.”
Accessibility is another area where Scotia Place is expected to differ from the Saddledome. The new building will feature entrances at ground level and is designed to provide easier access for people using mobility aids, compared with the Saddledome’s numerous stairs.
The Flames will nevertheless remain at the heart of CSEC’s business model and are expected to be the facility’s most consistent draw, bringing thousands of spectators to games either in the arena itself or through the venue’s four restaurants and food hall.
“I really truly think even that person who’s a non-sports fan, when they come down, when they see this facility, see the area, are going to be blown away by what they see,” Hayes said.
The team is also attempting to enter the new era with a renewed sporting outlook. When it became clear midway through last season that the Flames would miss the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year, the organization accelerated a youth movement and rebuild.
For Hayes, the team’s performance will remain closely connected to the success of the new building.
“Winning team, that makes everybody a lot happier and from my perspective, it drives ticket sales and those sorts of things going into the new building,” Hayes said.
“People have told me ‘you’re going to have a honeymoon period because everybody wants to see the new building’ but again, you have to have a team that’s competitive and going in the right direction.”
Hayes credited general manager Craig Conroy and his management team for the work being done as part of the rebuild and expressed optimism about the Flames’ future as the organization prepares for the move.
“Craig Conroy and his management team have done an amazing job in that regard so I think we have a pretty bright future from a hockey point of view.”
