Calgary's BMO Centre proves big budget projects don't always mean big overruns
CBC
With a $500-million budget, the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) managed to deliver the BMO Centre expansion this year on time and on-budget.
It seems like an anomaly, given the project was built during a time of inflation, supply chain issues and general cost overruns.
So how did CMLC do it across several years of construction and through a pandemic?
To hear CEO Kate Thompson tell it, teamwork, hands-on management and being realistic.
With funding coming in equal parts from the federal and provincial governments, as well as the City of Calgary, she said the budget set in 2018 was firm.
The question became, what can be built for half-a-billion dollars?
Back in those pre-pandemic times, she said what was known was that the former Stampede Corral arena had to come down to make way for the BMO expansion.
There was a need for an additional 500,000 square feet of exhibition space, including a couple of massive ballrooms which could help accommodate large or Tier 1 conventions.
That was their goal and all of the partners were committed to that project — and to keeping it within the hard budget assembled.
"I think where projects can get tripped up is when you start getting married to something before you understand it. So if you have a design that is a jewel box that you're fascinated with and you'll build at any cost regardless of any decisions, that can be a tricky slope," said Thompson.
As the funding partners and the design team dug into the project, she said they were surprised that they could seemingly get all the key elements of the project within budget and that it wouldn't have to be a very basic kind of building.
Thompson also chalks it up to a bit of alchemy, that the team gelled and was committed to the vision.
Like any construction project, there was the standard 10 per cent budget contingency. That's money available to handle any unforeseen issues.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020. Thompson recalls the decision to proceed was a big gamble and it was scary.
