Kenney expresses disappointment with City of Calgary over collapse of arena deal
Global News
According to city officials $23 million has been spent on the event centre project including $11.5 million from the City of Calgary to date.
Alberta premier Jason Kenney said he is “very disappointed” the deal to build Calgary’s new event centre has officially come to an end.
Speaking at a provincial COVID-19 update on Tuesday, Kenney told reporters he was discouraged the City of Calgary “decided to change the deal at the last minute when construction was ready to proceed.”
“I understand the owners group pointed out they were facing pretty significant construction inflation. The city’s response to that was to add even more costs and more delays,” Kenney said. “I think that’s really regrettable.”
Kenney’s comments refer to the projected additional costs of $16.7 million for things solar cells on the roof of the building as well as road and sidewalk issues. Both were part of a list of more than 70 conditions attached to the approval of the development permit by the Calgary Planning Commission.
At the time, Mayor Jyoti Gondek said the city could help with $6.4 million, which left $9.7 million for the Flames to cover.
It came after revelations the costs to build the arena had ballooned to $634 million which the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC) said were due to inflation as well as supply chain issues.
In July, the deal for the event centre was restructured to help to help cover increased costs and saw both sides of the deal agree to put forward more money with CSEC agreeing to cover any additional cost overruns.
Although CSEC stated its intention to pull out of the deal with the City of Calgary due to the rising costs, the agreement was officially turfed on Dec. 31, 2021.
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