We now know the name of Calgary’s new event centre just hours before the official announcement: Scotia Place.
The name — apparently accidentally — appeared on the city’s website. CBC News was able to screenshot it before it was scrubbed.
And Michael King, a Global Calgary journalist, tweeted a photo of signage that reads “Scotia Place: The New Heart of Entertainment,” peeking out behind some black curtains.
The worst kept secret in Calgary but the new event centre will be named Scotia Place. <br><br>Not to be confused with the Scotia Place building in Edmonton, Scotia Centre building here in Calgary, Scotiabank Arena in Toronto or Scotiabank Centre in Halifax. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/yyc?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#yyc</a> <a href=”https://t.co/HH8KybPlP0″>pic.twitter.com/HH8KybPlP0</a>
—@MKingGlobal
The City of Calgary and Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC) — the group that owns the Calgary Flames, Calgary Hitmen, Calgary Roughnecks, and Calgary Wranglers — are set to announce more details Monday on the 18,000-seat arena that will replace the circa-1983 Scotiabank Saddledome, along with a new community rink.
The total $926.4 million-cost of the project, including public plazas, an attached parkade and a community rink is being paid for with more than $850 million from the municipal level, $30 million from the province for the community rink and $40 million upfront from the CSEC along with annual payments starting at $17 million year one, increasing by one per cent each year after that.
The province will cover the cost of demolishing the Saddledome, the second oldest arena in the NHL, once the new arena is open.
Not everyone loves the idea of so much taxpayer money going to a for-profit venture.
Former city councillor Jeromy Farkas has slammed the deal.
“I think at the end of the day, they’re going to have to justify why this money has to go straight into the pockets of a privately owned sports team rather than to other needed priorities,” Farkas told CBC News in April.
He said the City of Calgary is going to end up paying more than 90 per cent of the costs for the new arena.
The city and its partners will announce more details today at 1 p.m. M.T.
More to come