The City of Calgary is seeking a third party to explore the potential of a new outdoor stadium as questions continue over the future of McMahon Stadium.
Global News has learned the City of Calgary has been seeking bids on a pair of contracts for a firm “assess the feasibility and planning of a proposed major sports and event facility project.”
According to the contract’s description, that study would look into market, financial and operational feasibility to help city officials “make informed decisions regarding the future of McMahon Stadium,” as well as broader stadium-related infrastructure.
The contract is expected to be awarded in October, and the estimated cost of the stadium study is $875,000.
It comes after the University of Calgary, which owns McMahon Stadium, began looking into building its own stadium for the school’s various varsity sports earlier this year.
“We have a desperate need for facilities and McMahon Stadium is way beyond its best before date,” said Steve Allan with the McMahon Stadium Society, the group that oversees the building’s operations and upgrades.
McMahon Stadium, which is home to the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders and University of Calgary Dinos, was built 66 years ago.
Despite lingering questions over the facility’s future, it is set to host the 113th Grey Cup game later this year.
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Allan told Global News that costs continue to mount to maintain the stadium’s operations ahead of the big game.
“We spent close to one million dollars fixing the sewage and water problem because that would’ve put the building at risk of failure, potentially, before the Grey Cup,” he said. “We will continue to address issues as they arise.”
According to Allan, he hopes to have a new stadium in the works within the next eight years, as that is how long the newly installed artificial turf field is set to last.
As the city evaluates options for stadiums, they may not have to look too far as the Calgary Stampede and Calgary Municipal Land Corporation are evaluating bids on a contract of their own to study the feasibility of multi-purposing GMC Stadium.
“What we’re really asking our consultants, when we’ve awarded this work, to focus on is field sports. That could be CFL football, it could be soccer,” said Jim Laurendeau, the Stampede’s executive vice-president of park development and operations.
The 17,000 seat stadium on Stampede Park hosts the rodeo and chuckwagon races during the 10-day event, and upgrades to the facility are part of the Calgary Stampede’s 20-year master plan.
Laurendeau said the move seems like a “no-brainer” on the surface with “half of a CFL stadium” already in existence on the site; however, any future proposal would need to limit impacts to the track.
“Animal safety is number one for us at the Calgary Stampede,” he said. “We need to have a consistent surface through a whole track for our horses to run.”
Stampede officials hope to award its contract in the coming weeks, with hope a study could be complete by next summer.
According to Allan, that feasibility study will help determine what other organizations plan to do moving forward.
“The university doesn’t want to put more money into a new building if we’re going to have to keep McMahon going on some basis or build a new stadium there,” Allan said. “It’s the critical piece of the puzzle right now.”
In a statement to Global News, the City of Calgary said its contract work is “early-stage due diligence” and doesn’t represent a decision or commitment to build a new facility.
“The study will help the city assess potential needs, opportunities, risks and next steps in a coordinated way, including how future facilities could support sport, events, tourism, economic development and community use,” the city statement said.
When asked about the contracts Wednesday, Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said the need for new sports facilities is “absolutely vital” as the city continues to grow.
However, Farkas said there would need to be a return for public investment as he sees “a lot of potential in that project” including the incorporation of commercial spaces or housing.
“As we see the need for supporting local arts, culture, but also sports like the CFL, would strongly support a replacement for that facility,” he said.
“But as I say, the devil is always in the details, and I want to make sure that if taxpayers are asked to contribute that it’s in a fair way.”
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