The City of Calgary and the Calgary Flames have a tentative deal in place to build a new arena for the Flames. The Flames were in talks with the city about getting a new arena in 2017 but those talks ended up falling through. According to the CBC, if the deal is agreed upon it will be at least four months until it’s finalized. Construction on the new arena would be set for sometime in 2021. When the arena is finished the Flames will move out of the Saddledome.

Calgary Flames to Get New Arena

The New Arena

On Monday afternoon the City council members will discuss the proposed agreement on the new arena. The new arena is expected to cost around $600 million and will seat about 18,000 people. It will also feature a community rink and 40,000 square feet of underground parking. However, the new arena will be built in South East Calgary.

In a statement about the new arena Coun. Ward Sutherland Arena said “Yes, it has an arena inside it, but it’s set up for the future — we’re talking about e-games, e-entertainment, virtual reality concerts, mixed-use. It’s quite different,” he said.

Scotiabank Saddledome to Come To A Close

The Scotiabank Saddledome opened in 1983 and later that year the Flames played their first game in the new arena. It was originally built to serve as the primary facility for the 1988 Olympics and would house figure skating and hockey.

The Saddledome is currently the second-oldest arena in the NHL next to Madison Square Garden at 51 years.

In June 2013 the city of Calgary had a massive flood which included flooding to the Saddledome. The arena, however, would be ready for the Flames regular season but pieces of history were destroyed.

It’s unclear what will happen to the Saddledome once the Flames move to their new arena.

Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images