Mayor Gondek, CSEC address Calgary arena deal collapse in back-to-back press conferences

Calgary's mayor and the CEO of the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC) held back-to-back press conferences Wednesday to address the inflating costs that collapsed Calgary's long-standing new arena deal.

Calgarians learned the controversial and over-budget deal for a new events centre — which would have replaced the iconic Saddledome in Victoria Park — was dead on Tuesday, when Mayor Jyoti Gondek announced that the Flames were ready to pull the plug.

After the CSEC released a statement on Tuesday, its CEO, John Bean, reiterated in a Wednesday press conference that there is no viable path forward to complete the Event Centre Project.

The corporation is unwilling to take on additional risk and rising costs, which are largely related to surrounding sidewalks and climate change initiatives, Bean said.

"This isn't us looking for a way out," Bean said.

WATCH | Expectations were clearly outlined for arena, Calgary mayor says 

"We genuinely believe that the right-of-way costs and the climate costs … really should not be for the account of CSEC. And we tried our best to convey that to the city."

However, Gondek said in a press conference immediately following the CSEC's that the corporation was already well aware of what the climate mitigation expectations for the project were.

"[And] we are insisting on things like sidewalks, because you need them for a good … experience," Gondek said.

She said the city is hoping the CSEC will find the money, and is considering next steps if they don't.

"It's an unreal sense of loss right now."

WATCH | CEO of the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation talks collapsed arena deal 

In 2019, the city and the Flames agreed to terms on the Event Centre replacing the Scotiabank Saddledome, the home of the Flames since 1983.

The original estimate of $550 million to build the new 19,000-seat arena was to be split between the city, the CSEC, the Western Hockey League's Hitmen, the Canadian Football League's Stampeders and the National Lacrosse League's Roughnecks.