A thought provoking editorial by Richard White on this project:

The Rollin Stanley column he refers to is here:
www.theglobeandmail.com

Opinion: Convention centres are money pits. When will we ever learn?

Three levels of government have promised to pour $500-million into a revitalization of one of Calgary’s two convention centres – part of a tradition of bucking conventional wisdom on these boondoggles
www.theglobeandmail.com www.theglobeandmail.com
 
How can anyone on city council be questioning the wisdom of the decision to expand BMO .... after the funds have been allocated and construction has started. Another example of politicians not knowing anything about business.:rolleyes:
 
I might be having second thoughts too except the province and feds are both chipping in $155M each also, so the city is getting a pretty large, potentially beneficial project for not an overly huge sum of money.
 
What's even more frustrating is, in 2013, Mayor Nenshi seemed to agree with these columns..... From a November 12, 2013 Calgary Herald Article:
www.calgaryherald.com

Calgary Herald

Read latest breaking news, updates, and headlines. Calgary Herald offers information on latest national and international events & more.
www.calgaryherald.com www.calgaryherald.com

“I am not convinced in any way that building a new convention centre makes sense,” Mayor Naheed Nenshi said. “We may have missed the boat on this. Canada may have too much convention centre space.”
Click to expand...

I guess it is different when CMLC asks for it.......
 
Surrealplaces said:
I might be having second thoughts too except the province and feds are both chipping in $155M each also, so the city is getting a pretty large, potentially beneficial project for not an overly huge sum of money.
Click to expand...
What are we actually getting though with this capital injection? Potentially beneficial, or a large, ongoing liability and cost? If I can make a (potentially bad) parallel, imagine your rich uncle says he is going to give you a Ferrari for your birthday. You'd be thrilled, right? What a sweet new car, that you really didn't have to pay for. After a year, you have your first scheduled maintenance on the vehicle. You discover it is a $20,000 cost to remove the engine to change the oil (assuming he gave you a classic, F355 in this scenario). Would you be so happy?
 
Surrealplaces said:
I might be having second thoughts too except the province and feds are both chipping in $155M each also, so the city is getting a pretty large, potentially beneficial project for not an overly huge sum of money.
Click to expand...
As with most of these projects, Calgary doesn’t miss out on the funds from other levels of government by not moving the project forward. The federal grant comes from a Calgary/Alberta pot that can be used for other things if wanted. It does not come from a convention centre pot that someone else will get if Calgary does not.
 
MichaelS said:
What are we actually getting though with this capital injection? Potentially beneficial, or a large, ongoing liability and cost? If I can make a (potentially bad) parallel, imagine your rich uncle says he is going to give you a Ferrari for your birthday. You'd be thrilled, right? What a sweet new car, that you really didn't have to pay for. After a year, you have your first scheduled maintenance on the vehicle. You discover it is a $20,000 cost to remove the engine to change the oil (assuming he gave you a classic, F355 in this scenario). Would you be so happy?
Click to expand...

I'd just raise taxes on my younger brother's lemonade stand to help cover it.
 
MichaelS said:
What are we actually getting though with this capital injection? Potentially beneficial, or a large, ongoing liability and cost? If I can make a (potentially bad) parallel, imagine your rich uncle says he is going to give you a Ferrari for your birthday. You'd be thrilled, right? What a sweet new car, that you really didn't have to pay for. After a year, you have your first scheduled maintenance on the vehicle. You discover it is a $20,000 cost to remove the engine to change the oil (assuming he gave you a classic, F355 in this scenario). Would you be so happy?
Click to expand...
I was assuming the BMO expansion centre would be something that could increase economic activity and benefit.....not that I know it can for sure. I'm not an expert on tourism and conventions, so who knows. Others here probably have a better take on the whole convention market.
 
Surrealplaces said:
I was assuming the BMO expansion centre would be something that could increase economic activity and benefit.....not that I know it can for sure. I'm not an expert on tourism and conventions, so who knows. Others here probably have a better take on the whole convention market.
Click to expand...
Conventions/trade shows definitely do increase economic activity and boosts tourism. In June I attended a trade show in New Orleans that attracted 11,000 participants from all over the world. 400+ exhibitors over 225,000 sq. ft.
If I am reading things correctly, there seems to be some doubt now within city council and Tourism Calgary, that even with adequate facilities, Calgary may not be an attractive location/destination for these large scale events. Certainly not enough business to support two venues - TCC and BMO.
WTF??? This decision was made without proper research, surveys and planning??
 
He's bang on about having two competing facilities geared at conventions. I think conventions are a tough go as it is with one facility, let alone two. Both have some positives. Telus Convention centre is close to the amenities and tourist friendly, but locked into a small area, with no real opportunity to grow unless you move the Glenbow. The Stampede has the room to grow, but is not near anything appealing for out of town visitors
MichaelS said:
A thought provoking editorial by Richard White on this project:

The Rollin Stanley column he refers to is here:
www.theglobeandmail.com

Opinion: Convention centres are money pits. When will we ever learn?

Three levels of government have promised to pour $500-million into a revitalization of one of Calgary’s two convention centres – part of a tradition of bucking conventional wisdom on these boondoggles
www.theglobeandmail.com www.theglobeandmail.com
Click to expand...
 
JonnyCanuck said:
Conventions/trade shows definitely do increase economic activity and boosts tourism. In June I attended a trade show in New Orleans that attracted 11,000 participants from all over the world. 400+ exhibitors over 225,000 sq. ft.
If I am reading things correctly, there seems to be some doubt now within city council and Tourism Calgary, that even with adequate facilities, Calgary may not be an attractive location/destination for these large scale events. Certainly not enough business to support two venues - TCC and BMO.
WTF??? This decision was made without proper research, surveys and planning??
Click to expand...
To be honest, I don't see Calgary as a city getting those 11,000 people conventions. Not on a regular basis as cities like NO, LV, LA etc... are always more appealing.
We can still reel in some decent mid-sized conventions, but how many throughout the whole year? Winter isn't convention friendly. And we've got to compete against Toronto and Vancouver who already struggle against cities like NO and LV because of climate.
I'm not saying we shouldn't have a convention facility, but I agree with White's point about having two of them.
 
Personally I would've liked to see a new Arena go ahead before this. Theres really no reason left to go to Edmonton except for concerts unless of course you have family & friends up there. We give up at least 3-5 major concerts every year. If each major concert like a Drake or Ariana Grande attracts 20k people then thats a lot of local spending we give up to Edmonton. I know public funding for an Arena divides a lot of Calgarians but is this really worth $155 million of public dollars over an arena? Not IMO but hey, at least this thing will look nice once complete.
 
C716652D-3438-4BD1-AB7A-9962231717E5.jpeg
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top