[Joborule]

The university owns all the land in the south part of the parcel and would expect to be compensated for it. When Calgary Next was a thing they provisioned for a small stadium on campus to support athletics if it came to pass to enabled a full community to be built on the McMahon land.

Even if the city owned the land, it isn’t like Calgary’s land prices and density entitlements can extract big premiums to enable large subsidiation of a stadium.

A decade ago rather minimal renovations (not redoing the stands to make them comfortable for people who are taller and or wider than 1960s medians) were in the $90 million range.

Personally I suspect that nothing will be done until the Stampede needs a couple hundred million for the grandstand. And then things will move quite quickly.

If I was to bet if anything was going to happen, I agree that it would be a stadium on the Stampede ground. I'm just unsure if it would be a new stadium on the vacant Saddledome lands, or a major Grandstand renovation as you mentioned. I suppose that if the latter would have to happen at some point, the synergy makes sense to use the money for that to appease both CSEC and the Stampede at the same time. Easier to sell to the public, and should be less cost than two multi-hundred projects that individually wouldn't get enough usage throughout the year.

 

[Duck Lightning]

Despite the Grandstand now being 50 years old I'm skeptical over whether it really needs replacement any time soon. The sightlines are already good, the concourse was recently renovated, there's a suite level with a new restaurant, and it's just not used enough to really warrant the money to replace it. I think the stampede is likely just to keep renovating it until it literally starts to crumble

 

[darwink]

I guess I just count 20 years from now as soon. Even with the best maintenance concrete structures especially post tensioned ones don’t have an indefinite life span.

 

[Cowtown]

I have my doubts there will be a new stadium, but I fully expect a massive reno of McMahon in the near future.

The city has indicated interest in renovating McMahon with the Foothills + McMahon Concept plan that they completed a few years ago. The city is trying to get funding for the Foothills Fieldhouse, and recently a councilor said they're going to make a master plan now to try get a detailed vision of the area as a whole. Perhaps funding can come via selling this as an area redevelopment project by linking funding for the Foothills Fieldhouse, along with McMahon Stadium renovations at the same time.

I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but a reno is most likely be the best we'll see for the foreseeable future. I don't want to dump on the CFL, because I've always been a Stamps fan but I can't help but wonder about the future of the league, and whether it would be worth building a new stadium to be used by a team in a struggling league 8-10 times a year.
At some point we'll need a new stadium, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a smaller 25,000ish seat stadium built to host CFL games and maybe some soccer events, but for the time being a reno is probably what we'll get.

 

[FCC1982]

The city has indicated interest in renovating McMahon with the Foothills + McMahon Concept plan that they completed a few years ago. The city is trying to get funding for the Foothills Fieldhouse, and recently a councilor said they're going to make a master plan now to try get a detailed vision of the area as a whole. Perhaps funding can come via selling this as an area redevelopment project by linking funding for the Foothills Fieldhouse, along with McMahon Stadium renovations at the same time.

Been going on for years - it’s obvious improvements to McMahon (and the fieldhouse) are not high on the City priority list.

Foothills & McMahon Concept Plan

www.calgary.ca

 

[Mountain Man]

Would the University fund some of it? I think having the Dinos keep playing out of McMahon would only help. The City would have to pay a big share of any renovation costs, the Stamps wouldn't fund much. If they could enclose the stadium and actually host big events there, that would help as well.

 

[DiscoStu]

It definitely seems like you'd need something that can host a lot of things...Stamps, Cavalry, concerts/festivals, University/Community sports, perhaps track and field, etc....It would probably need to be a compromised jack-of-all-trades type building, but I don't think any one entity can really justify it by itself. And it would most likely need some sort of big event catalyst to get the proper government funding...I just don't see it being very viable for any private enterprise, unless they are in the business of losing money.

 

[darwink]

Would the University fund some of it?

Very little.

 

[Duck Lightning]

Here's what new Stamps president Jay McNeil had to say about McMahon Stadium:

McNeil admitted that the outdated nature of McMahon Stadium posed more of a challenge than he’d initially anticipated when it came to winning fans back. He highlighted the concourses and bathrooms as two of the facility’s main shortcomings but praised the venue’s sightlines and atmosphere. He also bemoaned the lack of a viewing area designed to cater to young fans, though the team plans to add one in the near future.

“Not everybody wants to sit in a seat for three hours, so we really do need to create an area where somebody can come and stand and watch the game,” he said. “We will do something, we have to do something, so whether it’s a more permanent solution — a renovation — or it’s something that’s a little more temporary, we need to create something to bring that generation of fan in.”

And the possibility of a new stadium:

McNeil declined to comment on a possible timeline for a new stadium, as there are currently no formal plans in the works. He promised to work diligently to ensure the 63-year-old venue is replaced at some point to provide fans with a better game-day experience and ensure the club’s long-term viability.

“We are going to pursue all options in terms of having discussions about a new stadium. That is something that just has to happen, so we will do everything we can to make that happen,” he said. “I think even just the approval process — I think we all can learn from the events that are here in Calgary — it takes time, and it takes time to get all the right people in the room talking and moving this forward. I think it would be premature to pick a timeline but to say that we are going to pursue it as best we can.”

 

[Mountain Man]

Very little.

Kind of what I figured. I do expect that having the U of C as a tenant would potentially make it easier to get the various levels of government to contribute. McMahon is a joke, something needs to happen soon!

 

[Joborule]

Kind of what I figured. I do expect that having the U of C as a tenant would potentially make it easier to get the various levels of government to contribute. McMahon is a joke, something needs to happen soon!

University would prefer McMahon demolished if I were to assume correctly. They probably would want to maximize the potential of a "University Village" for the entire land. So, if there was any plan to move the Stamps to a new stadium, they would be the first to cheer.

 

[darwink]

would potentially make it easier to get the various levels of government to contribute.

the opposite alas.

 

[ByeByeBaby]

Would the University fund some of it? I think having the Dinos keep playing out of McMahon would only help. The City would have to pay a big share of any renovation costs, the Stamps wouldn't fund much. If they could enclose the stadium and actually host big events there, that would help as well.

I went to a few Dinos games back in my younger days, but I wanted to see if McMahon was still as busy as it was back then, when 30 of us with a bullhorn and no cares could dominate the stadium.

It's probably obvious to you all, but for the uninitiated I must admit that I cherry picked the season a little. The season before this one, of course, the Dinos had a perfect 8-0 regular season record and had national MVP, quarterback Adam Sinagra set a U Sports record for passing yards. But it's even clearer from this schedule that this is the season they played more than the 8 game Canada West schedule, with the last three home games being playoffs, obviously (I mean come on, why else would the Marauders be on the schedule). After winning the Mitchell Bowl in front of a crazed group of fans numbering almost to two thousand, they won the Vanier Cup.

The attendance is similarly low other years, but this is the best possible case - a team coming off a great season, playing another great season all the way to a national championship including an at-home playoff run.

Why would the U of C spend a dime on a stadium? 6K to the home opener -- which is much better than my student days -- then an average of 1180 for the subsequent 6 games, including a national semi-final. The entire season, 7 home games combined (3 playoff games!), is 13K; the Stamps get 18K for their preseason game.

 

[CalgaryTiger]

Anyone else listen to the 32 Thoughts Podcast with Ryan Smith out of Utah? In it, he describes how they're going to fit more seats into the existing arena. Pretty interesting listen... His ideas (which do come out in a bit of a ramble) are to stack the seats or suites and not just fill in the end with some temporary bleacher, and he also mentioned wanting to utilize the steepness of the whole arena to their advantage and do a "Wall" like they're going to do for the Clippers new arena (if you haven't looked that up, you should).

 

[Mountain Man]

Too bad Atco field is so far from the University, sounds like it may be more appropriate for Dino games. Never been to one myself, University football isn't my favourite.