Calgary should focus on Victoria Park redevelopment not Olympics: councillor

A Calgary city councillor says he's much more interested in efforts to develop a new entertainment district in Victoria Park with a new arena at its heart rather than bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

A city committee voted this week to have council vote on resuming talks with the Calgary Flames on developing a new arena.

Calgary Municipal Land Corporation the city agency overseeing drawing up a master plan for the inner-city area has released renderings of a new arena, which came from the Flames.

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Coun. Peter Demong said the Olympics could bring value to Calgary, but not leave the same legacy as developing a new entertainment district in Victoria Park would.

"The Olympics would be fantastic but what we're talking about spending at the Olympics isn't going to do much of anything for this area, which is what we're trying to focus on," he said.

The legacy of an entertainment district would be more valuable than the Olympics, argued Demong.

"This is a culmination of what 20 to 25 years of envisioning and desires for this from the City of Calgary, from Calgarians to say, 'we want something to liven the downtown, to bring people back downtown,'" he said.

"This is city-building in its essence. This is how you build a good city and if it comes down to a cost basis between this project and the Olympics, I'm going to go with this one every single time."

City council will discuss on Tuesday whether to resume arena talks with the owners of the NHL team.

Negotiations between the two sides on a cost-share arrangement for an arena broke off last year.

The Flames said the city's offer was far short of what the team needs to see a new arena to go ahead.

Council then voted earlier this yearto create what it calls an "events centre assessment committee," with the goal of re-igniting negotiations between the two parties.

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