SPORTS

Calgary Flames expected to release details of plans for new arena

The Canadian Press Published Tuesday, August 18, 2015 4:06AM EDT Last Updated Tuesday, August 18, 2015 4:36AM EDT

The Saddledome arena, built for the 1988 Winter Olympics, is in the foreground of the downtown skyline in Calgary, Alberta on May 12, 2015. (File / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

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CALGARY - The president of the Calgary Flames is expected to detail plans for a new arena for the NHL team later today.

Talk of a replacement for the aging Saddledome has been circulating for years, and Ken King is scheduled to give an update on what is called the CalgaryNEXT project.

He indicated last spring that an announcement about a new downtown arena was imminent.

The project is widely expected to include an arena, a football stadium for the CFL Calgary Stampeders and an amateur sports fieldhouse.

The Saddledome, which opened its doors in 1983, is one of the oldest remaining arenas in the National Hockey League.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said earlier this year he believed the Saddledome was outdated and needed to be replaced.