New Calgary Flames arena in limbo after mayor's re-election

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)

CALGARY -- The friction between the Calgary Flames and city council over a new arena shows no sign of abating with the re-election of Mayor Naheed Nenshi.

A new building for the NHL club became civic election fodder when Calgary Sports and Entertainment pulled out of "spectacularly unproductive" negotiations within days of Nenshi kicking off his campaign for a third term.

"As I've said for many, many weeks, the city has never left the table," Nenshi said after his victory speech Monday night.

"When they're ready to come back to the table and have a discussion understanding this mandate from Calgarians, we are ready and willing to have that discussion with them."

Flames president Ken King would not comment on the outcome of the election, a team spokesman said Tuesday.

An immediate renewal of arena talks seems unlikely, given the personal tone the issue took on.

Nenshi has one vote on council -- though his voice carries considerable influence as mayor. And it was his voice countering King's in the public back and forth over who should pay how much for the arena.

So the mayor has become the lightning rod for fears the team will move and leave Calgary bereft of an NHL team.

A month of subtle and not-so-subtle posturing on both sides culminated Monday with Flames media and communications director Sean Kelso stating in a tweet -- later deleted -- that Nenshi as mayor was "worse than Donald Trump being president" alongside hashtags "arrogant" and "bracefordisaster."

Flames vice-president of marketing Gordon Norrie urged people on his Twitter account Monday to vote for Nenshi's main rival Bill Smith.

CSEC said in a statement Tuesday that staff are entitled to their own opinions "and in fact it is their democratic right," but added "those individuals and opinions are not to be misinterpreted as representing the corporate position of the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation."

All 10 incumbents running for council won their seats again with four newcomers coming from wards without an incumbent.

So the arena was controversy not enough to shake up city hall, and it remains to be seen where the two sides will find common ground to re-start talks.

CSEC also owns the Canadian Football League's Calgary Stampeders, Western Hockey League's Hitmen and National Lacrosse League's Roughnecks in addition to the NHL's Flames.

King, who speaks for Flames owners Murray Edwards, Alvin Libin, Clayton Riddell, Allan Markin and Jeff McCaig, has said "the file is closed" on a new arena.

The team stated it would make the 34-year-old Saddledome work "for as long as we believe it is feasible."

CSEC offered to put $275 million into a $500-million building and said the city should raise the remaining $225 million through a community revitalization levy.

A CRL allows the city to divert property taxes from new development that would theoretically spring up around a new arena into paying for it.

The city proposed a three-way split on the cost of a $555-million arena, with the city and the Flames each paying $185 million and the remaining third raised from a surcharge on tickets.

The city said the Flames would control the new arena and receive all revenue from it.

But King insisted the city's offer amounts to the team paying the entire cost, or more, because CSEC considers a ticket surcharge paid by users revenue that belongs to the team and because the city wants CSEC to pay property tax.

"If we actually did this deal, it would be worse than what we have now," King has said.

The Victoria Park proposal to build an arena just north of the Saddledome came after the $890-million CalgaryNext project pitched by the Flames two years ago.

That concept included a hockey arena, football stadium and field house on the west side of downtown.

Flames owners offered $200 million of their money and proposed a $250-million loan be repaid through a ticket surcharge.

Council declared CalgaryNext would cost $1.8 billion when the cost of remediating creosote-soaked soil was included.

Nenshi and council showed more enthusiasm for putting an arena in Victoria Park, which is part of a larger district east of downtown undergoing a revitalization.

With files from Lauren Krugel