Calgary committee renews efforts towards new arena for Flames

A Calgary city council committee "will begin work" today on a "mandate to guide the creation of a new arena project" for the Flames, according to Jason Herring of the CALGARY HERALD. The Event Centre Committee's meeting "comes in the months after the city's previous arena deal collapsed, following a dispute" between the Flames ownership group and the city. The meetings are "expected to take place largely behind closed doors." Committee counselor Courtney Walcott said that the group "won't be starting from square one when they meet" today. That is because "much of the work completed on the city's failed arena project is expected to form the foundation of a possible new deal." The previous deal to create a new arena to replace the aging Saddledome "fell apart in the last weeks of 2021," with the $650M project folding when Calgary Sports & Entertainment "walked away over cost increases" (CALGARY HERALD, 4/4).