SkiFreak

Some breaking news coming out of city hall about an hour ago, the new event centre is a go! Construction is supposed to start sometime in the second half of this year. If anyone plans on coming for the Stampede over the next bunch of years, be prepared for major construction on the grounds including: the BMO Centre expansion, the Victoria Park C-Train station and 17th Ave rebuild, the new events centre, and the Green Line LRT.

Here's the latest news today about the new arena... CBC: City, Flames ownership each to pay millions more for new arena The Saddledome would stay put if talks fall apart, but from the news today, looks like the new arena is a go.

With BC fighting major forest fires now, could go broke. Vancouver was on the verge of going broke during the 1st wave of the pandemic last year. But, I believe they are in better shoes than Calgary. Calgary has been in a situation since late 2013, with no end in sight (the O&G crash and major office vacancy in the downtown core).

The crash started in 2015, but actually, started in late 2013. The small O&G company I was working for as a tech started to take a hit in late 2013 when they did the first layoff. The link to the article I put in my previous post is worth a read. Has a bunch of answers for you. Lots of young people are relocating too. The vibrancy is no longer here. Calgary had all it's eggs in one basket and failed to diversify earlier. The career I came out here for 10 years ago just did not materialize. I have stayed employed, albeit seasonally in something not related to my career, throughout this ordeal, but trying to pivot into my other background which is digital marketing. Maybe it's time to move on.

And Seoul has the distinction of being the only BBQ cauldron.

Here's the website for Vancouver 2030: https://www.vancouver2030.org/ Should we pursue it? Shouldn't we? A better bet than Calgary 2026.

The only venue that would have to be dealt with is the curling venue. The oval still has it's ice making equipment. What they did there was put this special rubber flooring in with the temporary basketball courts, etc. on top of that. The rubber just needs to be peeled off and it's ready to go. All other venues, as far as I know, are ready to go. And then, of course, a new athletes village.

Who knows what the future will bring for the Olympics. Beijing next year has plenty of woes (not to mention the Chinese are holding one of our own Calgarians). Too many signs out there there may be some global conflict coming post-pandemic (anyone follow the G7 this year?) Too much unrest with China for my liking. Throw Russia into the mix too... yikes.

Any official albums/music for Tokyo 2020? Anything gonna be released later this week? Browsing thru iTunes right now and can't seem to find anything.

Resurrecting this thread since our attempt in 2018. How things have transpired here over the last few years since we had the plebiscite. Nothing has gotten better in Calgary, in fact things have gotten worse. It's a good thing we did not go for 2026. Here's an example: CBC: Calgary's downtown office vacancy rate hit record high and may soon reach Depression-era levels, company says Throw the pandemic in there and yikes. There's no end in sight for Calgary's woes, all due to the oil and gas crash. The downtown core is a visibly and eerily quiet. Some of the 88 infrastructure is taking a hit too. The Olympic Oval was shut down between last August and May of this year due to mechanical failure. Luckily it happened during the pandemic, but the athletes had to train elsewhere, either in Fort St. John or on outdoor lakes. The bobsled track still hasn't been rebuilt (the upper portion was demolished for a potential rebuild, but money is still a few million short). And at some point, the ski jumps are being demolished too with the exception of the 90 meter which will be kept as a historic site/tourist attraction. It definitely isn't the Calgary I moved to 10 years ago. A number of my acquaintances moved out, either back to BC or east. I'm thinking of heading back to BC myself. On the other hand, some projects are being built. The BMO Centre is being expanded. This was to be the broadcast centre for 2026. The old Corral arena was demolished and groundbreaking on the expansion started a few months ago. Very recently, the LRT Green Line was given a green light by the federal government. Construction should begin shortly. And the new events centre/NHL arena discussions are still ongoing. Construction was supposed to start next month, but discussions/agreements have been stalled with the Flames. The new centre is going in on the two Stampede parking lots just north of the Saddledome. Once it's complete, the Saddledome is coming down. There's supposed to be a Green line LRT station just on the north side of the new events centre too. The Stampede grounds area is going to see construction for the majority of this decade. One problem though, why go ahead with these projects when the downtown core is quiet? We do have municipal elections this year, with a number of counselors and the mayor not seeking reelection, so we'll see what the future brings.

Long time no see. Just wondering, as I missed the first half of the opening ceremony, where can I rewatch it? Is it up on Youtube? CBC posted on FB that it would be on Amazon Prime, but they don't have their listings labeled very well on there.

Maybe another go in the future? CBC: Is Calgary's Olympic past still a legacy, or just history? Things that have transpired over the last few days. The City still wants to do: The BMO Centre expansion (what would've been the media centre for 2026. They want to start digging the ground for it this year.) Events Centre (NHL arena) Field House Arts Commons Expansion (next to Olympic Plaza) CBC: Calgary council OKs plan for $1.5B in capital projects, including new arena, but keeps details secret

And now some of the fallout from the failed bid: Global News: Calgary luge, bobsleigh upgrade projects shelved due to funding issues: WinSport

Edmonton is out to lunch. For me it was a Yes for Calgary (because we have the venues), but a No for Edmonton.

Whaa, it ends tomorrow. Calgary Herald: Olympic bid expected to officially be put to rest Monday I'd still like to see Calgary make another attempt at it in the future, it's just too many things are out of whack right now. The city is broke enough that they can't even afford new C-train cars. We need our two pipelines built. Locally we need the Greenline built with extension to the airport, Victoria Park build-out with new events centre, field house, and then maybe attempt another bid.

At least in 2026 my kitchen cupboards won't be overflowing with Petro Canada drinking glasses.

Chazz Michael Michaels will be in you Stockholm, 2026!

Stockholm better bring out Chazz Michael Michaels.

Results of the plebiscite should be available on this site around 10pm: http://vote2018.calgary.ca/

I voted last week already. I voted yes. Results should be revealed at around 10pm (MST) tonight. I just wonder how many people are gonna screw-up the ballots though. This is the first time they are using electronic tabulating machines, so instead of just Xing your choice like on old ballots, you have to completely fill in the bubble so the machine reads it - like bubble sheets for university exams. People around here are dumb enough to screw it up.

We should know by 10pm MST (Calgary time) the outcome of the plebiscite.

CBC News: First look at Olympic hub around McMahon Stadium revealed ^Just for orientation, this is facing south. That's Crowchild trail on the left with the pedestrian bridge to the C-Train along Banff Trail. Looks like they're planning to turn McMahon Stadium's east parking lot into a celebration site. But I'm curious, I wonder if they are still planning to use the Stampede Grandstand for medal ceremonies? They could probably have them outside of McMahon.

Calgary Herald: From renovated McMahon Stadium to new field house, a glimpse at proposed Olympic venues All over social media for the last hour. Some nice renderings.

I voted yesterday. And this was in the news: Calgary Herald: It's a Yes! Canmore council votes in favour of joining 2026 Olympic bid

Went to the Yes 2026 rally today. listened to speeches by various athletes including Michael "Eddie the Eagle" Edwards and the world's fastest man in 1996, Donovan Bailey. Big speech by the mayor too. Picked up some swag; got a t-shirt and some buttons. You'll see on twitter as someone pointed out, about a quarter of the seats were empty - just bad timing. Tomorrow the advance polls begin. We'll see what happens next week.