Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek announced on Monday that as of right now the deal might be in danger.

Mayor Gondek says the Calgary Flames intend to pull out of the multi-million dollar Event Center project originally announced in 2019.

Gondek explained Tuesday that the chair of the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation, Murray Edwards let her know they were going to "pull the plug" on the deal.

in a press conference, Gondek said, " today I am bringing you the unfortunate news that we have come to the conclusion where the event centre deal is not moving forward."

She continued, "There was additional funding that had to be taken on by Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation. It appears that they are unable to make that financial commitment, following the approval of their development permit, so it would appear that they are ending the deal."

The CSEC (Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation) and the city originally agreed to split the costs to build an 18,000 seat arena. the cost was supposed to be around 550 to 600 million dollars but in the most recent estimate, it went up to $634 million. 

In a statement by the CSEC, they responded to the mayor's comments late Tuesday afternoon, saying they are disappointed with the outcome but promise to stay in their current home, the Scotiabank Saddledome,

 "The CSEC's primary objective in pursuing the Event Centre Project has been to provide Calgarians with a first-class facility with an entertainment experience, not only for hockey but for other events including concerts, comparable to other major cities. However, at this point, it is clear that the City and CSEC have been unable to resolve a number of issues relating to the escalating costs of the Project."

THE CSEC went on to say "there are now $19 million of new cost items related to infrastructure and climate being insisted upon by the City for which they are seeking an additional $10 million in funding from CSEC."

 

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