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CALGARY – Construction has begun on the new $800-million arena for the NHL’s Calgary Flames.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek joined others Monday picking up a chrome shovel to symbolically turn the sod to launch the multi-year process to replace one of the NHL’s oldest arenas.

The new building – to be named Scotia Place — is being built in the shadow of the Saddledome and its iconic saddle-shaped concave roof.

“Today is a big day for Calgary. After a decade of talking, Calgary is breaking ground on a new events centre…a project that promises to become a cornerstone of our sports and entertainment district,” said city councillor Sonya Sharp, the chair of the committee overseeing the project. 

“This is a place where dreams will be realized, where champions will be made and our community will come together to celebrate, to be entertained and to enjoy.”

The arena is part of a new $1.2-billion event centre and entertainment district near the city’s downtown.

The project plan includes plazas and gathering places, bars, restaurants and retail shops, with the main event centre hosting the NHL team along with other sports, concerts and events. 

The facility, with a seating capacity of 18,400, is expected to be completed in 2027. At that time the Saddledome will face the wrecking ball.

In addition to the sod ceremony, new images of the arena were released.

Bill Johnson, with the design firm HOK, said there was a lot of consultation with Indigenous groups.

“I think the best buildings tell stories and narratives. It was important for us to come up with a story that resonated with this place,” Johnson said.

A striking feature of the building is the central structure with a textured flame motif that emulates a home fire, which is accentuated when it is lit at night. 

“We came up with a fairly direct idea that this is a meeting place and this was the birthplace of this community and people gathered around the fire, and what better building type than a building that was designed to bring people together.”

The design is intended to bring together Indigenous cultural perspectives reflecting the four elements of nature — fire, ice, land and air.

The Saddledome has been home to the Calgary Flames since it was built in 1983.

The Alberta government is committing a maximum $330 million for area infrastructure, to demolish the Saddledome and to cover off half of a new 1,000-seat community rink. 

“Today is all about new beginnings. We’re marking the start of the construction of the new arena and events districts and unveiling a vision of a renewed and revitalized downtown,” Smith said.

The City of Calgary will put in $537 million and Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp., which owns the Flames, will pay $40 million now and then $17 million a year over the course of a 35-year lease, with payments growing by one per cent a year. 

The Calgary Stampede, which runs the city’s signature summer festival and rodeo, will transfer land. 

Only Madison Square Garden, home of the New York Rangers, is technically older among NHL arenas than the Saddledome. But even that comes with an asterisk as the Rangers’ Manhattan home underwent a massive renovation and modernization a decade ago. 

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