Excitement in Flames' rebuild growing as new arena reaches milestone

CALGARY — On time and on budget, the billion-dollar building that represents so much of the hope and excitement surrounding the Calgary Flames organization will play host to a stirring milestone on Monday.

That's the day the final beam goes into the roof of Scotia Place, officially making it roof tight — a phrase that means little to the average fan, but everything to the 900-plus workers who've been living inside that steel skeleton for the better part of two years.

To celebrate the moment, the crew from CANA, who are constructing Calgary’s long-awaited arena, will gather in the 44,000-square-foot loading zone where Flames general manager Craig Conroy will say a few words, shake calloused hands and revel in his future home — a place in which he’ll finally have an office window.

How perfect that the man who made hard hats fashionable during the Flames’ blue-collar run to the 2004 Stanley Cup Final will be wearing one at the head of the room. 

"It's a pretty special moment for all the workers to look up and see what they've really done to create something that is just going to be amazing for a whole lot of years for the city of Calgary," said Flames president and CEO Robert Hayes of the celebration.

“It’s really a celebration for the workers, more than anything.”

This isn't just an arena going up. It's physical proof that Calgary's rebuild — on the ice and off it — is actually happening, and it's being done the right way.

The fans, in every way, are buying in.

Sales numbers on Scotia Place suites and general season-tickets are running hot enough that Hayes says the team hasn't even gotten deep into rank-and-file renewals yet, and the early read is already glowing from those who’ve gone through the Experience Centre. 

"Very positive feedback so far," said Hayes of a process that started with trying to ensure the 72 suite holders from the Dome can be accommodated in a new rink with 52 such boxes.

“People are blown away by all the things in there, and they start to appreciate where we have built the building to attract players and done it by taking all the best things from other buildings. Craig is trying to do that for players, and we’re trying to do that for fans.” 

We’re less than a year away from seeing if Gary Bettman was right when he declared, “I don’t think there’ll be a nicer building anywhere than that.”

Season-ticket sales for the final year at the Scotiabank Saddledome are up, which has as much to do with saying goodbye to the potato-chip shaped hockey cathedral as it does about positioning for tickets at the rink across the street. 

“It’s proof of how excited people are about what Craig is doing, and the future," said Hayes of the surge in support.

That excitement is why this rate-of-renewal, that sources suggest is running well ahead of most relocations in professional sports, isn't a fluke. Teams that move buildings almost always jack prices and lose fans in the shuffle.

Calgary appears to be bucking that trend, and it's not by accident — it's a direct reflection of the trust Conroy has built by blowing up the old hybrid rebuild plan and finally tearing it down to the studs.

Trading Nazem Kadri and MacKenzie Weegar last year told the fan base the truth: no more half-measures, no more pretending to compete while quietly not building anything. Fans wanted this rebuild for years. They're rewarding it now with their support.

They're doing it knowing full well the price of admission is going up.

Hayes doesn't dodge that.

"We're going from A to Z in buildings — they're nothing alike," said Hayes, whose new building offers nothing like the press-level seating that had some of the worst sightlines in the NHL.

“The Saddledome was, and is, an iconic piece of Calgary. But it's not really that great from a vantage point in some of those (cheap) seats. The new stadium has addressed that, and there is not a bad seat in the house. Price points are going to be a little different because of what we're trying to do from an experience, an amenities and vantage perspective.

“Price is important, but when you talk to people they get it — expenses are going up.”

It’s a great source of pride for all stakeholders that the project, which includes a community rink, parkade, 18,400 seats and indoor/outdoor gathering areas, is meeting every target. 

Projects like these can easily go sideways, especially given the obstacles in today’s economy.

“We've gone through tariffs, and a pretty high inflationary period over the last little while on certain products and services, and with all that our amazing friends at the city have worked so closely with us to ensure that we're ultimately delivering a building not just on time, but on budget,” said Hayes of a claim few such projects can make.

“I think people understand when you build a billion-dollar building, the city wants a return on that, and we're going to be paying a significantly increased lease rate to the city.” 

The Flames are about to pay the city a lease rate of $17 million a year, a massive jump from the roughly $2 million they've paid the Saddledome Society for years. Add in tariffs and inflation hammering a billion-dollar build, and Hayes still insists the city and the club are on pace to deliver the building on time and on budget, which is a genuinely rare feat for a project this size.

The plan from here is straightforward: keys to the new joint should be handed over in late May, operations shift to the new site starting in June 2027, security and concession dry runs through July and August, live-entertainment testing the building in September 2027, and puck drop that October.

Before any of that, though, there's a farewell to stage.

Season ticket holders' names were quietly embedded in the Saddledome’s logo at centre ice — painted over for NHL compliance, but there. 

“Chapters” celebrating the 1989 and 2004 teams are coming throughout the year, building toward a final game that's already sold out, with secondary market sales starting at $600 for the worst seats. 

“I guess people just want to be part of history,” said Hayes.

Over the course of the next few years, Flames fans will be given plenty of opportunity for that.