Continued construction work on Calgary’s Scotia Place event centre means the days are numbered for the committee put in place to oversee its planning and delivery.

After the development permits were approved in December 2024, it paved the way for further site work. The building permit for the $1.25 billion project will allow for full-blown construction to proceed.

Excavation of the site has been ongoing since the project began in July 2024, according to a news release put out by the City of Calgary. Crews have dug more than 10 metres down to accommodate the event bowl of the new Scotia Place. This will allow for street-level access to the main concourse area.

“With the Calgary Planning Commission’s final approval on the Scotia Place design, it is exciting to think about the amount of work that will take place over the next two and a half years,” said Bob Hunter, project committee member, in a prepared news release.  

“Excavating to the bottom of the site will be the first of many exciting milestones we will see between 2025 and the project’s completion in 2027.”

Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp, chair of the Event Centre Committee, said from city administration to Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC) and the negotiators at CAA Icon, this was an important project for everyone involved.

See it progress means they’re staying on top of a timeline they’d established early, she told LWC.  

“What it really is, is a testament to the teamwork and dedication to everybody that was involved in this project from day one,” she said.

CSEC president and CEO Robert Hayes said the work done to this point is remarkable.

“We have witnessed it in the board rooms for the past year and now we see it out our windows every day as Scotia Place is becoming a reality,” he said.

“We are both proud and appreciative of the teamwork displayed by the partners to create Calgary’s premier sports and entertainment destination that will be enjoyed by all Calgarians.”

Scotia Place drawings to come for review

Sharp said the next step will be building drawings for city review and an application for the building permit.

Now that the development permits are in place, she said that it’s likely time to wind down the Event Centre Committee. She said the project Terms of Reference state that the committee should be dissolved once the development permit process is complete.

They’ll hold a final meeting at some point in the future to determine if there’s a need to continue the committee work, she said. Meanwhile, Coun. Sharp said city administration is keeping a close eye on the budget.

“Construction is always running against the environmental elements in Calgary, but also cost elements, which could be any sort of inflation and costs,” she said.

“So, we want to make sure that the Event Centre Committee has done what it needs to do, and that we would dissolve that committee so that administration takes it over, like a construction project that it is, and we all watch from the sidelines and see this building get built.”

As for potential cost concerns particularly with potential US tariffs looming and what that might mean for steel imports, Sharp said she hasn’t been informed of any significant barriers at this point.

“This is something kind of out of our control, where other levels of government need to fight for us,” Sharp said.

“I think just in general, these would be a concern to anything, even small-scale construction, let alone something like the Event Center.”

The City of Calgary said people will see more materials and workers on site this year. Structural concrete and steel work will happen throughout 2025. They said foundation walls will go up first, then below-grade columns, stairs, elevator cores and access ramps.

Visit the Scotia Place project site for more information.