University of Calgary pursuing a new on-campus stadium for varsity sports - BERITAJA

The University of Calgary is exploring the building of a caller stadium connected its field for its various varsity sports teams, aft years of softly fundraising for the project.

Those teams presently play astatine McMahon Stadium, a shared location for the University of Calgary Dinos and Calgary Stampeders since it was built 66 years ago.

“We’ve known for immoderate clip that the Dinos will outlive McMahon Stadium,” said Nick Holt, the dean of UCalgary’s Faculty of Kinesiology.

“We request a semipermanent solution to guarantee the early of Dinos programming.”

That semipermanent solution could travel successful the shape of a “fit-for-varsity stadium,” successful which UCalgary plans to activity bids for creation activity successful the coming days aft “quiet phase” fundraising $21 cardinal alongside the Dino’s 5th Quarter, the shot team’s alumni group.

According to assemblage officials, the connection being explored would beryllium a training and title stadium pinch a capacity betwixt 3,500 and 7,000 seats that could support aggregate Dinos section sports, including football, soccer, and rugby.

The stadium would see a “seasonal dome” to let for year-round use, and would beryllium unfastened to the nationalist erstwhile it’s not successful use, Holt told BERITAJA.

“A large portion of our imagination is making it disposable to the community,” Holt said. “We cognize there’s a immense shortage of accommodation successful Calgary, we besides cognize there’s a monolithic shortage successful the wintertime truthful our imagination is to person a seasonal dome and make it disposable to the organization successful the winter.”

According to Moshe Lander, an economist astatine Concordia University, the move signals McMahon Stadium is “not financially viable,” and opens the doorway to important redevelopment connected the site.

“Building thing that’s overmuch much successful statement pinch assemblage athletics successful Canada seems overmuch much reasonable,” he told BERITAJA.

“Once McMahon is nary longer successful use, there’s a immense opportunity location to build, whether it’s dorms, building aliases infrastructure to support a increasing campus.”

The move is raising questions about wherever the Calgary Stampeders will play successful the early arsenic the university’s connection is smaller than emblematic CFL venues.

In a statement, Calgary Stampeders president Jay McNeil said McMahon Stadium has been “an unthinkable home” for the team, but the building is “reaching the extremity of its functional life.”

“The speech about what comes adjacent must beryllium led by the organization it serves,” McNeil’s connection said. “This isn’t conscionable about shot — it’s about what Calgarians want for their city: a modern, accessible and welcoming gathering spot that supports sport, civilization and year‑round organization use.”

While the building is owned by the University of Calgary, it’s the McMahon Stadium Society that oversees its operations and upgrades.

The McMahon Stadium Society’s chair, Steve Allan, told BERITAJA he’s “rooting” for the university’s occurrence successful its proposal, arsenic conversations are successful early stages about a caller location for the Stampeders.

“We’ve been moving connected this for about 4 years now erstwhile I realized we won’t beryllium getting immoderate much money to put into McMahon,” Allan said Thursday.

Last month, Calgary Stampede officials hinted early planned upgrades to the infield seating astatine GMC Stadium could make measurement for section sports to beryllium played connected the site.

According to Allan, moving the Calgary Stampeders to an upgraded installation connected the Stampede Grounds is simply a logical step.

“The Calgary Stampede already has the courage of a stadium, they pull group down there, they person transportation, they person parking,” Allan said, “They’ve sewage a batch of what we request truthful I deliberation it makes a ton of sense.”

Back astatine the university, officials expect to person first designs for a imaginable stadium by the autumn to patient up timelines and costs, pinch a “more public” run to raise costs for the task successful the coming months.

According to Holt, officials proceed to measure imaginable locations for the stadium connected the campus’ westbound side, noting the task is “years, not decades” away.

“The cardinal point is to beryllium connected field to bring the power to our field and springiness thing for our students to really get behind,” he said.

McMahon Stadium is group to big the 113th Grey Cup crippled later this year.