Calgary's Saddledome opens, 1983

[@Twentythree33]

Kinda hilarious how the Saddledome used to be the best arena in the world. I love the building to death, but I see why we need a new one.

[@drprogensteinphp]

The Wright Brothers used to have the best airplane in the world too ;)

[@McSorleyFan33]

No I don’t wanna lose another classic arena. I miss the Montreal forum, northlands ice coliseum, Chicago stadium, Boston garden. Those arenas have a charm. Now all arenas are oversized and all look exactly the same Back in the days u could watch a game a know who the home team was by the way the ice the boards and the arena looked now I can never tell who the home team is unless I see the jersey colors

[@BinaryReplicant]

Time marches on.

[@CaptureKing247]

It was never the best arena in the world. Roof design was a mistake and the lack of a full lower bowl was an even bigger error. It wasn't designed as an arena, it was designed to be a saddle for cosmetic landmark reasons.

[@goldenhourkodak]

The new one is ugly as a brick and spoils our skyline

[@republic_738]

Amazing arena. Love the design, and have lots of great memories here, watching the Calgary Flames.

[@havok9001]

i been to the arena for 2 Wwe Monday Night Raw after 2009 i think & had my grad next door in 2005

[@dustinbaerg]

It is actually somewhat ironic that the demolition cost of $13.8M (a couple years when the new arena deal hadn't been quashed) is pretty close to the original cost overruns mentioned here as $16M.

[@RobertProctor1945]

Gonna miss the Done for all the great memories and moments it created.

[@rydenhaze10]

such a iconic building,going to a hockey game or going calgary stampede

[@thejollyrancher6713]

Beautiful building. Great place to see a game. When you’re watching the game in any arena, what do you see? Seats and ice. I don’t care if the new building will have nicer suites that I’ll never sit in and I certainly don’t care if it has a TGI Friday’s in the concourse. I go to watch the game and the new rink will have the same 200 x 85 ft sheet as the old one.

[@timburr4453]

Who complains about stuff like that. Ok so it cost more...but the hockey team, in an area that loves hockey, needed a new arena. This is a worthwhile thing to ante up for. 3 years later they were in the Finals. And 3 years after that won the Cup.

[@Classicrocker6119]

I attended this open house on Sunday October 16,1983 with my brother and our now late father. I still have souvenirs I bought that day. A few weeks later I attended my first game there which was an overtime winner for the Flames. Now at 62 I’ll watch the odd game on TV but haven’t attended one in person since October of 2021. Mediocrity has long set in on the Flames resulting in a revolving door of various coaches and GM’s. Naturally not a lot of playoff appearances as expected. Like a lot of Flames fans I’ve lost a lot of interest and down follow them like I used to. Per haps that could change when the new building opens but I’m personally not very optimistic.

[@CaptureKing247]

This aged well

[@michaelwhitaker9719]

Meanwhile, Gary Bettman just got stuck in the elevator there.

[@trashhumanperson9422]

God, remember when arena didn’t cost billions of dollars

[@Jzizler]

u clearly didn’t take an economics class

[@Canuckzprod]

Rip Saddledome

[@DC-yl4vc]

Civic pride is high and so is Bob Nicolson

[@sportsfanatic2228]

It’s sad that it’s gonna get knocked down in 2024 but I still see why.

[@IbrahimKhizar11]

Wait, why?

[@drprogensteinphp]

@@IbrahimKhizar11 The new Calgary Event Centre will be built on the site of the old Calgary Corral arena. They tore it down a couple weeks ago. Once the Event Centre is completed 2024/25), the Saddledome comes down too.

[@drprogensteinphp]

Glad to see it gone. Worst large venue in Canada for concerts. Horrible acoustics due to the silly saddle roof design. Many bands would pass on playing because of this.

[@IbrahimKhizar11]

@@drprogensteinphp oh, thanks for letting me know!

[@MrZics]

​@@drprogensteinphp Actually the Corral was torn down for the BMO expansion project. The new event Centre is planned to be built north of the Saddledome in the two parking lots situated east of Olympic Way and south of 12th Ave. There are several issues with the Saddledome with regards to attracting concerts. These include: 1. Poor acoustics 2. bad seating options (small lower bowl) 3. weak roof tension (how much the roof can carry) 4. Small concourse. The roof is too weak to hold heavy concert equipment that other arenas (even some older ones) can hold which forces bands to either cut parts of their stage and presentation or skip to another close by arena (Rogers Place.) There's also the issue of the roofs condition which has deteriorated from water seeping in and rusting the tension cables holding up the concrete slabs. When Scotiabank took over as sponsor back in 2010 the roof was painted with a white sealant to help prolong the roof until either it's repaired or replaced. The lower estimate for repair work is expected to start at $80 million

[@m.haymour8434]

Very interesting how the city demographic has changed over the years.,,,. Sad!

[@Cartoondude135]

Finally, the Flames' arena will be extinguished... permanently.

[@jameybarisoff]

So focused on cost overruns to put a damper on Calgary. CBC the garbage.

[@mikej238]

I didn't watch the CBC then...I still don't. Sell the CBC

[@southpaw788]

Back when CBC wasn't woke.

[@Drago_854]

IM IN MAINTOBO❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤I LOVE YOU YOU PERFECT FOR ME YOUR NEAR MY TYPED

[@CFM7]

1:11 Enthusiasm