Scotiabank Saddledome (formely Pengrowth Saddledome) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Located in Stampede Park in the southeast end of downtown Calgary, the Saddledome was built in 1983 to replace the Stampede Corral as the home of the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL), and to host ice hockey and figure skating at the 1988 Winter Olympics.
The facility also hosts concerts, conferences and other sporting championships, and events for the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede. It underwent a major renovation in 1994–95 and sold its naming rights, during which its original name of Olympic Saddledome was changed to Canadian Airlines Saddledome. The facility was given the name Pengrowth Saddledome in 2000, after Pengrowth Management Ltd. signed a ten-year agreement. It adopted its current name in October 2010 as Scotiabank signed on as title sponsor.
The Saddledome is owned by the City of Calgary, who leases it to the Saddledome Foundation, a non-profit organization, to oversee its operation. Since 1996, it has been managed by the Flames. The Saddledome was damaged during the 2013 Alberta floods in June and July that year, but was repaired and reopened in time for the 2013–14 NHL season.
The arena's roof is shaped like a horse saddle, thus earning the name "Saddledome". It is the third oldest arena in the NHL, after Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle and Madison Square Garden in New York City, although the latter two have been extensively renovated. The Saddledome is slated to be replaced by Scotia Place for the 2027–28 NHL season.
Construction Calgary had been served for 30 years by the Stampede Corral when the Calgary Flames arrived from Atlanta in 1980. With a total capacity of 8,700, the Corral was the largest arena in Canada west of Toronto in 1950, but had fallen below major league standards by the 1970s. The Corral was deemed insufficient for the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1977, leading the World Hockey Association's Calgary Cowboys to fold rather than hope to be a team selected to merge with the NHL.
Calgary's bid to host the 1988 Winter Olympics, coupled with the arrival of the Flames, drove the need to build a new arena. City Council debated the merits of several locations for the city's new Olympic Coliseum, and narrowed their choices down to two areas in the Victoria Park neighbourhood on the east end of downtown. Two other sites, one on the west end of downtown, and a late bid by several businessmen pushing to build the arena in the northern suburb of Airdrie were also considered.
The Victoria Park Community Association fought the bid to build the arena in their neighborhood, threatening to oppose the city's Olympic bid if necessary. City Council voted on March 3, 1981, to build the proposed 20,000-seat arena on the Stampede grounds, immediately east of the Corral and south of Victoria Park. The community continued to fight the city over rezoning the land to allow for the new arena amidst fears of traffic congestion in their neighbourhood which resulted in numerous costly delays to the start of construction. In a bid to end the battle, Mayor Ralph Klein asked the provincial government in July 1981 to take over the land designated for the arena to bypass the appeals process and force approval. The province supported the city amidst protests by community associations and invoked rarely used powers to overrule planning regulations, allowing construction to begin. The following day, on July 29, 1981, builders began construction of the arena. The International Olympic Committee was impressed that the project was underway, as noted in the XV Olympic Winter Games official report which stated "The fact that this facility was already being built added credibility to (Calgary's) bid and proved to be a positive factor in demonstrating Calgary's commitment to hosting the Games".
The facility was designed by Graham McCourt Architects. While they set out to design a unique building, the idea of a western theme never occurred to Barry Graham or his team. The roof of the building was designed to be a reverse hyperbolic paraboloid, similar to the 1971-built Scandinavium in Gothenburg, allowing for a pillar-free view from all seats and reducing the interior volume by a third relative to traditional arenas, resulting in reduced heating, lighting and maintenance costs. Additionally, the floating roof can flex to compensate for the city's frequent temperature fluctuations. When the design was unveiled, the roof was immediately referred to as being saddle-shaped. Of 1,270 entries submitted in a contest to name the arena, 735 involved the word Saddle. The winning name in the contest, Olympic Saddledome, was drawn from a hat filled with several similar saddle-themed names. At the time the name received a tepid reception from some, including the chairman of Calgary's Olympic Organizing Committee (OCO), Frank King, who was quoted as saying "It is neither Olympic nor western, and it's not even dome".
The designers won several architectural and engineering awards for their work on the Saddledome, and were honoured by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada at its millennium celebration of architecture in 2000. As of 2008, the Saddledome was still reported as the world record holder for the longest spanning hyperbolic paraboloid concrete shell. The Saddledome was featured on the cover of Time magazine on September 27, 1987, for an article discussing the city of Calgary and the upcoming 1988 Olympics.
The location of the Saddledome within Stampede Park allows for easy access to Calgary's CTrain light rail transit system via the Victoria Park/Stampede station that stands parallel to Macleod Trail. Direct vehicle access is gained from the north via 5th Street East or Olympic Way.
History
The arena was initially projected to cost $60 million to build, and later revised to over $80 million. Attempts to fast track construction resulted in a $16 million cost overrun, resulting in a final cost of $97.7 million and an eight-month delay in its completion. Builders faced delays while building the roof as numerous adjustments were required to fit the giant concrete slabs between the array of cables that held them in place. Upset with the excess cost, opposition politicians in Alberta demanded a public hearing into the issue. A hearing conducted by the city placed much of the blame on the project manager, while the city and province were required to pay the additional costs.
When it opened on October 15, 1983, the Olympic Saddledome served to boost the morale of a city that was experiencing a significant downturn as a result of the international oil market collapse, high interest rates, and the federal government's National Energy Program. During the first event, an NHL game between the Flames and the Edmonton Oilers, the standard of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was the first thing booed by a population upset with the government's policies. The Oilers defeated the Flames 4–3 in front of a sold-out crowd of nearly 17,000 fans.
The initial seating capacity was 16,605 for hockey as the upper loges were not immediately completed. As the Olympics neared, the Calgary organizing committee spent $1 million to add over 2,600 seats to the upper loges in a bid to alleviate a scandal that resulted from the organizing committee giving its partners and sponsors preferential treatment in ticket sales. With a capacity of 20,016, the International Ice Hockey Federation noted that it was the largest arena ever used at the Winter Games, and called the facility "the finest international rink in the world" The International Olympic Committee praised the city's commitment to hosting the Olympics, noting in its official report that constructing the arena prior to being awarded the Games lent credibility to Calgary's bid and positively influenced voters. The Saddledome was the first arena in North America designed to accommodate the larger international ice surface (international rinks are wider than NHL rinks). The Saddledome reached its highest capacity in the early '90s at 20,240.
The Flames petitioned the City of Calgary and the Saddledome Foundation to upgrade the facility in 1994, requesting renovations to add additional luxury boxes and a new club section. The Flames insisted the upgrades were necessary for the team to remain viable in the arena. They argued it was important that their landlord bring the arena up to the higher standards they felt was required. The team lobbied City Council in the hope it would agree to fund the majority of the $18 million renovation using federal infrastructure funds. At the same time, they rejected a counter proposal for applying a ticket surcharge to pay the cost. Media reports claimed the team was considering relocating out of Calgary if council did not agree. Flames' owners denied the reports, but said they had threatened to build a new rink elsewhere in the city. City Council supported the Flames' proposal in a 9–6 vote following several months of negotiations.
Renovations occurred between 1994 and 1995 and saw the addition of 41 new luxury suites at the top of the lower bowl, an 1,172 seat club section, a new restaurant, expanded offices for the Flames, Saddledome management and Hockey Canada, as well as a significant restructuring of the public concourse and a new parkade structure. The arena remained operational until the spring of 1995 despite ongoing construction, but was closed entirely between April and October 1995. The Saddledome officially reopened on October 25, 1995, for the Flames' first home game of the 1995–96 NHL season.
Prior to its reopening, the Flames signed a deal with Canadian Airlines to rename the facility. Under a 20-year agreement worth approximately $1 million per year, the arena became the Canadian Airlines Saddledome. Removing the "Olympic" moniker was controversial with both the public and City Council, though the city voted in favour of the deal which included the donation of a portion of the naming rights to fund amateur sports within the city. The arena was renamed again in 2000 when Canadian Airlines was acquired by Air Canada and ceased operations. Pengrowth Management Ltd. signed a 10-year agreement that gave the facility the name Pengrowth Saddledome.
The arena has received cosmetic upgrades in recent years. In 2004, the Flames spent $1 million on a LED "power ring" display that lines the facing of the second level. The JumboTron that was installed in 1995 was replaced in 2006 with a new HD video scoreboard. Along with the new board, the previous speakers were replaced with Apogee ALA-9 arrays in 2007. Manufactured by Daktronics and branded as the "Enmax Energy Board", the display contained 12 screens and two LED ribbons. A new scoreboard was installed in 2024, branded as the "Sportsnet Scoreboard"; which contains four, 30-foot (9.1 m)-tall displays with a total area of , and a 40-foot (12 m) "halo" ring.
2013 flood