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The Calgary Flames ownership group is standing on the steps of City Hall, lips quivering, arms outstretched, fedoras in hand.

They need hundreds of millions of our tax dollars for a so-called city building project, a downtown NHL arena and sports complex dubbed CalgaryNEXT.

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If you have a problem with that, “then what’s your competing vision?” they ask.

A loaded question, to be sure.

But we’ll bite.

Here’s a vision of a professional sports complex and NHL arena in the west end of downtown. It’s a hockey arena and a football stadium, bordered by modern glass condominiums with big downtown price tags and high-end retail store after retail store. It’s a live-work-play consumer’s dream.

It’s a 20,000-seat rink for NHL games and all the biggest concerts. Loud speakers, flashing lights, gigantic TV screens and copious executive box seats to draw more corporate bucks for the Flames’ franchise than the Saddledome ever could.