Calgary's Olympic boosters have their eyes on two years: 1988 and 2026.The city is considering whether to bid on the 2026 Winter Olympics. A handful of towers and tracks built when the city played host to the 1988 Winter Olympics, they argue, could be recycled, giving the city a better chance of securing the 2026 edition of the sporting celebration.

But this logic – a key component Olympic supporters believe gives Calgary a shot – might be a stretch.

The city's largest ski jump is no longer a ski jump, for example. Now, it holds a summer zipline. One of the smaller towers recently held a national competition, where plastic matting was used in lieu of snow. The Scotiabank Saddledome, once an architectural gem of an arena, is nearing retirement.

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Even Calgary's most useful 1988 venues need polish, and that's before accounting for how the scale of the Olympics has exploded. Athletes – 1,423 of them – competed in 46 events in 1988. At the past Winter Games, 2,780 athletes challenged each other in 98 events.

And so the viability of Calgary bidding for – let alone holding – the 2026 Games faces two major challenges: the clock and the pocketbook.

A 17-member group of former athletes and some of Calgary's elite business folk is evaluating the feasibility of bidding on the Games and must hand in a comprehensive report on the city's sporting infrastructure and recommendation to council by July. Facilities from the good – the Canmore Nordic Centre and the Olympic Oval, for example – to the non-existent are under review.

The first substantial feasibility report has been delayed until April and council must make its call on whether to bid in August. The pitch already faces skeptics, largely owing to infrastructure considerations.

"I would only support investment of money that has an economic return on investment," Calgary city councillor Evan Woolley said in an interview. He wants to see something substantial when the committee presents city council with a progress report this month.

"I still worry about our capacity to do the due diligence on this work in the context of all of the other challenges that we're having as a city right now," Mr. Woolley said.

When Calgary held the Games 29 years ago, curling, short-track speed skating and freestyle skiing were demonstration sports. There was no skeleton event, no team luge, no women's bobsleigh, no women's ski jumping, no ski-cross, no snowboarding.

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There was also no women's hockey, an event that matters to Canadians and requires a marquee venue for the gold-medal game. Bidding for, let alone holding, an expanded Olympics requires unflagging support from Edmonton and Ottawa.

Mr. Woolley said the provincial and federal budgets coming in the next couple of months will provide pivotal clues about whether it makes sense for Calgary to proceed.

"Our time is tight on having those conversations with them and getting some inclination of whether they would support an official bid process is critical," he said. "We have to remember Calgary is down pretty hard right now."

A guarantee from the province is a long way off.

"I've not been in on any conversations on it," Alberta Premier Rachel Notley told reporters Wednesday when asked about the pace of discussions. But she added: "There are a number of costs associated with it and we are in a time of economic and fiscal caution."

Calgary, Alberta, the federal government and the Canadian Olympic Committee have less than eight months to confirm whether the Western city will bid on the 2026 Olympic Games.

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Replacing the Saddledome is already a contentious endeavour and is one of the best examples of Calgary's infrastructure quandaries.

In its day, the Saddledome highlighted why the International Olympic Committee voted in Calgary's favour for the 1988 Games after three previous bids had failed. The arena was running well before the Games, had a principal tenant in the NHL Calgary Flames, and was funded by the city, the province, the federal government and the team's owners. It showed everyone had a stake in the action.

Now, the Flames and their operating company, Calgary Sport and Entertainment Corp., are pitching a similar funding plan to replace its aging arena. And no city can play host to an Olympics without a marquee rink.

Fans cheer during the opening ceremony of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. JONATHAN UTZ/AFP/Getty Images

Besides the city's 1988 facilities, the committee examining whether to bid for 2026 must evaluate new project proposals that have neither been finalized nor approved.

Calgary Sports and Entertainment's first plan, dubbed CalgaryNEXT, encompasses an arena, football stadium and field house, to be built together on the western edge of downtown. That proposal, estimated to cost as much as $1.8-billion, calls for a chunk of taxpayers' money.

CalgaryNEXT is on hold as the Flames consider building in an area known as Victoria Park. But that plan is just about an arena – no stadium, no field house – and the cost has not been calculated. (As a comparison, Edmonton spent $480-million on its new downtown arena).

Meanwhile, separate plans have been made to secure at least $20-million to revamp McMahon Stadium, a 57-year-old facility that plays host to the city's CFL team, owned by the same folks as the Flames. This now-tired facility held the 1988 opening and closing ceremonies.

Further, decisions need to be made about financing a $20-million restoration of the bobsleigh, luge and skeleton track, and about what to do with the grim-looking ski jumps. Nakiska Mountain Resort held ski races in 1988, but it is no longer a world-class race venue. Instead, it may be useful for holding events like ski-cross, but that means securing permission to have popular race events at other mountains. Lake Louise is the natural choice, but it is inside Banff National Park, creating red tape.

Canada's Christine Nesbitt won gold in speed skating at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. While she would love to see the Games return to Calgary, she recognizes that facilities that made the city competitive when bidding on the 1988 Games no longer have the same shine.

"A lot of sports have evolved since the '88 Olympics," she said. "A lot of winter sports in the '88 Olympics were still pretty young in their development and the sports have evolved and progressed and people have learned how to train better. So the [degree of] difficulty [of the venues] has needed to increase with that."

OIympic leftovers



Many of Calgary's 1988 Olympic venues are still standing. But if the city wins its bid for 2026, that won't be enough.

CANMORE NORDIC CENTRE



Athletes train at the biathlon shooting range at the Canmore Nordic Centre in Canmore, Alta. Jeff McIntosh/For The Globe and Mail

Opened: December, 1986

Cost: $17.3-million; $25.6-million was spent on renovations from 2004 to 2008

Background: The Canmore Nordic Centre offered a physically demanding track for cross-country skiers and biathletes. Canmore also played host to an athletes' village and held the cross-country portion of the Nordic combined event. Pierre Harvey raced for Canada in the 30-kilometre event and finished 14th, then a national best. Twenty-two years later, his son Alex and teammate Devon Kershaw finished fourth in the relay event at the Vancouver Olympics.

Usefulness for 2026: The Nordic Centre has stayed viable and world class. It has played host to men's and women's World Cup events, including its first World Cup biathlon competition in 27 years. Canmore has also staged national championships that helped develop cross-country stars Beckie Scott, Sara Renner, Kershaw, Harvey and others. The World Cup course is considered one of the toughest on the tour. There are 70 kilometres of tracks, including some that are lighted so events can be staged and televised at night.

OLYMPIC OVAL

Denny Morrison of Canada skates to a first place finish in the men’s 1000m race during the 2007 ISU World Cup Speed Skating Championships at the Calgary Olympic Oval in Calgary on Nov. 18, 2007. Todd Korol/For the Globe and Mail

Opened: September, 1987



Cost: $39.9-million; $9.7-million was spent in 2012 for a new roof

Background: Hundreds of world records have been set on Oval ice, which has held a multitude of World Cup and world championship competitions over the past 29 years. Canada's top skaters – Catriona Le May Doan, Susan Auch, Cindy Klassen, Clara Hughes, Christine Nesbitt, Jeremy Wotherspoon, Denny Morrison – have trained at the Oval. "It's just blazing fast," Mr. Nesbitt said. By comparison, the Richmond Oval, built for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics at a cost of $178-million, is used as a multisport centre but is not on the World Cup tour.

Usefulness for 2026: Calgary's Oval needs upgrades, particularly expanding its seating capacity of roughly 2,000. It added an extra 2,000 temporary seats for 1988 and would likely have to squeeze in more for 2026, considering how popular the sport has become. Overall, though, it remains a prime venue for racing

NAKISKA: ALPINE SKIING

Canada’s Marielle Thompson skis during women’s qualifications for the World Cup ski cross event in Nakiska, Alta., on Friday, Jan. 22, 2016. Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press

Opened: Fall 1986



Cost: $27-million

Background: After Calgary officials were told once again there could be no Olympic alpine skiing inside Banff National Park, they looked to Kananaskis Country. Nakiska has never held a World Cup downhill since. Karen Percy won a pair of bronze Olympic medals at the mountain. The venue is now owned by Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, a Murray Edwards company. Mr. Edwards is co-owner of the Calgary Flames.

Usefulness for 2026: Nakiska has held World Cup ski-cross events, a string of national championships and has been used for training. Olympic organizers for 2026 may instead try to stage the downhill and slalom events at Lake Louise, since it has long been a regular World Cup stop for the men and women and has rarely had races cancelled because of a lack of snow.

CANADA OLYMPIC PARK

Bobsled pilot Kaillie Humphries helps move her sled with her male teammates following a training run at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary Jeff McIntosh/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Opened: Spring, 1986

Cost: $72.2-million for building a bobsleigh/luge track, a hill for freestyle aerials and two ski jumps

Background: The 1,475-metre long bobsleigh/luge run was state of the art in 1988. Now, athletes consider it a warmup venue for the more challenging tracks. Top speed at the Calgary facility is 130 km/h. Top speed at Whistler's track for the 2010 Olympics was close to 150 km/h, although a luge athlete was killed after crashing during a training run.

Usefulness for 2026: The province gave Canada Olympic Park (COP) $10-million last year to improve Calgary's track. But that is just half of what COP wants to spend on renovations. COP has held an array of World Cup and world championship races since 1988. But with skeleton added to the mix, there are questions as to how the track would hold up, especially if the events are held under unfavourable weather conditions.

SKI JUMPING

Canada Olympic Park Torchbearer and Winsport employee Stuart McDonough carries the Olympic flame up the ski lift at the Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. Deborah Baic/Deborah Baic/The Globe and Mail

Opened: 1986

Cost: Not broken out from the $72.2-million for COP facilities. Since 1988, an additional $600,000 from the province was spent on improvements in 2006 and $225,000 was added for maintenance by Canadian Olympic Foundation in 2015.

Background: The COP site was a bad decision. then and has never improved. Some Olympic organizers loved the hill's location and the visuals of two towering jumps on Calgary's western skyline. But the jumps were exposed to prevailing winds, leaving jumpers vulnerable in the air. Britain's Eddie (The Eagle) Edwards became a star for his quasi-airborne jumps.

Usefulness for 2026: The 90-metre jump is now a zipline. "The big hill is done," said Ski Jumping Canada president Tom Reid. Three jumps are for training. The fourth is not used in winter because it costs too much for snow-making. It was used for the 2015 Canadian championships in September, with plastic matting instead of snow.

SECURITY

Security forces buzz around Burrard Inlet during training exercises in preparation for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics on Feb. 9, 2009. Lyle Stafford/for The Globe and Mail

The security bill for the 2010 Vancouver Games totalled $890-million; . By way of comparison, Calgary spent $829-million on the entire 1988 Winter Olympics, including construction costs.

The committee examining whether Calgary should bid has not consulted extensively with the Calgary Police Service. Chief Roger Chaffin said he would need to expand the force if the Olympics returns to Calgary, and it would take years hire new officers and get them experienced enough to be ready for 2016.

"Growth is time-consuming for policing because you don't just go out and hire people," he said in an interview in December. "It takes quite a while to get them in place and get them up to skill levels that make sense and so if we were to be ready for 2026, we would have to be hiring well in advance."

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