Rogers Place on budget, scheduled to finish on time

Rogers Place is now 55 per cent complete and should be completed by its scheduled opening of September 2016, officials say.

Five hundred people are working on the 18,500-seat arena each day.The structure is expected to be fully enclosed by September. So far, 24,000 cubic metres of concrete has been used for the area. 

"This building will set a new standard in very, very many regards for sports facilities literally worldwide," said Bob Black from the Oilers Entertainment Group. 

Reporters were told the arena will have 360 degree, extra-wide concourses, more than 1,200 TV screens, 15 escalators and elevators, 57 executive suites, 24 theatre boxes, two clubs and one restaurant on the mezzanine level. 

A number of office towers are being constructed in tandem with the new arena. This has made the city optimistic that it can pay off debt for the arena sooner than originally planned, due to a flurry of construction activity bringing in extra revenue.

"It means that our downtown community revitalization levy, or CRL, is projected to do very well," said Rick Daviss, the city's executive director for the arena project. 

"The city is in a good position and we are confident we are able to not only repay the debt on Rogers Place, but to move forward with the other improvements included in the downtown CRL plan."

The CRL is a tax on increased property value of new developments in the arena entertainment district.

Members of the media were taken on a tour of the site Tuesday.