Calgary city council OKs change to one section of arena deal with Flames owners

City council has approved changing one part of the city's deal with the owners of the Calgary Flames to build a new hockey arena.

At a council meeting Tuesday night, councillorsapproved changing a singlesection of the city'sdeal with the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC) to replace the agingSaddledome.

The details werenotmade public, but the matter will be discussed again at a council meeting on July 5, saidMayor Naheed Nenshi.

He saidthe city is stillnegotiating with CSEC on the specifics of the contract section that's being altered, but he gave an assurancethat it won't result in thecity pouring in more money.

"Given materials cost, construction escalation, given some small changes to the program for the event centre, the costs have gone up," he said.

Nenshisaidthe start of construction, which was set for Aug. 1, is now likely to be delayed.

"Ultimately, we've got to figure out what we want to build here while staying in the context of the previous agreement that the city had made," he said.

"Istill feel very confident that we'll be able to come to an agreement that Calgarians will support and we'll be able to build a facility that they can be proud of."

Nearly two years ago, council approved an agreement to split the cost of the $550 million arena in the southeast neighbourhood of Victoria Park.

The building would be the new home of the Flamesand be an anchor for the planned entertainment district bordering the Stampede grounds on the east side of downtown. Preparation work on the arena was paused in April because of an unspecified budget issue.

Last week the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC),the city-owned entity responsible for overseeing the project,said it is not involved in talks between the city and the owners of the Flames.