Scotiabank Saddledome The Scotiabank Saddledome ( formerly known as the Olympic Saddledome , Canadian Airlines Saddledome and " Pengrowth Saddledome ) is the main indoor arena facility in Calgary , Alberta , Canada and is situated on the east end of the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede grounds in downtown Calgary . It is often referred to simply as the Saddledome or even the ' Dome " ' . The Saddledome was built in 1983 to host the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) and to serve as the primary facility for ice hockey and figure skating at the 1988 Olympics . The first event in the Saddledome was a " Battle of Alberta " match - up between the Flames and the Edmonton Oilers on October 15 , 1983 . The ' Dome also serves as the home arena for the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League and the Calgary Roughnecks of the National Lacrosse League . The Saddledome was built to have a maximum capacity of approximately 20 , 000 fans . Major renovations in 1994 – 1995 reduced capacity to its current configuration of 19 , 289 for hockey . The facility is currently managed by the Calgary Flames Hockey Club , who have leased the ' Dome until 2014 . The future of the building is currently under debate , as the Flames have begun plans to build a new arena , at which point it is expected the Saddledome will be demolished . Planning and design . Calgary had been served for 30 years by the Stampede Corral when the Calgary Flames arrived in 1980 . With a total capacity of 8 , 700 , the Corral was the largest arena in Canada west of Toronto in 1950 , however by the 1970s had fallen below major league standards . 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 " , two of which had the most support : in the " Revelstoke Acres " area of the Victoria Park neighbourhood , on the Calgary Stampede grounds — both sites 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 Saddledome was designed by Graham McCourt Architects , and 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 , allowing for a pillar free view from all seats , and reducing the interior volume by up to one - third when compared to traditional arenas . 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 . The distinctive saddle - shaped roof , giving the structure its name , is an inverted hyperbolic paraboloid . This original design is believed to still hold the world record for the longest spanning hyperbolic paraboloid concrete shell in the world . Projected onto the x - z plane the Saddledome produces a circle with a radius of 67 . 7m . Constructed using pre - cast concrete panels suspended by post - tension cables , the roof has an unobstructed 122 metre span covering 12 , 000 m² , but is only 60 centimetres thick . Architecture . As a practical matter , such a design causes there to be many more rows of seating near " center ice " than behind the goals . History . 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 federal government ' s National Energy Policy . During the first game , against the Edmonton Oilers , the first thing the fans booed was the standard of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau . The Oilers defeated the Flames in the opening game 4 – 3 in front of a sold out crowd of nearly 17 , 000 fans . The Saddledome was the first major arena in North America capable of hosting ice hockey matches on the international standard size ice sheet . The building underwent a major renovation in the summer of 1995 , during which time luxury boxes were added and about a thousand seats were removed in the lower bowl on the north , west , and south sides . This forced the Hitmen to play some early - season home games at the nearby Stampede Corral and the Flames to open the season with an extended road trip . The building was renamed the Canadian Airlines Saddledome when the Calgary - based airline became the building ' s sponsor in July 1996 . This was controversial among many Calgarians who opposed the facility losing the " Olympic " name , and who were also opposed to the decision to cover the Dome ' s massive roof with the Canadian Airlines logo . In 2000 , another company , Pengrowth Energy Trust , took over sponsorship of the complex when Canadian Airlines was acquired by Air Canada and the facility was renamed the Pengrowth Saddledome . Unlike Canadian Airlines , Pengrowth chose not to put its logo on the roof of the facility . The Saddledome hosts the championship game of the Mac ' s World Invitational AAA Midget Hockey Championship every year on January 1 . On October 8 , 2010 , the NHL announced that the Pengrowth Saddledome has been renamed to the Scotiabank Saddledome . Future . There has been much discussion about the future of the Saddledome as the Flames have begun talking about building a new arena . Flames ' president and chief executive officer Ken King said in 2008 that plans for a new arena are " five to eight years away " fueling speculation that the team hopes to have a new arena built for when the Flames ' lease with the Saddledome expires in 2014 . King stated that the Flames have concepts and designs for a new building , but are not ready to release them . It is expected that any new arena would also be located on the Stampede Grounds , however Calgary Stampede officials have expressed doubt that a new arena will be built in the near future , stating that no deal is imminent . Alderman John Mar stated that he did not expect the city would support a new arena with taxpayer money . There has also been plans to put a 200 feet tall cowboy onto the roof . The ownership of the Flames also owns the CFL ' s Calgary Stampeders who play at McMahon Stadium which was built in 1960 , as well as the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL . A new proposal in April of 2015 indicated the proposal for a $ 500 million Canadian complex which would include a new home for all three organizations plus a community fieldhouse for amateur sports ( which the city of Calgary was already projecting to pay $ 202 million for could also be included in the proposal . The inclusion of the fieldhouse could also lead the city to supporting the project as the facility was on top of Calgary Mayor Nasheed Nenshi ' s city project wishlist . This would make aquisition of the land and some financial support easier to obtain . Some other funding could come from the provincial and federal governments .