The Main Event

Calgary's massive, modern, newly expanded BMO Centre is open for business

- Carly Pews

WITH MORE THAN A MILLION VISITORS donning their Stetsons and heading to the rodeo every summer, there's no question the Calgary Stampede brings in the big bucks. Since 1982, the BMO Centre, a fixture of Stampede Park, has hosted yearround activities that are more strictly business, like trade shows, corporate events and conferences. After two expansions in the 2000s, the centre topped out at 285,000 square feet of halls, meeting rooms and even a ballroom. Still, its size just couldn't compete with the mega-venues in Toronto and Vancouver. Everything may be bigger out west, but the old BMO Centre wasn't quite big enough.