Calgary is one step closer to getting a much-needed studio complex.

‘We are currently working out an agreement with a developer and a world-class operator with a background in both building and running studios,’ says Calgary film commissioner Luke Azevedo.

Currie Barracks, an old military base with four retrofitted soundstages, is currently the only studio in the city, and is slated to be torn down sometime this year to make way for residential housing.

‘We don’t know exactly when the barracks are closing, but it is going to happen and that is why there is pressure to get another facility up and running,’ explains Azevedo.

Azevedo is calling the new complex a ‘creative hub’ that will include two soundstages (with the potential to add more at a later time), office space for creative and service providers, and digital media technology with large bandwidth capabilities.

‘It will also include a multi-use cultural-based community, built around the studios, such as boutique hotels, live/work environments and specialty shops,’ he adds. ‘There will be all sorts of extra amenities to keep the facility busy year-round.’

Calgary Economic Development is negotiating with a developer for an 8.5-hectare site close to the Calgary core on which to build the complex. Azevedo says he does not have a final dollar figure on the cost of the facility at this point, but says financing will be a mix of private sector and government funds.

The ‘creative hub’ will be run as a not-for-profit organization.

An announcement on the new studio complex is expected in the next 60 days. A spring 2009 opening of the facility is anticipated.