QUEBEC - Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume on Friday announced plans to build a $400-million NHL-sized arena in the hope of bringing back a professional hockey team to the city that was home to the Nordiques until 1995.

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Quebec City mayor Regis Labeaume (C) speaks to journalists after a news conference at the Colisee in Quebec City October 16, 2009.

Photograph by : Reuters

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The mayor laid out plans to build the modern 18,000-seat arena, which will be used as a concert venue and a hockey arena.

He also noted the amphitheatre would be part of an eventual bid for hosting the Winter Olympics.

"The current arena is a relic from another era. It doesn't serve our ambitions anymore," said Labeaume at a news conference held in the old rink.

The mayor is asking federal and provincial governments to invest $175 million each through infrastructure programs. The city would put in $50 million.

"No professional hockey team will move to Quebec City without a new modern arena," Labeaume said.   

Rumours that an NHL hockey club could make a return to the city have been fuelled in the past week with the news Labeaume and former Nordiques owner Marcel Aubut met with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.  

Labeaume on Friday said he received no assurances from the NHL, but stressed there is "no doubt" about the league's interest. 

"Bettman told us with a new arena, there is no limit to what we can hope for," Aubut told the news conference.

In an e-mail to Canwest News Service, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said a new arena in Quebec City is a must before the city can be considered for an NHL team.

"Certainly, the construction of a new arena would provide Quebec City with an opportunity to attract an NHL franchise," Daly wrote. "That opportunity would not exist in the absence of a new arena."

No luxury boxes and the size of the aging Le Colisee were seen as two of the reasons the Nordiques left the city, but Daly said the rink could act as a temporary home for an NHL club until a new facility was built.

"Having to spend any time in an outdated arena facility is not ideal, and could result in significant financial losses," Daly wrote. "But, depending on the circumstances, it would not be out of the question as an interim measure."

Along with the out-of-date arena, a falling Canadian dollar helped lead to the sale of the Nordiques in 1995.

The team moved to Denver, became the Colorado Avalanche and won the Stanley Cup the following season.

Media conglomerate Quebecor, which lost its bid to buy the Montreal Canadiens earlier this year, has already said it's keeping an eye out for an NHL franchise to buy and re-locate to Quebec City.

The mayor said he's hoping to see the arena built between 2010 and 2012, but that will depend on how and when he can get governments to produce the money.

The arena plan should benefit from Labeaume's reputation as a relentless politician who gets what he wants. Labeaume said it's Quebec City's turn to get its share of infrastructure money.

"The federal government has invested very little money in sports infrastructures in recent years in Quebec City and in the eastern part of the country," he charged.

Public Works Minister Josee Verner, who represents a Quebec City riding in the House of Commons, said Friday she intends to fight for the new arena at the cabinet table.

"Our Quebec caucus is in favour, and our government is ready to work with the city and the province in this file," she said.

Verner noted she's waiting for a business plan to say how much money, if any, the federal government could invest in the arena.

The Quebec government also said Friday it's rooting for the project. "We want to have a new arena, we want to have a new NHL team here, but we need to find a way to do it so taxpayers get a good deal for their money," said Sam Hamad, minister responsible for the Quebec City region.