Rogers Place arena and the developing ICE District in downtown Edmonton has been subject to much media coverage recently, as many take notice of the project's ongoing transformation of the city’s core. Few cities in North America see such a large concentration of new construction at once, let alone cities with a metropolitan population in the range of one million inhabitants.

ICE District under construction, image by Dave Sutherland

A week or so following the first signs of stainless steel cladding being applied to the building, the City of Edmonton organized a sneak peek event and invited the public to come witness the progress of the NHL's newest arena and the attached community rink. City Ambassador Daveography braved the frigid (-30 Celcius) temperatures to be one of the first in line to capture images of the facility's interior.

Many braved the cold to get the first peek at Rogers Place, image by Dave Sutherland

The tour was limited to the arenas themselves and the loading dock/staging areas in between, though these glimpses help to give future attendees of Rogers Place a good idea of what to expect from the main features of the two arenas.

The massive loading dock attached to both arenas, image by Dave Sutherland

The first stop was the community rink, a 1,000-seat arena which will be owned and operated by the City of Edmonton, named in honor of former Edmonton Oilers coach and general manager Glen Sather. In addition to serving the community, this rink will provide practice space for the Oilers, and will be home to the MacEwan University Griffins, whose main campus is just two blocks west of the site.

The community rink, future home of the MacEwan University Griffins, image by Dave Sutherland

The tour proceeded through the large staging area that connects the two arenas. Along the way, visitors were presented with numerous facts about the construction of the complex. For example, construction of the $600-million (CAD) project required the use of about 9,000 tonnes of structural steel and 24,000 cubic metres of structural concrete, and is targeting LEED-Silver certification.

The staging area connecting the arenas, image by Dave Sutherland

Guests were soon ushered into the 819,200-square-foot Rogers Place arena, a massive space sheltered by a 43-metre ceiling and surrounded by the 18,641 seats in the bowls above. Above the bowl's stadium seating there are an additional 56 suites and 24 mini suites, as well as 4,100 club seats and 1,116 loge seats.

Rogers Place interior, image by Dave Sutherland

During the day, natural light will stream through the generous upper windows and into the bowl below. At ice level, a layer of sand is currently being laid down as part of the playing surface underlay, over which an insulating layer will be placed, followed by concrete inlaid with cooling pipes, and finally paint and ice layers on top.

A layer of sand being laid down for the playing surface, image by Dave Sutherland

Thousands of visitors came for the sneak peek event, and had the opportunity to have their questions answered by representatives of the principals involved in the project. Rogers Place is the result of a collaboration of numerous partners, including the Katz Group (owner of the Edmonton Oilers), HOK, Dialog Architects, Manica Architecture, and ATB Architecture. 

Many people showed up for the sneak peek event, image by Dave Sutherland

Rogers Place is scheduled to be ready and open for the 2016-17 NHL season, while construction continues on the rest of the ICE District, including the public plaza, the City of Edmonton Civic Tower, JW Marriott and The Legends Private Residences, and the 251-metre Stantec Tower, which is set to become the tallest building in Canada outside of Toronto.

Exiting the tour, looking at the ICE District, image by Dave Sutherland

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