I can’t say I really blame CoE for allowing this developement even if it is mostly parking. They’ve been hearing complaints about this site for a decade now so it’s no surprise they would jump on the opportunity to have literally anything happen to the site.
I don’t think people fully understand the scale of the World Cup. Where do 10’s of thousands of international tourists stay? How do they get from the airport into town? Not to mention the Reno’s to the outdated stadium that would be required.
I don’t think Edmonton has the infrastructure to host more than a couple games, which would not have made up for the costs around hosting. A great as it would have been it wasn’t meant to be.
Uzbekistan is ranked 50th. Edmonton last saw Canada play Costa Rica (49th) and Mexico (15th). So Canada is certainly the big draw here, but the fact that it's a world cup warm-up should be enough of a draw for most sports fans.
It's pretty easy to point fingers at city council and say that this is their fault but it's also pretty disingenuous. I think the problem with his content now is that its from a perspective of "If I wouldn't have lost we wouldn't have these problems", which is the easiest position in the world...
Is the lot to the north a different owner? Realistically they can't do anything with that lot until the pit is either built up or filled in.
If it is a different owner I'm surprised they haven't been speaking out about it being a huge burden to them.
The new owners of the site have inquired about buying the house to the East. Suggests that they are far from having any concrete plans for the site and it will be a while before any movement.
Maybe, the “building” being referred to could be something specific as well?
Still would be quite the accomplishment to have trains testing on tracks in early to mid 2027.