I am going to post this in 3 locations (thanks 'O for the precedent), relevant to the MacU expansion, a downtown impetus for accelerated development, and additional oomph for both the CFL in general and the Edmonton Elks specifically. This location for a new stadium has a series of positives:
-- incentivize central Edmonton Development (on steroids); transitional as the ICE District has proven/is proving to be.
-- brings massive crowds to the centre of the City supporting both Retail and Hospitality growth.
-- boosts interest in the Elks helping to prop up attendance locally and creating promotional interest in the CFL
-- increases opportunity for a professional Soccer team franchise (could happen concurrently with the announcement of a new stadium build-out)
-- provides an athletic venue for Track and Field and International competitions
-- provides a Sports Venue for MacU and for NorQuest college students (similar to Rogers Place arena).
-- in its build-out can provide a world class venue for major concert venues (year-round)
-- puts Edmonton on the map (once again) as a major sports venue
-- enables the repurposing of Commonwealth Stadium as a specialized Winter and Summer X-games venue with build-out of infrastructure that promotes that end, making it the World premier venue for X-games (a win:win solution)