[Daveography]

Timelines set for Coliseum and racetrack transitions, providing certainty for Northlands
September 13, 2017

Edmonton City Council has endorsed a timeline for the Coliseum and the Northlands Park racetrack, providing, in the process, greater certainty for the future of Northlands and the communities that surround it.

The decision also supports the work the City of Edmonton is undertaking on the Coliseum Station Area Redevelopment Plan, allowing this work to progress in new ways that will support revitalization for the whole neighbourhood.

According to the terms of a memorandum of understanding with Northlands, the City will assume responsibility for the Coliseum on January 1, 2018. In addition, the area known as Northlands Park will transition to the City on the later of June 30, 2018, or 30 days following the date on which horse racing is no longer licensed on the site.

The release of the Coliseum back to the City allows Northlands to proceed with a viable business model that honours and returns the organization to its agricultural roots.

A permanent closure of the Coliseum will take effect on January 1, 2018.

Northlands’ return of the Coliseum to the City allowed for the renegotiation of the City’s sponsorship agreement with Oilers Entertainment Group. This negotiation resulted in the City being released from a sponsorship commitment of $17 million. That funding may now be considered by the City for other opportunities, including amateur sports in Edmonton.

The decision to permanently close the Coliseum reflects an ongoing commitment to use taxpayers’ money responsibly in all questions about the status and upkeep of the facility.

Agreements are also being prepared that would see Northlands continue to host K-Days and Farmfair International on the current site for at least the next five years.

The January 1, 2018, transition date for the Coliseum mirrors the date when the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation commences operation of the EXPO Centre.

The Coliseum Station Area Redevelopment Plan will establish a new vision for the site and nearby properties. The plan will leverage local revitalization initiatives to continue improving liveability for residents, businesses and visitors.

For more information:
Coliseum Station Area Redevelopment Plan

Media contact:
Charity Dyke
Communications Manager
780-405-7924

 

[Daveography]

City votes to shutter Northlands Coliseum for good at end of 2017
City council voted Wednesday to take back the Northlands Coliseum and close it down for good, though they didn't make a final decision about demolition.

Under the plan the former home of the Oilers will be shut down on Dec 31.

The city still plans to repurpose the rest of the site, though no plan has been finalized.

“The future for Northlands after this restructuring is strong and bright,” said Mayor Don Iveson. “After this difficult transition would be in a much better position to drive events.”

http://www.metronews.ca/news/edmont...thlands-coliseum-for-good-at-end-of-2017.html

Edmonton’s Northlands Coliseum closing its doors in January
Edmonton’s city council has unanimously voted to close the Northlands Coliseum.

The future of the facility was discussed Wednesday morning at a city council meeting, before council voted for the city to take over the Coliseum on Jan. 1, 2018 and permanently close the arena.

“I cannot see another natural outcome,” Ward 11 Councillor Mike Nickel said.

“We credit the mayor, council and administration for addressing outstanding issues,” Northlands CEO Tim Reid said.
“Northlands is committed to the highest degree of professionalism through this transition and ask all involved to respect the impact on our 2,800 employees and 1,500 volunteers.”

The city said the decision will help support revitalization of the neighbourhood surrounding the arena as part work being done on the Coliseum Station Area Redevelopment Plan.

http://globalnews.ca/news/3740746/edmontons-northlands-coliseum-closing-its-doors-in-january/

Northlands Coliseum will close permanently at end of this year

Edmonton will take back and close Northlands Coliseum at end of 2017

Northlands Coliseum, the house Gretzky built in Edmonton, is closing its doors

 

[archited]

Just watch, the City will eventually destroy this perfectly sound building (with emotional history that goes along with it) only because their collective minds are too small to envision possibilities!

 

[Daveography]

Northlands Coliseum closure leaves businesses in limbo
Businesses near Northlands Coliseum say the city's decision to close the arena at the end of the year leaves them in limbo.

"We've been waiting on pins and needles for a couple of years now," said Rick Shermack, general manager of Axe Music.

Businesses were hoping for some time to hear what the city has planned for the area, which also includes the nearby racetrack. But news that the city will wait until after the election to decide what to do with the empty arena is troubling, Shermack said.

"We're all waiting to find out before anyone spends any money sprucing up," he said. "I'm a little frustrated."

Shermack said he would like to see the site developed into a multi-surface arena, whether it's a refurbished Coliseum or in a new building.

"It would be good for the area to see families and kids coming through here seven days a week," he said.

He would also like to see some of the Northlands site redeveloped into high-end retail shopping and high rises.

"The area could use a facelift," he said.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmon...-closure-leaves-businesses-in-limbo-1.4288722

Paula Simons: End of an era as Northlands fades away
Once, Northlands was one of the most powerful political forces in Edmonton, a group of business and community leaders with the power to cow mayors and premiers.

Local historian Tony Cashman summed up Northlands’ sway over this community in his 1979 book about the organization.

“To those inside, it seems merely the biggest of service clubs, with volunteers working their hearts out pro bono publico … From outside, however, the association is often perceived as a private club only slightly less exclusive than the Order of Canada. The Order is limited to 125 living Canadians, the association to 200 living shareholders, with loyalty to neither city nor country but to a magic kingdom called Northlands, a kingdom with enough horses to supply every Richard III stage of history, a kingdom paying neither rent nor tax, nor heed to public complaints, nor attention to letters from city council requesting information.”

As David Staples once noted, the not-for-profit organization was run by the sorts of men whose names are all over the city — Hardisty, McCauley, McKernan, McDougall, Bellamy, Gallagher, Ross. For years, being part of that inner circle was something of a hereditary gift. Shareholders once held their memberships for life, to be passed on to their sons when they died. And although that old boys clique structure gradually opened up over the last few years, Northlands’ role as a power player, its tentacles reaching everywhere, endured. In its heyday, said Cashman, it was an exclusive club, financed by the public.

That’s over.

http://edmontonjournal.com/business...simons-end-of-an-era-as-northlands-fades-away

RIP Northlands: Edmonton mourns, mocks closure of old arena

 

[Daveography]

Terry Jones: Bob Nicholson has exciting vision for old arena site
Edmonton has already held services for Rexall Place. The farewell has already been held. The goodbyes have all been said. The city has clearly moved on to the dazzling new building, the glorious new Ice District and development of a brilliant new downtown.

What happened Wednesday with city council voting to take the old Coliseum back from Edmonton Northlands and close its doors on Jan. 1, was simply setting the date to take it off life support.

Soon it will be gone. The memories will live on. One day it’ll be a location like where the Dodgers used to play in Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, where the Canadiens used to play in the Forum in Montreal or where the Celtics used to perform at the Boston Garden.

Life goes on. And that’s where the focus should be now believes Oilers Entertainment Group Vice Chairman and CEO Bob Nicholson.

Nicholson believes there is a magnificent opportunity ahead for Edmonton to seize the moment and create an actual campus of sport on what is being referred to as the Northlands campus. The former head of Hockey Canada says OEG very much wants to become a partner in it.

“I think it should be in the Oilers DNA that the kids in this city have something like this. If we did something like this, I think Edmonton would get a lot of worldwide attention.

“It depends how big the city wants to look and how big the city wants to think.”


Oliers Entertainment Group CEO and vice chairman Bob Nicholson.
Nicholson is hoping Edmonton is going to get excited and thing big, real big about what to replace the Coliseum with on the site.

“We’re really pleased by the decision by city council (Wednesday). Now we’ll have to wait and see what the decision is to do with that land, not just the Coliseum land but all that land up there and we’re hoping OEG can become a small part of it,” said Nicholson.

http://edmontonjournal.com/sports/h...holson-has-exciting-vision-for-old-arena-site

 

[archited]

Not gonna happen...

 

[Daveography]

Northlands Coliseum's neighbours worry about what comes next
The city’s announcement that Northlands Coliseum will close its doors in 2017 is bittersweet for surrounding communities.

Those neighbourhoods around the former home of the Edmonton Oilers are directly affected by people coming, or not coming, to the grounds. But the city’s announcement has raised awareness among the area’s community leagues, said Brian Finley, Bellevue Community League president.

Finley said the surrounding community leagues plan to create a more united front to provide input on future developments in the area.

Residents of Bellevue, Highlands and the Parkdale Cromdale community leagues were asked to comment on Northlands’ Vision 2020 plan for the 160 acres of land the organization covers. But a post on the Bellevue Community League’s website says when the group reached out in March 2016 to work with the city, Northlands or others involved in the site’s redevelopment, no one took residents up on the offer.

“Thus far we have not been included in any discussions and until we have more specific information about what this latest decision means it is extremely difficult to comment with any accuracy,” the Sept. 14 post says.

Now that council has decided to close the Coliseum this year, the city hopes to involve neighbouring communities more, said Peter Ohm, chief planner with the City of Edmonton.

“This is the point where the community should be and will be engaged,” he said.

http://edmontonjournal.com/business...iseums-neighbours-worry-about-what-comes-next

 

[Daveography]

Could future use of Northlands site be decided through design competition?

Results from a Northlands online survey on the future of Rexall Place have been released, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015.
Vinesh Pratap, Global News

The city has been flooded with proposals for what to do with the 160 acres at Northlands. So many, more city staff are being dedicated to the file to make sure they get it right.

The wide range of unnamed ideas will be presented formally to city council at its Nov. 14 meeting.
However, in Thursday’s council meeting where administration gave councillors a broad overview on the agenda items that will be high profile in the coming year, city manager Linda Cochrane warned against moving too quickly towards a decision.

“I don’t want to move quicker on the planning when we’re getting so many different options being floated.”

“We can do this fast or we can do it right,” she said. “We’ll try to do it expediently but we are very much concerned that we make recommendations to you that take into account all of the different inputs that we’ve had.”

Council was also told that Northlands has received as many as 30 proposals from across North America since it launched its Vision 2020 campaign.

That’s where a divide is emerging on council. Coun. Ben Henderson likens Northlands to the opportunity at Blatchford, calling it “pretty much identical.”

He suggested they follow the pattern from the 550 acres at Blatchford and open things up to an international design competition.

https://globalnews.ca/news/3827697/...s-site-be-decided-through-design-competition/

Councillor floats international design competition on Northlands redevelopment

City councillors on Thursday debated ways to find the best ideas for the Northlands site, shown as an axe head-shaped 160-acre property in this aerial photograph. RYAN JACKSON / POSTMEDIA, FILE
Councillors mused about launching a new international design competition to find the best ideas for the Northlands site Thursday, fishing for ways to deal with a flood of creative ideas from citizens and developers.

“Like Blatchford, you don’t get these pieces of land very often,” said Coun. Ben Henderson during an overview discussion meant to bring new councillors up to speed.

“In that case, we did an international design competition and this creates the same opportunity, does it not?”

Edmonton owns 65 hectares where for decades Northlands ran the Coliseum, Expo Centre, a horse-racing track and hosted K-Days. It’s smaller than Blatchford — the former municipal airport lands — but already has an LRT connection and access to major roads, including Wayne Gretzky Drive.

Northlands lost the financial ability to run its programs when the Edmonton Oilers team moved to the downtown arena. Last month, council voted to shut the Coliseum and also decided to turn the Expo Centre over to the Edmonton Economic Development Corp. to run.

The race track will close when a new one is ready outside the city, and Northlands has a five-year lease to continue to run the K-Days summer fair and midway on the site. It’s also expressed interest in keeping an urban farm on the site.

City officials started developing a new area redevelopment plan for the site, but Thursday said they now realize they need a more flexible process.

It’s good news officials are taking this seriously, said area Coun. Tony Caterina, suggesting development could include housing, retail, commercial and educational uses. “It’s probably the most valuable piece of land in the city at this point. We’re nine minutes from downtown … The sky’s the limit on this.”

He said an international design competition could be promising, but cautioned against comparing it to Blatchford.

“This one’s years and years ahead,” he said, pointing to the existing infrastructure. Before any competition, Caterina said, the city needs to know what citizens and neighbourhood residents are hoping for.

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/loc...esign-competition-on-northlands-redevelopment

 

[archited]

I'm with City Manager Linda Cochrane -- the City can really blow this one with preconceived notions. I like that the Expo Centre is being turned over to EEDC who will be better equipped to coordinate convention business with this addition to their portfolio of exhibit space. I am still pushing for the Coliseum site to be developed into an Edmonton Regional intermodal Transportation Hub (ERiTH) -- it has all of the assets required to make an excellent collection of transportation modes -- The CN National passenger line (the last transcontinental rail for passenger service -- something that Calgary (sadly) no longer has), Greyhound, LRT, Buses, and -- perhaps most importantly -- the potential for a VTOL aircraft site (replacing the regional function of Blatchford Field). Note: VTOL is going to be the wave of the future in terms of regional air service, manned and unmanned. As far as the site of the Race Track and adjacent fair grounds, the City should offer it to Amazon as an enticement for HQ II.

 

[darwink]

Cool idea, though this would be needed:

 

[chrisvazquez7]

^ That shouldn't be too hard since I believe all of that required land is owned by the city.

 

[bonk]

The CN National passenger line (the last transcontinental rail for passenger service -- something that Calgary (sadly) no longer has),

See http://www.timescolonist.com/opinio...-country-via-train-is-16-hours-late-1.2180012

Via doesn’t own the tracks it runs on and its passenger trains have lower priority than freight trains. As a result, Via trains have to pull over to let freights pass, which is a particular issue in areas with a single track.

I don't think it's a good idea to build up passenger rail infrastructure in the city, unless the infrastructure is there along the line, and I don't see that improving any time soon.

A lot of your ideas seem to assume that if we pour enough money into something, it will naturally be successful. It reminds me of Flint's AutoWorld.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AutoWorld_(theme_park)
Flint had historical value, and the assumption that if you build it, they will come.

Lack of a hub is not among the biggest problems for passenger rail here, and building one won't solve those problems.


Edit: Via actually has a notice: "While VIA endeavors to operate on time, the realities of increased freight traffic on tracks that we do not own may give rise to significant delays. We suggest that you do not arrange connecting transportation on the day of your arrival." I don't know if that would make an intermodal Transportation Hub especially useful (if passengers would need immediate, unplanned transportation whenever they arrive), or useless (since arranging connecting transportation is counter-suggested).

 

[archited]

@bonk (love the handle; it has suggestive connotations!) your argument falls apart on the following bases:
1. Where I or my Group "pour" our money really is none of your concern, so there is no "we" there.
2. The City of Edmonton has already commissioned a study into a Transit Hub (past tense) and our Group has made suggestions to the Administration study group on ways to achieve goals without public investment.
3. The passenger rail infrastructure already exists connecting the CN mainline to the Coliseum area -- it simply needs to be upgraded and CN has shown interest in doing this, again, sans municipal investment.
4. The delays incurred in rail travel in both Canada and the U.S. are legendary and if you are just discovering them now then you have not taken a train ride before (or at least not for the right reasons). I have taken the CN train from Vancouver to Toronto and from Toronto to Edmonton and it is the ride (the means) that is enjoyable not the final-destination arrival (the end).
5. Passenger Rail is just one of the elements of a successful Transportation Hub.
6. Maybe if you could let your negative preconceptions ride until you have asked enough questions or have completed enough background study, then your statements might have more bearing on any subject that you cared to comment on.

 

[darwink]

It isn't like the investment would be huge to start with - a switch and some track, a triple wide sidewalk with reasonable drainage. Lights.

I think this build out is a little much, but a right scoped version (modular buildings for the most part, keeping the cost down as low as possible) could work. If a hub makes sense, it makes sense even without the fancy parts. I guess the question is: why would this site be better that throwing down some pads and a small terminal for a STOL port here:

 

[archited]

@darwink this site (121st Street) was our first suggestion to the City, but the manager of the Blatchford project indicated to me that the site could not be considered because of a restrictive covenant that the City signed with EIA forbidding any kind of air traffic amenity on the site (City-owned land). The other problem with the site -- it has no LRT connection (at present or planned for the future).