Gronk! said:
Regardless of the roof, what is an absolute hill-to-die-on must-have is natural grass instead of artificial turf. If you're wondering why there's no FIFA World Cup in Edmonton, there's your answer.
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I think there were a few other reasons why there are no games… all in the form of poisoned pills put into the negotiations by the province.
 
^let's not open that up again... Commonwealth was a factor, but it was more about the City (lack of 4*+ hotels, air connections, glamour, exposure) than venue it seems.

A new mid-sized stadium will eventually be needed and may help to support another soccer franchise opportunity.
 
The reality is that Commonwealth is becoming too outdated to attract big events, and there are no consistent sporting events in Edmonton (and really all of Canada) that need a venue of that size. In a way its sort of like a less expensive version of Montreal's Olympic stadium where the cost of maintaining and upgrading a venue that big is not worth the handful of concerts that it attracts in a year. A stadium similar to what Winnipeg built would be a better investment and if there is room in the ice district that would be ideal. 35000 capacity is more than enough for CFL, CPL, and some decent concerts.
 
SMayo said:
The reality is that Commonwealth is becoming too outdated to attract big events, and there are no consistent sporting events in Edmonton (and really all of Canada) that need a venue of that size. In a way its sort of like a less expensive version of Montreal's Olympic stadium where the cost of maintaining and upgrading a venue that big is not worth the handful of concerts that it attracts in a year. A stadium similar to what Winnipeg built would be a better investment and if there is room in the ice district that would be ideal. 35000 capacity is more than enough for CFL, CPL, and some decent concerts.
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My only issue with this is that I would much rather have the stadium where the Commonwealth is than ICE district. I think the benefits of a new (or redeveloped) stadium that's close enough to Downtown to still be in an attractive location, but far enough that it can anchor some ToD around it, far outweighs any benefit that could come from it being in the core.
So maybe demo the Commonweath and replace it could the the way to go? Problem being: where would the Elks play? And we'd miss on a few years of attracting major events.
 
Yes, the stadium is well located where it is. The size is good for bigger concerts or major events and if the Elks performance improves they could come close to filling it again as they often did in the past.

It would be best if Ice District stuck with the plan and developed the area as residential which in a few years, if people keep coming here in drover, will be badly needed and having more people live nearby will benefit downtown more than having people come to the occasional football games.
 
We know that OEG is making some huge bank from the Stanley Cup finals. What are the odds of a huge chunk of all that OEG playoff revenue going towards the funding of ICE District phase 2?

I know the Connect Centre needs 1 or 2 more major tenants to replace CWB and we want Stantec to get their food court up and running, but how much of that is OEG's responsibility?
 
Gronk! said:
We know that OEG is making some huge bank from the Stanley Cup finals. What are the odds of a huge chunk of all that OEG playoff revenue going towards the funding of ICE District phase 2?

I know the Connect Centre needs 1 or 2 more major tenants to replace CWB and we want Stantec to get their food court up and running, but how much of that is OEG's responsibility?
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Ice District is almost ready to absorb higher end buildings similar to the JW Marriott. These would need to be purpose built rentals unless things change with the condo market.

I think the CWB tower has no business being anything other than residential. I'm a believer that residents will lead to commercial occupancy in this area.
 
Wasn't residential for that tower actually the original plan? I think CWB was just an ephemeral opportunity that came about, but then dissipated because of ample other good office space already available.
 
I mean, if by some miracle Smith actually provides government funding to help develop Ice District 2.0, you have to wonder something might be brewing.

Having said that, there is still a lot of "unfinished" business with what's currently there. Food court is still sitting empty with nothing indicating that will change anytime soon and I would bet Katz Group would want to get going with the residential tower above connect centre first before officially commencing construction on phase 2 (unless they get government funding then they will likely get going on that right away).

I still wonder sometimes what their plan is on the "trophy tower" site. Part of me says it may just become a residential tower site, and there's nothing wrong with that at all, but I do sometimes dream that we get something truly spectacular there elevating our status. In any event, it'll be a long, long time before that site gets developed.
 
Munanyo said:
I mean, if by some miracle Smith actually provides government funding to help develop Ice District 2.0, you have to wonder something might be brewing.

Having said that, there is still a lot of "unfinished" business with what's currently there. Food court is still sitting empty with nothing indicating that will change anytime soon and I would bet Katz Group would want to get going with the residential tower above connect centre first before officially commencing construction on phase 2 (unless they get government funding then they will likely get going on that right away).

I still wonder sometimes what their plan is on the "trophy tower" site. Part of me says it may just become a residential tower site, and there's nothing wrong with that at all, but I do sometimes dream that we get something truly spectacular there elevating our status. In any event, it'll be a long, long time before that site gets developed.
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Burj Edmontonlifa lol

Weirdly enough, I'm sort of optimistic that they do get government funding of sorts to Phase 2. $330 million or equivalent is a significant amount of money, and I'd be curious what the province, OEG and the city agree on.
 
Kosy123 said:
Burj Edmontonlifa lol

Weirdly enough, I'm sort of optimistic that they do get government funding of sorts to Phase 2. $330 million or equivalent is a significant amount of money, and I'd be curious what the province, OEG and the city agree on.
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I mean we need something to replace the never happening Alldritt tower haha.
 
I have a message for Daryl Katz and the decision makers of the Ice District. Now that the Oilers are doing an incredible job this year and we have had a successful run to the cup so far, with crowds filling up the moss pit and field where Baccarat used to be.

Will development of Phase 2, or the proposed tower above the Connect Centre start soon?
 
Connect Centre tower is the obvious next step. Keep in mind that they had their asses handed to them with the timing of stage 1 (Stantec and Legends). The CC tower will probably need to be purpose built rentals, but those would lease up within a year if built out similarly to something like the McLaren or Hendrix.
 
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