[archited]

The whole rodeo thing is that way -- calf-roping, bronc busting, chuckwagon racing, etc.

 

[EdmTrekker]

@IanO does love his abbreviations and his thesaurus/alternative words/associated meanings/aligned nouns/verbs/adjectives/adverbs. I guess he thinks that brevity lands him the "circle-of-cool".

PBR is a bomb!! Love the PBR and hopefully we will be in Edmonton in November for it.

 

[Pro.N]

This is older news and kinda fallen under the radar a little bit, but looks like Aramark is out as F&B provider at Rogers Place. Aramark contracts will be terminated as of June 30. Levy/Compass starts hiring/rehiring sometime in July for Rogers Place.

Looks like OEG is starting their own Hospitality division, for all of ICE District including Rogers Place, partnering with Levy/Compass Group Canada (both of which are subsidiaries of Compass UK). Levy seems to have quite a few good programs in the States (Dodgers Stadium/Staples Centre) so this might bode well from a Fan Experience standpoint.

Disclaimer: I worked part-time with Aramark F&B at Rogers Place until the pandemic hit last year. Many of us speculated that this is where OEG was headed, given their tight leash on Aramark after the inaugural season lol.

I'm not sure if OEG has announced this yet through their own channels, but this was the press release I found.

Oilers Entertainment Group Launches ICE District Hospitality with Compass Group Canada and Levy - Compass Canada

Leverages OEG’s market leadership, Compass Group Canada’s operational power and Levy’s experience serving North America’s most iconic major venues. EDMONTON, AB, MAR 3, 2021 – Today, Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG) announced the launch of ICE District Hospitality for the start of the 2021-22...

www.compass-canada.com

 

[kcantor]

albeit at a different scale, the aga choose to terminate their food and beverage arrangement with compass and moved it over to prairie sky.

 

[Gronk!]

Rogers Place is open as expected for tonight's home opener.

The casino was still closed when I walked by this afternoon. It should be open during arena events, or so I thought.

From the north entrance of Rogers Place is a quick 5 minute hike to the Wonder Harbour comic book store.

 

[Gronk!]

I spoke to an employee at the Starlight Casino at WEM and he told me that the Grand Villa Casino is closed indefinitely although it may reopen sometime in the future.

 

[Tommy2342]

I spoke to an employee at the Starlight Casino at WEM and he told me that the Grand Villa Casino is closed indefinitely although it may reopen sometime in the future.

I heard the same, though the person I spoke to was not optimistic about it ever re-opening. The only thing that will enable it to re-open is a lot more foot traffic downtown, and for that to occur, IMO, we'll need some real big stores to open around there so that people will head downtown, rather than to SEC, WEM, etc.

 

[ChazYEG]

I heard the same, though the person I spoke to was not optimistic about it ever re-opening. The only thing that will enable it to re-open is a lot more foot traffic downtown, and for that to occur, IMO, we'll need some real big stores to open around there so that people will head downtown, rather than to SEC, WEM, etc.

bUt We DoN't HaVe tHe DeNsItY!!!

Sorry... I'm just getting ahead of myself... But this argument will show up.

But jokes aside, I agree with you 100%. As much as I love small, local businesses, I honestly believe that Downtown could do with some big box stores, just to get the ball rolling.

 

[David A]

I spoke to an employee at the Starlight Casino at WEM and he told me that the Grand Villa Casino is closed indefinitely although it may reopen sometime in the future.

I think indefinitely in this case probably means never. I have mixed feeling here - I feel casino's are often a blight and prey on people who are vulnerable or have addictions. However, this was an improvement from what was there before.

I don't think downtown travel will fully recover until some time after COVID is totally gone, so I think I do understand their reasons for closing it.

However to perhaps to make lemonade out of lemons here, this space could actually be transformed into something better - retail, restaurant, bar or even some office space. It is a good size space with a very prominent location. Maybe this is where the entertainment part of ICE District is realized more.

 

[strata]

Knowing very little about the casino business...

How was the old Baccarat Casino able to operate for so many years, but Grand Villa, with the benefit of major sporting/entertainment events and some additional hotel/residents next door, cannot make it work?

 

[jason403]

Parking. Notably readily available and easily accessible free parking.

 

[northlands]

I was going to suggest that it's because they built it out to be a fortress where it's perceived that you'd only go visit Grand Villa before/after an entertainment spectacle at the arena rather than an overall multi-faceted public entertainment destination, but really I do think the answer more than anything truly is parking.

Go look at the River Cree, the Yellowhead, Century, etc. If they're open, there's never not a couple hundred cars in each parking lot. Lots of trucks too, that wouldn't necessarily fit well in underground parkades.

 

[CaptainBL]

I was going to suggest that it's because they built it out to be a fortress where it's perceived that you'd only go visit Grand Villa before/after an entertainment spectacle at the arena rather than an overall multi-faceted public entertainment destination, but really I do think the answer more than anything truly is parking.

Go look at the River Cree, the Yellowhead, Century, etc. If they're open, there's never not a couple hundred cars in each parking lot. Lots of trucks too, that wouldn't necessarily fit well in underground parkades.

Regardless of the reason, its another strike against the Ice District as an entertainment district to draw patrons and foot traffic.

Movie theater - cancelled
Retail options - limited at best
Casino - closed

The closer this phase gets to completion, the less it is looking like the unique entertainment option to draw people to downtown and the area as it was promised. Its quite disappointing to see the execution of this project by the development group. For example, if lack of parking is really the problem, why cant the developer get creative and offer solutions like free parking validated by the casino? Because now they're in a situation where they are losing revenue from the casino and parking.

 

[IanO]

Having the casino/Match/Atlas not open pre/post-game the other night was disappointing. It served to elevate the overall entertainment experience for many and was often a fun way of spending a few bucks with friends.

One complaint on the new food offerings in the arena is their purported 'smash burger'. It was not and falsely conveyed something as fresh to the consumer.

 

[Vacs]

The casino was in trouble well before covid. The only time it was ever busy was during a hockey game.

Parking played the main roll in this. Most hardcore casino gamblers don't want to pay all day for parking or have to walk far to get to their table or slot machine