[SarcasticMarmot]

Would someone be able to provide a short breakdown as to how we got to this current state with Rossdale and why it is sitting empty? Is it the city or province that owns this? Has there ever been any concrete proposals or at least talk of activating this historical building? Apologies for asking this as I'm not from Edmonton and always wanted to do an in-depth examination on this topic but never really got around to it.

A friend of mine was part of the city team that was working on this project a few years ago. The way he framed it to me was that it was caught in a pickle. The city wants to recoup the money it spent stabilizing the building (10+ million) and the cost to make the building a usable space was approaching 100 million (this article from 2013 cites it at $87 million https://nationaltrustcanada.ca/nt-endangered-places/rossdale-power-plant). That is a high cost for a spot that has limited access and is trapped between the water treatment plant, electrical infrastructure, the river, and an Indigenous burial ground. He told me there were lots of cool ideas, but no one was showing up with the money.

One of the climbing gym owners I know looked into it (would be one hell of a climbing gym!) but the business case was hilariously bad, he couldn't make it remotely work even if the city gave it to him for free. Its a hard nut to crack to be profitable, and I don't think Edmonton voters would support the idea of spending $100m on a cool market. Unless another level of government steps in I think this building is gonna sit mostly empty for years, and the province has plenty of other spaces they need to deal with (RAM, Remand, etc.). Pretty much any project of that size would rather build their own building from scratch.

IMO, the city should return the building to Epcor and mandate that they make it useful again as a community building project.

 

[scyeg]

A friend of mine was part of the city team that was working on this project a few years ago. The way he framed it to me was that it was caught in a pickle. The city wants to recoup the money it spent stabilizing the building (10+ million) and the cost to make the building a usable space was approaching 100 million (this article from 2013 cites it at $87 million https://nationaltrustcanada.ca/nt-endangered-places/rossdale-power-plant). That is a high cost for a spot that has limited access and is trapped between the water treatment plant, electrical infrastructure, the river, and an Indigenous burial ground. He told me there were lots of cool ideas, but no one was showing up with the money.

One of the climbing gym owners I know looked into it (would be one hell of a climbing gym!) but the business case was hilariously bad, he couldn't make it remotely work even if the city gave it to him for free. Its a hard nut to crack to be profitable, and I don't think Edmonton voters would support the idea of spending $100m on a cool market. Unless another level of government steps in I think this building is gonna sit mostly empty for years, and the province has plenty of other spaces they need to deal with (RAM, Remand, etc.). Pretty much any project of that size would rather build their own building from scratch.

IMO, the city should return the building to Epcor and mandate that they make it useful again as a community building project.

Gondola.

 

[CaptainBL]

Gondola.

The City pitched "The Edmonton Project", asked for unique ideas to make this city a better place, selected the gondola as the winning idea, then shut it down instead of seeing how a solution could be found to the challenges the city, the project, and the developer faced.

That's all you need to know. So given the city's track record, and current no vision nor priority with this building, I am not hopeful anything happens in the next decade.

 

[JNO1]

"This building is going to sit empty for years". Now THIS is the most Edmonton thing you can do.

 

[northlands]

Imagine the City partners with a competent developer (Beljan) on Pumphouse 2 for a cafe with a patio overlooking the river and Walterdale.

 

[Gronk!]

Imagine the City partners with a competent developer (Beljan) on Pumphouse 2 for a cafe with a patio overlooking the river and Walterdale.

View attachment 580026

That would be cool, although I`d like to see what Beljan can do with the Rossdale Plant, given the limitations of the building.

 

[David A]

Ironically, the building itself probably does not have that much in terms of limitations. It is a big space that could be adapted for a number of uses. Of course it is old and requires work.

However, I don't think keeping the costs of this under control is something the city excels at, so this is part of the reason I feel it should be a private sector project initiative.

It may be a bit of a big project for Beljan, but yes someone like them who is creative, financially competent and likes working with older spaces.

 

[Gronk!]

They finally paved the MUP north of the Rossdale Brewery that was under construction last year.

 

[Gronk!]

A better shot of the newly paved MUP

 

[Gronk!]

99 Ave

 

[CplKlinger]

My view on the power plant is a bit controversial; I think it was a fair choice to properly consult Indigenous groups, since in the city's history this had never happened yet despite the presence of a cemetery/burial ground, and the significant importance of the area to Indigenous people. I mean, we either consult them properly now, or we perpetuate some very harmful practices. It wasn't too long ago (early 2000s) that EPCOR still planned to expand the power plant, and rejected numerous requests for Indigenous groups to conduct searches for human remains.

That being said, the city should be much more open about the current state of those discussions; it's unacceptable that the last public update was back in June 2023 (the city website hints at an "upcoming" update in spring 2024, but to my knowledge it was never provided). As well, this update on the power plant rehabilitation (see the text I bolded) is also quite disappointing to say the least. I hope there is a reasonable explanation, and work is still planned under a different project banner.

Rossdale Power Plant - Advanced Assessment and Priority Rehabilitation​

Description:​

The project will include work to assess and develop a plan for the repairs and upgrades needed at the Rossdale Power Plant. The plan will also take into account conservation to preserve the heritage of the buildings. This work is in phase 1 and is not yet funded for construction.

Latest Update:​

The final design development report has been received by the project team. The project will not be moving forward. The schedule was impacted by additional coordination and communication with other projects in the Rossdale area.

 

[David A]

My view on the power plant is a bit controversial; I think it was a fair choice to properly consult Indigenous groups, since in the city's history this had never happened yet despite the presence of a cemetery/burial ground, and the significant importance of the area to Indigenous people. I mean, we either consult them properly now, or we perpetuate some very harmful practices. It wasn't too long ago (early 2000s) that EPCOR still planned to expand the power plant, and rejected numerous requests for Indigenous groups to conduct searches for human remains.

That being said, the city should be much more open about the current state of those discussions; it's unacceptable that the last public update was back in June 2023 (the city website hints at an "upcoming" update in spring 2024, but to my knowledge it was never provided). As well, this update on the power plant rehabilitation (see the text I bolded) is also quite disappointing to say the least. I hope there is a reasonable explanation, and work is still planned under a different project banner.

Rossdale Power Plant - Advanced Assessment and Priority Rehabilitation​

Description:​

The project will include work to assess and develop a plan for the repairs and upgrades needed at the Rossdale Power Plant. The plan will also take into account conservation to preserve the heritage of the buildings. This work is in phase 1 and is not yet funded for construction.

Latest Update:​

The final design development report has been received by the project team. The project will not be moving forward. The schedule was impacted by additional coordination and communication with other projects in the Rossdale area.

So is that final design report referred to public or not? If not, I feel it would be a good idea in the interest of transparency and public input for it to be even if they don't intend to proceed immediately.

 

[archited]

This area has been in abeyance for over half a century and it has begun to take on the aura of the Devil's touchstone. A development Master Plan would at least be a good starting point and to that end the City should commission a REAL architectural ideas competition centered on a Grand Indigenous Experience (a Permanent World Indigenous Exposition) that accounts for all of the land -- Power Plant and adjacent lands and all of the vacant land south of 97th Avenue. And by REAL I mean a competition that the City adheres to instead of sheepishly cancelling it after initiation as was done with the Warehouse District Park (we are about to see the meagre results of that action). Unfortunately we are saddled with an ineffective City council and Mayor -- a huge missed opportunity occurred with the denial of final negotiations with the crew that had a Concept for an aerial tram which would have at least begun an effort towards Rossdale renewal.