The Future is Yet To Come...
Presented by The Goldfire Group
Presented by The Goldfire Group
This inventory has been developed by cross-referencing the Master Development Plan V2, the earlier Master Development Plan (Third Draft), the Master Development Plan/site-layout concepts, and relevant Save The Coliseum articles, press releases, Round Table materials and subsequent project-development concepts.
The purpose of this inventory is to consolidate the development concepts that have been proposed, discussed or incorporated into the Save The Coliseum project vision over time.
The important distinction is that this is an inventory of project concepts and potential development opportunities, not a statement that every component is approved, funded, engineered or committed. Individual components will require different levels of technical, financial, legal, regulatory, market and professional validation.
This inventory will serve as the Master Source Checklist for Master Development Plan V3 so that established project concepts are not inadvertently omitted as the project documentation continues to evolve.
The Coliseum itself is intended to remain the anchor building for the larger development rather than being treated as an isolated arena. Master Development Plan V2 describes reuse of the existing six-level structure integrated with the surrounding Exhibition Lands.
The earlier Master Development Plan specifically identifies the Coliseum as the Community Activities Centre, capable of supporting lectures, theatre and large sporting and entertainment events, while later project materials expand the concept to include retail, an Internet Café, vehicle showroom, restaurants and upper-level family-oriented pubs.
The health and community-services component has become one of the most developed elements of the newer reuse vision.
Master Development Plan V2 consolidates these concepts under health and community infrastructure, including the proposed 240 beds, approximately 300 admissions/cool-room recliners, neonatal and birthing concepts, operating theatres and proposed 3D scanners. Earlier project materials contain additional social-service and medical concepts.
The education vision has evolved over time. The earlier Master Development Plan envisioned a separate multi-storey Educational Complex, while the newer redevelopment concept proposes a major K–12 educational component within the Coliseum itself. Master Development Plan V2 therefore treats the larger separate Educational Complex as an alternative or expandable concept.
Later project-development materials extend the emergency-services vision to include potential helicopter access supporting air ambulance, law enforcement and emergency-response requirements.
The Northeast Edmonton Coliseum Soccer Super Dome represents a significant newer component of the Save The Coliseum sports and recreation vision.
The Super Dome concept develops the much earlier Covered Soccer Field proposal into a larger year-round multi-sport facility capable of complementing the Coliseum’s major-event capacity.
The Covered Soccer Field, eight-court Alberta Tennis Training Centre and REACH Community Basketball Court are explicitly identified in earlier project materials. Master Development Plan V2 preserves these concepts within the project’s broader sports-and-events program.
The Resort Hotel is directly identified in the earlier Master Development Plan, including potential spa, salon, specialty coffee, swimming-pool and fitness amenities.
Earlier Save The Coliseum project materials discuss an initial concept of approximately 250 affordable suites with potential for an additional 250, while the earlier Master Development Plan describes potential integration between the Resort Hotel and affordable-housing component.
A separate later Housing First proposal involving thousands of housing units in the broader downtown strategy should be tracked independently rather than being combined with the Exhibition Lands housing numbers in this inventory.
Later Exhibition Lands proposals expand the transportation vision substantially, including multiple strategically located transit connections and year-round Coliseum parking/park-and-ride opportunities.
The rail-development concept includes the potential for an Edmonton Coliseum Tourism Centre integrated with passenger rail, regional transportation and other tourism services.
Round Table and subsequent project materials identify dealership, service-centre, production/assembly and showroom concepts, with later proposals expanding the potential toward electric/hybrid vehicle assembly, servicing and distribution.
Later project materials describe potential commercial tenants within the Coliseum and connected structures, weather-protected breezeways and a proposed revenue-sharing structure intended to generate ongoing economic activity and municipal revenue.
Solar-energy development has been part of the Save The Coliseum vision since the earlier Master Development Plan and has subsequently evolved into a broader Coliseum Powerhouse concept.
The earlier Master Development Plan discusses solar panels contributing electricity to the grid and installation on the sides and roof of the building. The later Powerhouse proposal expands this into a broader renewable-energy concept involving roof and exterior solar generation, electrical infrastructure, energy efficiency and potential grid contribution.
Transportation and site-infrastructure concepts are significant enough that Master Development Plan V2 identifies transit, access and parking as part of Phase 6 — Site and Exhibition Lands Integration.
The Save The Coliseum vision is not simply a plan for an arena.
It is better described as an integrated, multi-use district built around a restored and reused Edmonton Coliseum:
Coliseum + Hospital + Education + Super Dome + Sports Facilities + Housing + Resort Hotel + Tourism + Transit + Rail + Automotive + Retail + Commercial + Renewable Energy + Emergency Services + Community/Cultural Infrastructure.
This is consistent with Master Development Plan V2, which describes the project as combining health and community services, education, indoor sport, events, tourism, hospitality, affordable housing, commercial activity, transportation connections and community programming.
The Coliseum therefore functions as the proposed anchor asset around which complementary development on the Exhibition Lands could be organized and phased.
This inventory will serve as the Master Source Checklist for Master Development Plan V3.
Several substantial concepts are currently mentioned only generally in Master Development Plan V2 or are not yet described there in sufficient detail.
Among the most significant are:
If these concepts remain part of the Save The Coliseum development vision, Master Development Plan V3 should capture them explicitly rather than leaving significant components distributed among older Master Development Plans, site-layout maps, articles, press releases, Round Table reports and other project materials.
As Master Development Plan V3 is developed, the components in this inventory should be evaluated and classified using the following framework:
CORE — Fundamental components of the proposed Coliseum reuse and broader development strategy.
SUPPORTING — Components that support or enhance core uses and contribute to the overall operation of the district.
FUTURE OPPORTUNITY — Longer-term concepts that could be pursued as the development expands or as partners and financing become available.
ALTERNATIVE CONCEPT — Earlier or alternative development ideas that may be superseded, combined with another concept, relocated or retained as an option.
REQUIRES VALIDATION — Concepts requiring further engineering, costing, market analysis, regulatory review, institutional participation, partner confirmation or other professional due diligence before being represented as deliverable infrastructure.
A component may fall into more than one category during early project development. Classification should therefore be refined as engineering, costing, governance, partnerships and funding become more developed.
The purpose of maintaining this inventory is not to suggest that 277 separate projects will all be constructed.
Many numbered items are individual functions, amenities or subcomponents of larger development concepts.
For example, the swimming pool, spa, salon, restaurants and fitness centre are potential components of the Resort Hotel, while solar panels, inverters, building controls and HVAC improvements form part of the broader Energy/Powerhouse concept.
Similarly, soccer, football, rugby and golf are potential uses within the Super Dome rather than four independent development projects.
Master Development Plan V3 should therefore consolidate these individual items into a manageable number of major development components while retaining this inventory as the underlying source checklist.
This approach will allow the next Master Development Plan to present a comprehensive, organized and credible long-term development vision without implying that every concept constitutes approved or committed infrastructure.
Most importantly, the inventory provides a controlled reference against which future versions of the Master Development Plan can be checked, helping ensure that development concepts established throughout the history of the Save The Coliseum project are not inadvertently omitted as the project continues to evolve.
